ABSTRACT
1. Social changes more fundamental than any which occurred in pre-industrial Britain were required to free football from its traditional mould and transform it into a modern sport. It was in the public schools in conjunction with industrialization that such changes took place. In these schools, starting in the 1830s the game began to change fundamentally and in a specific direction. More particularly, it began to be organized more formally, to become more complex and the rules began to be written down. It also grew more ‘civilized’ in at least two senses: players began to be required to exercise greater self-control and some of the wilder features began to be eradicated or subjected to more stringent control. As we shall show, Rugby was the first school at which football began to undergo this transformation, i.e. Rugby was the first variant of the game to begin to acquire its modern form.
