World’s oldest football pitch found in Scotland redefining early origins of the sport, expert claims

A recent claim by sports historian Ged O'Brien suggests that a field in the Scottish countryside, near the Solway Firth, may have been the site of the world's oldest football pitch. This find presents the possibility that football was being played in a structured way in the 1600s, nearly two centuries before the codified rules of the game were established in England.The discovery provides an intriguing insight into the early beginnings of the modern game.The countryside around Anwoth Kirk, in the Dumfries and Galloway area as it exists today, is thought to have been where early football matches were played. According to the reports, the indications are of a highly structured form of football being played here in the 17th century. This period is before the Football Association's official codification of football rules in England, which occurred in 1863. This is significant because it refutes the traditional view that the game's origin was more anarchic and informal.The most telling evidence is within a letter Reverend Samuel Rutherford wrote sometime in the early 1600s. Quoting Rutherford, "people used to play football" upon the field on Sundays, around the afternoon of the Sabbath. His letter was proof of activities people engaged for recreation in the region at that time and is an indication football was a once-a-week congregation for local churchgoers.However, Rutherford was irritated at the interference the games created with the Sabbath. In an attempt to try to put a damper on the games, he ordered parishioners to place enormous stones across the pitch. The stones, some of which remain on the field today, served as a temporary barricade to prevent more play. This piece of history gives us a clear location of the alleged football pitch, hence lending support to O'Brien's claim.The field soil investigations recently carried out also support the date of Rutherford's letter. The rocks deposited over the pitch are in harmony with the period when the reverend penned his letter, thus confirming that football was played in an organized way at that time. This indicates that the sport was not a chaotic, mob-like game but might have been more organized and with clubs competing in regular games.In the past, football during the 1600s had been believed to be a disorganized and violent game with numerous players and a pig's bladder as the ball. The games were played on the streets, and there were no structured rules. But the discovery in Dumfries and Galloway shows a formalized form of the game, played regularly on a designated pitch. This refutes previous speculation and implies early forms of football in Scotland were closer to the game as played today than originally thought.The results also provide new evidence for the history of football. O'Brien contends that the pitch near Anwoth Kirk is an early ancestor of the game today. The organization of the games, the playing of a demarcated pitch, and the frequency of the games indicate that Scotland was ahead of England by a few centuries in the development of football.O'Brien, founder of the Scottish Football Museum, emphasizes the importance of this discovery. He describes the field as "the grandparent" of modern world football and highlights Scotland's pivotal position in the formation of the sport. His observation also helps explain Scotland's superiority in the initial stages of international football. In the first international match in 1872, Scottish teams significantly outperformed English clubs, a result that O’Brien attributes to Scotland’s advanced football culture, which had been in place for over 200 years.The fresh disclosures on the site near Anwoth Kirk can redefine the historical timeline of football evolution. If verified, they will not only challenge conventional wisdom on the sport's origins but also highlight Scotland's pivotal role in the sport's early course. This discovery further underlines that Scotland's role in the world's most followed game began much earlier than when it became globally renowned in the 19th century.Also Read | American woman in Bengaluru, shocked by India’s late-night delivery services, says “...you can get everything!”