World’s oldest football rule book from 1858, sold for Rs 58 lakhs

One of the oldest manuscripts containing the rules of football was sold for a whopping £57,000 which is approximately Rs 58 lakhs.

The auction that was carried out on Sotheby’s website culminated when one of the auctioneers locked the final price.

The book was found in a Victorian scrapbook compiled by Rev Greville John Chester, a clergyman. The pamphlet is pencil-signed by William Baker. He was a committee member who signed off the rules of the club on October 21, 1858. Printed in 1859, the rule book is hand-annotated following a series of meetings held by Sheffield Football Club.

The Sheffield Football Club, established in 1857, is considered the world’s oldest football club by FIFA, the international federation of football. The club was a vital factor in the game’s development and was the first inventor of set-pieces like the corner kick and indirect free-kick.

The Star, Sotheby’s books and manuscript specialist, Gabriel Heaton, said, “This exceptional piece takes us back to the origins of this beautiful game, to almost 160 years ago. It gives unique insights into the development of the rules through hand-written annotations, probably by the first owner of the book, as they continued to be developed and altered in the early years.”