EARLY SOCCER RULES

                On this day in 1871, the English Football Association established the FA Cup.  The first final was played the next year with the Wanderers beating the Royal Engineers 1-0.  Rules were quite a bit different back then.  Here are some interesting facts about early soccer rules.

1. In 1848, various schools got together to draw up the Cambridge Rules. You could carry the ball.  There was no crossbar on the goal.  If you caught a high ball, you got a free kick.  The first player to touch a ball that had gone out of bounds got the throw-in.  (That’s why it’s called the “touch line”.)  Throw-ins were taken with one hand.  “Hacking” was allowed – you could kick or trip an opponent.
2. In 1857, the Sheffield Rules were adopted. It got rid of hacking, but you could still shove.  No more running with the ball, but you could still catch it and push it with your hands.  Teams word different colored HATS.
3. There were no refs until 1871. The two captains decided issues.  At first, the refs were only used when the captains could not agree.  They did not have whistles until 1878.
4. Goalies were not a distinct player until 1909. Previously, they were simply the player closest to the goal.  In 1909, they got a different jersey.  In 1913, they could only touch the ball in the box.
5. Penalty kicks did not come in until 1891 and then it was for fouls within 12 yards of the goal. In 1902, the penalty box was put in.
6. Originally, offsides was not a factor because only dribbling was allowed.   When passes first came in, “kick-throughs” were allowed and teams would station players near the goal.  Before long,  passes had to be sideways or backwards.  In 1866, forward passes were allowed if there were three defenders between the target and the goal.  In 1907, offsides was not applicable on your own end of the field.  In 1921, you could not be offsides on a throw-in.  Later, the three-man rule was changed to two.

https://www.footballhistory.org/rules.html