The Boy's Own Book of Football

To celebrate the World Cup of 2026, we present The Boy's Own Annual of Football.

The Boy’s Own Annual was one of Britain’s most influential youth publications at the turn of the twentieth century, promoting ideals of courage, fair play, perseverance, and healthy recreation. Sport occupied a central place in its vision, being regarded not merely as entertainment but as a means of developing character, discipline, leadership, and comradeship. While cricket, rowing, athletics, cycling, swimming, and boxing all featured prominently, association football had, by 1901, emerged as one of the nation’s leading sports. The Annual’s extensive football coverage—including tactics, famous matches, and discussions of the laws of the game—reflects the sport’s rapid rise from a pastime to a national passion.

This volume reproduces all the football material from the 1901 Boy’s Own Annual, including contributions from two respected authorities: Charles W. Alcock, founder of the FA Cup and a key figure in the development of organised football, and the Reverend T. C. Collings, a schoolmaster and writer who championed the game’s educational and moral value. Together, their writings offer a unique insight into football at the dawn of the twentieth century—an era when the sport was growing rapidly while still retaining strong ideals of sportsmanship and character. Preserved in their original form, with contemporary illustrations and tables, these articles capture the enthusiasm and optimism that accompanied football’s emergence as Britain’s most popular game.

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