The problem with revisionism: how new data on the origins of modern football have led to hasty conclusions

Football talk: sociological reflections on the dialectics of language and football

“…It is seen through a derogatory prism that portrays association football as 'ungentlemanly' and infra dig. This is somewhat paradoxical given the historical roots of soccer in the nineteenth century English Public Schools (see Sanders, 2009 andRowley, 2015) and the role of former pupils of schools like Eton in the codification and early organisation of the game (see Curry, 2006 andCurry andDunning, 2013), not to mention the role of former public schoolboys in the internationalisation of the game (see Murray, 1998 andPenn, 2013). Nonetheless it has been a persistent trope within British sporting discourse since the final quarter of the nineteenth century.…”

Early Football and the Emergence of Modern Soccer: A Reply to Tony Collins

“…Despite this, on this very point, Curry and Dunning argue that the evidence of a footballing culture outside of the public schools and public schoolboys in this period is 'sparse and ultimately misleading' and, as a consequence, 'there is little need for any major realignment in the standard histories of the game'. 30 Now, although I disagree with Curry and Dunning on this point, I consider them to be 'serious historians', giving a lie to Collins' argument that 'all serious historians accept that games of varying degrees of formality continued to be played in the first half of the nineteenth century and residual knowledge of football survived among the working classes in parallel with the growth of the game in the public schools'. 31 Furthermore, Collins' position is close to the fallacy of positive proof that seeks to turn mass opinion into a method of verification.…”