The Evolutions of Football

Sports are organic. The games we see played on the fields and courts today have changed, in some ways significantly, over the decades, and if we were to travel ahead a century in the future those games would likely appear in somewhat, and perhaps markedly, different form. The Times of London reviewed a book last week that revealed the ancient origins of the two great football games that England helped bequeath to the world: rugby and soccer. Hugh Hornby's Uppies and Downies: The Extraordinary Football Games of Britain looks like a valuable addition to the shelf of sports fans and historians alike.