Posted by John Birch on September 11, 2000 at 14:34:50 from gateway1.gsi.gov.uk:
In Reply to: Soccer Re: Schools (was: Re: PM: Roger & Latin) posted by Adam Quinan on September 10, 2000 at 05:14:03:
Both football codes (Rugby and Association) owe their very existance to the "public schools". "Rugby" was the version played at Rugby School (obviously), while "Association" (I think) developed from Uppingham's version (?) but was indeed very popular at Eton. The Old Etonians XI were amongst he first winners of the FA Cup, and most of the players in the Wanderers side that won the first trophy in 1872 were ex-public schoolboys.
It was only from the 1890s that the game began a slow and steady slide down the social scale (ie. roughly from when the Football League began and professionals inevitably arrived). Rugby eventually became the pre-eminent public school game from after the First World War (as it is to this day, mainly because of its greater team ethos).