What Football In 1871 Looked Like

An early illustration

What Football In 1871 Looked Like

Since we’ve been talking a bit about the early days of football, I was interested in understanding what the sport looked like.

This is an illustration from a late November 1871 issue of The Illustrated London News:

As you can see, the sport still had a clear rugby feel to it. It’s clear that this depicts a scrum in the middle, and you can’t see where the ball is at all.

Note that the caption refers to a “scrimmage,” which is a word more commonly associated with American football these days.

Though the rules of 1871 somewhat resemble the modern game, the way it was played most certainly does not.