The Global Spread of Football from the 1860s to the 1880s

So far, the history of football has been written by sport historians who have considered the history of this sport in isolation from the context in which it emerged. In the second half of the nineteenth century, football was created by educators and students as part of school reform. Football served as a new and enticing teaching tool that gave students freedom, encouraged self-determination, and fostered teamwork. After the game had been developed at English public schools, it was introduced by teachers and students at high schools and colleges in England, Germany, Argentina, and the United States during the 1870s. The game proved particularly popular among the children of parents who engaged in trade and industry since this new sport offered an introduction to essential modern values such as teamwork and collaboration that were needed in an industrialized society. Football was, furthermore, part of the social reform movement that emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century