Football Act 1424

The Football Act 1424 was passed by the Parliament of Scotland in the reign of James I. It became law on 26 May 1424, one of a set of statutes passed that day; it is recorded as James I. 1424 (May 26) c.18 in the Record Edition of the statutes, and James I. Parl. 1-1424 c.17 in the Duodecimo Edition. The title of the Act was "Of playing at the fut ball".

The Act stated that it is statut and the king forbiddis that na man play at the fut ball under the payne of iiij d^[1] - in other words, playing football was forbidden by the King, and punishable by a fine of four pence.

The Act remained in force for several centuries, although somewhat unsurprisingly, it fell into disuse. It was finally repealed by the Statute Law Revision (Scotland) Act 1906.

Three further 15th century Acts (in 1457, 1470 and 1490) explicitly prohibit both football and golf (see Golf in Scotland) during wappenschaws (English: musterings) for archery practice.^[2][3]

See also

• Ba game
• Mediæval football
• Football in Scotland
• Scotland in the Late Middle Ages
• Sport in Scotland

References

1. Craigie, William A; et al. A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: from the Twelfth Century to the End of the Seventeenth. Aberdeen University Press, Oxford University Press.
2. Craigie, William A; et al. A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: from the Twelfth Century to the End of the Seventeenth. Aberdeen University Press, Oxford University Press.
3. Parliamentary Register

• Gordon Donaldson, Scottish Historical Documents. Scottish Academic Press, 1970. Reprinted 1974.
• Chronological Table of the Statutes 1235-1991, HMSO, 1993.