Leicestershire Football Archive

J. C. Thring, Uppingham School master laid the ‘the groundwork on which the Association code was built’. Thring’s rules for The Simplest Game, first published in 1862, and his call…

Leicester Daily Journal – 30 May 1894 Leicester Fosse FC published their financial statement for 1893-94 in May 1894 – income, £2907 11s 2d (95% of which came from gate…

Plaque on the Hawthorn Building, DMU. Although folk football does not appear to have been played in Leicester on a large scale, there are records of games being played in…

Bottle kicking ‘dummy’ displayed at Market Harborough museum comes from the Leicestershire village of Hallaton. It had a very important role in the wonderfully bizarre Leicestershire custom – the bottle…

Leicester Fosse, in their fifth year of existence, running two teams and with a membership of just over 40, signed their first professional player – 20 years old, 5ft 4…

Shepshed FC 1887-88: Back Row, F Elliott (Referee), A. Smith, W Danvers, J. Waring, E. Savage. Centre Row, J. Bennett, S. Waldon, A. Kidger, W. Johnson. Front Row, E. Needham,…

The violent nature of football in the 1880s attracted the attention of the world-renowned medical journal, The Lancet. In 1885 they published an article entitled “The Perils of Football” which…

The official programme/handbill for the Loughborough v Aston Villa Birmingham Cup match – Saturday 10 March 1894, Athletic Grounds, Loughborough. The fortunes of the professional football association in the town…

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…

In 1884 Joseph Hudson, an English toolmaker from Birmingham developed the world’s first sports whistle – the ACME Thunderer – and since then has been used globally by football referees…