Today's Tidbit... 1876 IFA Rule #60: The Field

This is #60 in a series covering football's original 61 rules adopted by the Intercollegiate Football Association in 1876. We review one rule each Friday.

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The old folk football games kicked the ball from one town center to the next or defined the pitch based on what was available at a local park or field. As rugby developed at Rugby School, they played the game on a field known as Old Bigside, which was about 130 by 80 yards. As the rugby version of football spread to other locations, they played on fields of reasonably similar dimensions until 1879, when the Rugby Union rule-makers amended the rules to define a maximum field size:

The field of play must not exceed 110 yards in length, nor 75 yards in breadth, and should be as near those dimensions as practicable.

Rugby Union field of play (Johnson, Rev. Theodore (ed.) The Parish Guide. London: Well, Gardner, Datron. 1887)