British life : A low intermediate level English resource.

The origins of Football and Rugby

Simple version (CEFR A2 level).
For a longer version of this text, with worksheet, see Ball Games

Games that England gave the world

Football (soccer) and Rugby are two of the world's most popular sports. Today these games are played worldwide. This article looks at their early days.

English football players in 1881

Football and rugby began their lives in England, hundreds of years ago. In those days, there were different ball games in different places; and even today, there are some places in England where people still play ancient forms of the game. Early football had very few rules, and the rules changed from one place to another. The basic rule was simple; a team tried to move a ball past the other team's line. Sometimes the lines were a long way apart.
The "balls" were not like modern footballs. They were usually made from the skin or the stomach of an animal.

Football at an English public school in 1889

In the age of Queen Victoria, public schools began to use standard rules. In some schools, players were not allowed to carry the ball; in other schools, like Rugby College, they were allowed to carry it. So two different games emerged; on the one hand football, on the other hand "rugby football".

In 1863, some men formed the Football Association in London, and fixed the rules. Eighteen years later, the first F.A. Cup took place. Football was very popular with workers in the north of England, particularly in industrial cities like Manchester and Liverpool. By 1888, the Football League was established with 12 clubs.

Today, football is the most popular ball game in the world, and rugby is a very international sport too.

WORDS
ancient: historic, very old - stomach: the part of the body where we digest food - age of Queen Victoria: between 1832 and 1901 - later: after that - established: began, set up

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Worksheet

Interactive exercise - missing words:
Choose the correct words that are missing from this extract from the article. This exercise can be done on your computer, or as a classroom exercise using an interactive whiteboard. Take care; in some cases, nothing is needed. In these cases select Ø .

Football and rugby began lives in England, hundreds of years . In days, were different ball games in different places; and today, there are places in England people still play ancient of the game. Early football had very rules, and the rules changed one place to . The basic rule was simple; a team tried to move a ball the other line. Sometimes the lines were a long way .
The "balls" were not modern footballs. They were usually made from the or the stomach of an animal.

For teachers:

For general information on getting the most out of reading texts, see ► Reading texts - a model lesson plan

This is a very simple text, suitable for students from age 12 upwards, in their first or second year of English, depending on the speed of progress. The theme should interest readers worldwide.
The missing words exercise concentrates on words that can easily be confused or are often misspelled.

There is a longer and extended B2 level version of this text here: The story of football and Rugby

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