Football

3 December 1726
Bedford, Nov. 26. On Wednesday the 2d instant, a most obstinate and hard match at football was play’d near Great Harwood in this county, between 7 men of the Village of Ranse, and the like number of Great Harwood; which last had challenged the whole Kingdom to match them. The contest was so great between them, that one of the Harwood Champions dropp’d down dead on the spot, whose brother being engaged on the same side, would not leave off till the decision of the game, which ended in favour of their antagonists the Ranse men. (Mist’s Weekly Journal)

(Texts have been modernized with regard to capitalization, italicization, and punctuation, but original spelling has been retained. This edition copyright Rictor Norton. All rights reserved. Reproduction for sale or profit prohibited. These extracts may not be archived, republished or redistributed without the permission of the compiler.)

CITATION: Rictor Norton, Early Eighteenth-Century Newspaper Reports: A Sourcebook, "Football", 13 March 2007 <http://grubstreet.rictornorton.co.uk/football.htm>

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