beautiful THE GAME:
become popular in Hitchin and in 1772 a rather wild match occurred between the residents of Hitchin and Gosmore. At one stage the ball was in a river and after much struggling the contest was concluded when the victorious side put it in the porch of a local church. Until 1819, when the land upon which the game was played was sold, football was particularly popular with the pupils of the Free School in Hitchin, some claiming that it was an ‘old tradition’ that had lasted over fifty years. After this, football seems to have come to an end in Hertfordshire, the sole reference to the game appearing in a letter from 1815, where mention is made of it being played at Bushey Park. Given Hertfordshire’s proximity to the rich and populous London area, it is surprising that there is not more mention of football being played there in the first half of the nineteenth-century, for elsewhere in Britain, particularly in the North and Midlands, many teams appeared, based upon local villages, occupations, schools and such like. Indeed, on occasions, notably
H 18 EARLY FOOTBALL IN HERTFORDSHIRE By Dr Adrian Harvey
istorically, a print of football being played in Barnet market place that appeared in the 1750s was the first mention of the game in Hertfordshire. Shortly afterwards, football appears to have
at Surrey in 1849, football clubs were created based upon other organisations, such as the local cricket teams. Somehow, however, there was nothing in Hertfordshire. One possible reason might be the lack of a suitable playing area. As we have seen, this was the case at Hitchin and in 1824 the boys at the newly formed Aldenham School suffered the same problem. As it was, in 1863 the Football Association was formed and this seems to have helped solidify interest in football in Hertfordshire. For whatever reason, the authorities appear to have become more sympathetic towards the game and it is noticeable that more schools in the area, for instance Bishop Stortford, began to provide fields upon which their pupils could play. A
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Cheshunt became the first team in the area who used the rugby code
significant example of this was Aldenham School, which created their own football team in 1866 just a year after they had purchased two playing fields from Lord Rendlesham. Additionally, the increasing attention that the game was receiving in the London area prompted contact
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