CHENNAI: Have you ever wondered where football’s very first rules came from or who laid them down? The answer now lies in a three-metre tall, 1,700-pound stone standing quietly inside the YMCA College of Physical Education, Nandanam. Etched on it are the 11 Cambridge Rules of Football - regarded as the earliest written code of the world’s most beloved game.
Back in 1848, Cambridge University students drafted 11 rules and nailed them to trees at Parker’s Piece, a public park in Cambridge. The “Cambridge Rules,” as they came to be known, were among the first attempts to standardise football.
They went on to shape the Laws of the Game, codified later by the Football Association in 1863 and maintained since 1886 by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), said Paul Sunder Singh, secretary of Karunalaya, a city-based NGO.
To commemorate this legacy, the Cambridge City Council in UK commissioned two artists in 2017 to carve a massive stone divided into nine segments, each bearing the rules in different languages. Of the nine, four segments were installed at Parker’s Piece.
Five were sent across the world - to Brazil’s Maracana Stadium, Shanghai Shenhua FC’s training ground in China, the Maadi Olympic Centre in Egypt, and Glads House adjacent to Bomu Community Stadium in Kenya, each having rules engraved in their respective language. The fifth stone sent to India, with rules carved on it in Tamil, has now found its home at the YMCA College of Physical Education after its unveiling on Sunday.
“The Cambridge City Council partnered with Street Child United, a UK charity, to place the sculptures globally. Since Karunalaya is Street Child United’s partner in India, and our team plays the Street Children’s World Cup (Cricket and Football), the stone was gifted to us,” explained Paul.
Initially kept on their premises, Karunalaya felt the monument deserved a more public sporting stage. “We approached both the AIADMK and DMK governments, informing them about the significance of the sculpture and requesting a place for it in a sports stadium, but we got no response. Finally, we chose the YMCA college - India’s first physical education college - as a fitting home,” said sports instructor and activist B Ramkumar David.
While Brazil and China showcase their stones at iconic sporting venues, Chennai’s football monument stands at YMCA as a humble yet proud tribute to the origin of the game’s rules, first posted on trees in Cambridge and now celebrated across the continents.