One of only two known copies of the first edition of the rules of football printed by the world’s first football club came to auction at Sotheby’s on July 21.
Bound within a Victorian scrapbook, the 16-page Rules, Regulations, & Laws of the Sheffield Foot-Ball Club, a list of members, &c, published in Sheffield by Pawson and Brailsford, 1859, took £45,000 (or £56,700 with premium) against a guide of £50,000-70,000.
Sheffield FC was established in 1857, predating the founding of the Football Association by six years. The club committee held a series of meetings in October 1858 in which the laws of the game were drafted, and it was agreed that these laws be printed and a copy given to every member of the club.