Thomas Arnold

Thomas Arnold was an English educator and historian and was also an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement. He was the headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1841, where he introduced a number of reforms. Arnold was not a great enthusiast for sport, which was permitted as an alternative to poaching or fighting with local boys and which did not become part of Rugby's curriculum until 1850. He described his educational aims as being the cure of soul’s first, moral development the second and intellectual development the third. However, this did not prevent Baron de Coubertin from considering him the father of the organized sport he admired when he visited English public schools, including Rugby in 1886. The modern global game of Football was first codified in 1863 in London. The impetus for this was to unify English public school and university football games. There is evidence for refereed, team football games being played in English schools since at least 1581. An account of an exclusively kicking football game from Nottinghamshire in the 15th century bears similarity to football.
Muscular Christianity is a Christian commitment to piety and physical health, basing itself on the New Testament, which sanctions the concepts of character and wellbeing.

This was dominated by those clubs who had supported professionalism, and the twelve founding members consisted of six from Lancashire (Blackburn Rovers, Burnley, Bolton Wanderers, Accrington, Everton and Preston North End) and six from the Midlands (Aston Villa, Derby County, Nott’s County, Stoke, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers). No sides from the South or London initially participated. Preston north end were the first ever team to win the football league and they did it without losing a single