New Evidence Suggests Scots May Have Invented the Game of Soccer

ANWOTH, SCOTLAND—In what may cause major ramifications for the history of sports, The Times reports that a team of researchers may have identified the world’s oldest known soccer field—not in England, where the “beautiful game” was purportedly invented in the mid-nineteenth century, but in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. A key piece of evidence was a letter written by Reverend Samuel Rutherford, who was minister at Anworth Old Kirk between 1627 and 1638. In the document, Rutherford expresses his dismay that parishioners were playing a game of “football” every Sunday at a place called Mossrobin farm. To put an end to this sacrilegious activity, he convinced pious community members to erect a barrier of stones across the playing field that would hinder the players' ability to compete. A team of archaeologists recently investigated the site and identified 14 large stones running across a flat field at the former Mossrobin farm. Soil testing confirmed they were likely moved there in the seventeenth century. Experts believe that these stones were not intended to mark a boundary, an agricultural field, or to help pen in livestock. Instead, they suggest that this unusual wall adds credence to the reverend’s story. The stones were deliberately put there for one reason: to stop the game of soccer from being played. “This is one of my greatest days ever, because we’re stood on the proof that we need to show that Scotland invented modern world football,” said Ged O’Brien, the former president of the Association of Sports Historians and founder of the Scottish Football Museum. To read about one archaeologist's efforts to revive an ancient Peruvian ritual game, go to "Bringing Back Moche Badminton."