ABSTRACT
As well as the more celebrated early footballing hotbeds of Sheffield, London and Glasgow, other less obvious areas contributed considerably to the game’s development. Shropshire and Shrewsbury in particular, was one such centre. Situated in the city was one of the country’s leading public schools and, although the football played there rarely travelled beyond the school boundaries, many former pupils influenced the growth of the game in the region. However, it was to be a leading member of the local sporting elite, John Hawley Edwards, who was to become the leading light in football’s progress there. More importantly, this chapter adds to the ongoing debate regarding the relative influence of former public schoolboys and the local elite in the game’s early evolution.
