What’s that vibrating through the airwaves? Listen closely enough and you’ll hear those familiar words… “it’s coming home.” To celebrate the beginning of the World Cup, we’ve brought together some suitably sporty objects.
While football has been played in England since the Medieval period, football as we know it emerged in the 19th century, following the formalisation of the rules in 1877.
You can’t have football without a proper pair of boots. Occasionally, a truly historical pair of shoes are unearthed and recorded on the PAS database. Take a look at the remnants of this Roman military boot (BM-751115). The studs were likely a practical addition, since this shoe would have been used for heavy labor and marching. The first football boots may have looked a little like this shoe – early players used regular leather boots, occasionally nailed with leather studs to create traction on grass.
Our football footwear has come a long way. You only need to look at this famous example in the British Museum collection (EA95151). These boots were famously owned by footballer Mohamed Salah, also known as the ‘Egyptian King.’ As pictured here, the boots were displayed Egyptian sculpture galleries to represent a 21st century Egyptian icon.
The following two football flavoured objects were featured in this great episode of the Portable Antiquities Scheme podcast, PAStCast, with FLOs Lucy Shipley (Devon) and Ben Westwood (Durham).
Of course, we had to feature the only footballer on the database (NLM-0DED4D). This cast figurative badge depicts a sportsman. The angle of his body and position of his legs indicates that he is about to kick a football. He wears a blue and white vertically striped shirt, with horizontally striped socks. The remains of a pin on the back indicates that this object would have been worn, perhaps in support of a team. This little football player dates from between 1920-1960, pre-dating the now legendary England World Cup win in 1966. The PAS rarely records modern finds but on this occasion an exception was made for football!
The classic ‘three lions’ coat of arms – now emblazoned on the chest of England players – is not exclusive to the beautiful game. Three lions appear on this heraldic harness pendant form the 14th century (HESH-5A8529).
Harness pendants decorated the chest of a horse, to indicate royal allegiance. Richard the Lionheart (r. 1189-1199) was the first English monarch to use three golden lions on a scarlet background. This particular crest is a little different. Three lions on a blue background were the arms of Edward II (r. 1307-1327) and Edward III (r. 1327-1377) whilst they were heirs to the English throne. Lucy Shipley suggests that following the deposition of the controversial Edward II, wearing this pendant could have represented allegiance to the new King, Edward III.
In honour of the fearsome Welsh dragon, we’ve dug up this fantastic enamelled dragonesque Roman brooch, found in Gwynedd in north-west Wales (GAT-B5F5EA).
The story of the Welsh red dragon begins with the Celtic King Vortigern. Legend tells that Vortigern planned to construct a castle on the hillock Dinas Emrys. However, the King was warned by a young Merlin that two dragons slept inside the hillock. When Vortigern began to construct his foundations, he uncovered a red and white dragon, who began to fight. The white dragon eventually fled, leaving the red dragon to return to his mountain abode. The red dragon was adopted by the Welsh kings in the 5th century, to symbolise their authority following the Roman withdrawal.
Good luck to England and Wales this World Cup! The long history of football in the British Isles continues to be made. Perhaps this will be the year that (men’s) football really does come home.
References
https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/754902
https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/1030698
https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/792228
https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/1018515
https://www.visitwales.com/info/history-heritage-and-traditions/dragon-spirit-legend-welsh-dragon
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/craflwyn-and-beddgelert/features/a-tale-of-two-dragons
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2002/jul/18/theknowledge.sport
