Football In The 19th Century Essay

Football is one of the most popular games in the world but this was not always the case. During its development football faced suppression, resistance and a resurgence. It was also prioritized after cricket. Before this resurgence football was primarily played by school boys and upper class aristocrats, making the game an elitist form of recreation. The latter half of the nineteenth century was a pivotal time for the growth of football. A lot of what occurred set the grounds for the success of the game today. I believe there were five key stepping stones that propelled football into the public sphere. The change of lifestyle and the emergence of the middle class was the foundation for football, the localization of the game, the evolution of transportation, diffusion of dominance and the professionalization of football contributed to the increased popularity of the game amongst the working class. Industrialization was the catalyst for a change in lifestyle, but this was not how it started. At first, the working class found themselves riddled by labor but in the late nineteenth century this began to change. In David Goldblatt’s The Ball Is Round he says “... the last quarter of the nineteenth century saw a general increase in family incomes of around thirty percent” (Goldblatt 52). This alone was not enough to lay the …show more content…
What used to be the game of public schools and the upper class turned into a game that many working class communities participated in. They were able to do this through increased standards of living. Industrialization also played a huge role with the expansion of railroads and the localization of teams through the creation of stadiums. As well as the increase in engagement due to better play and a more expansive media coverage. All of this culminated and helped football achieve the widespread success we see