Author: nigelfreestone1960

SHOULD women play football? The answer from several directions is an emphatic “No.” Men dismiss the idea as ungraceful; medical opinion says it is unwise; and the Football Association says…

The following three letters were published on Christmas Eve 1915 in the Melton Mowbray Times and Vale of Belvoir Gazette. FOOTBALL WANTED To the Editor of the Melton Mowbray Times.…

A LEICESTER City Christmas card evokes memories of an era when the shorts were baggy, the boots were like tempered steel, and the ball was so hard it cut heads…

The penalty kick has become an integral part of football since its introduction in 1890. However, the traditional penalty kick that we know and love today, took a long time…

Photographs from the late 19th century show how players dressed for matches in the early days of football. For most teams, the kit consisted of long-sleeved, cotton, flannelette (roughly woven…

Training was not part of the ‘gentlemanly ideal’. Intense training was considered throughout the Victorian era to be “poor form”: ‘Practising too much undermined natural grace and talent … gentlemen…

Loughborough Wednesday Football Club, who in later years became known as Loughborough Traders, shared the Athletic Grounds with Loughborough AFC of the Football League. At one time all the shops…

As a preliminary to the 1897-98 football season, Leicester Fosse staged a baseball game between Derby County and Crystal Palace, the first exhibition of the sport in Leicester, and a…

In 1882 Market Harborough became the first Leicestershire football club to enter an Association Football competition – Wellingborough Challenge Cup – which over time became referred to as the Northamptonshire…

The following Football Association Rules were in place when Leicester Fosse were founded. Definition of Terms Place Kick – the ball is kicked when lying on the ground, in any…