Episode 1 of 4
Alleged Rule Violation
- When
- 1823–1826 (disputed)
- Where
- Rugby School
William Webb Ellis allegedly caught the ball and ran with it during a football match, an action that was illegal at the time.
According to Matthew Bloxam, Ellis caught the ball in his arms during a Bigside football match in the latter half of 1823. Running with the ball was not allowed, making this an unpremeditated violation rather than a formal invention. Bloxam's own accounts dated the invention to around 1823 to 1826.
Sources
- William Webb Ellis Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-06
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.