World's oldest pitch proves football was born in SCOTLAND - and not England, expert claims READ MORE: The stupidest things footballers have ever said By XANTHA LEATHAM, EXECUTIVE SCIENCE EDITOR Published: 10:02 BST, 30 April 2025 | Updated: 10:09 BST, 30 April 2025 It's the song that every English football fan sings at the top of their lungs every four years. But 'It's Coming Home' – belted out at the UEFA European Championships – might now take on a slightly different meaning, according to a study. An expert has uncovered compelling evidence that suggests the 'beautiful game' may have actually originated in Scotland some 200 years before the English started officially playing it. Historian and sports archaeologist Ged O'Brien claims a 17th century football pitch in Kirkcudbrightshire county is the first playing field. And if correct, it would predate England's claim to have formally recognised the game by decades – and more than two centuries before the formation of the Football Association (FA). Mr O'Brien, the former president of the Association of Sports Historians, said his discovery will force those who believe modern football was invented in England to 'rewrite everything they think they know'. He said the first clues emerged in a letter from the Reverend Samuel Rutherford, minister at Anwoth Old Kirk from 1627 and 1638. The letter reveals his dismay at finding parishioners playing 'foot-ball' on Sabbath afternoons at the nearby Mossrobin Farm. Sports historian Ged O'Brien and his team say this is the site of the world's oldest football pitch, in Anworth, Kirkcudbrightshire The Scottish national football team from 1895. Historians say their discovery could help explain Scotland's early dominance against England In an attempt to ban the games, Revered Rutherford repeatedly ordered a line of stones to be placed across the field. Mr O'Brien, whose discovery was revealed on BBC Scotland's 'A View From The Terrace', said: 'I have always thought football has been played in Scotland for hundreds of years. 'Not mob-football, but proper football. Of course it has always been very hard to prove it because working people never kept records. 'Rutherford is enraged by the fact his parishioners played football every Sunday, and so one day he heads out after doing his preaching to remonstrate with them and say that, 'As the stones around him were his witness they were doing wrong'.' Mr O'Brien and his team of archaeologists set out to find the stones – and discovered a line of 14 large rocks cutting across a flat area at the former Mossrobin farm. Tests of the soil beneath the stones suggest they were put there around the time of Rutherford's order. Archaeologist Phil Richardson, of Archaeology Scotland, who conducted the tests, said: 'This backs up the story that a barrier was put across an open space. 'It's not about stock control, it's not about agriculture or land boundaries and ownership. A linesman in pantaloons marshals the game as England play Scotland at Bramall Lane, Sheffield in 1903. Scotland won the game 2-1 An early England vs Scotland game held at Crystal Palace in London on the 1st April 1905. Here the Scotland goalkeeper J Lyall (centre) can be seen preparing to kick the ball downfield during the match which England won 1-0 'This is not a wall, it's a temporary barrier to stop a particular event happening – in this case football.' 'In the history books, football is mob-football. It was chaos, people drunk, it's anarchy. 'The traditional view of modern football is that it started in 1863 with a group of ex-public schoolboys from places like Eton and Harrow. 'Now, this is entirely and utterly mistaken because, for hundreds of years, the Scots have been regularly playing football in Anwoth and places like it. 'Looking at the map, there are five tracks leading to the edge of this site. So, 400 years ago, everybody in a 10-mile radius knew where this was. 'If you're playing football every Sunday of every year, you've got rules because you have to agree on rules. 'You couldn't play violent football because you needed to work on Monday, so you're thinking about your football, you're playing regular football. 'This is the ancestor, the grandparent, of modern world football, and it's Scottish.' Archaeologists strongly believe the original 'home' of football is actually Scotland instead of England Archaeologist Kieran Manchip, who assisted with the discovery, said: 'You do get that sense of it being almost like a natural amphitheatre. 'Putting together all the sources, being here in the landscape and seeing how it all pieces together, all of those things corroborate with one another.' Why football will always be a hit with fans - and how die-hard supports could be just like Neolithic men traipsing to Stonehenge... Sheffield FC, founded in 1857, is currently recognized as the world's oldest football club, and the establishment of England's Football Association in 1863 marked the beginning of formalized rules. Scotland's own Football Association followed in 1873, and by 1872, Scotland and England played the world's first official international match. The discovery could help explain Scotland's early dominance when playing football against England, Mr O'Brien said. 'It's absolutely no surprise', he said, 'because these people are 200 years in front of what England are doing.' WHAT MAKES THE BEST FOOTBALLER? Players with great skill, such as Lionel Messi (pictured) are more likely to win games than players with superior athletic ability Skillful footballers are more likely to win matches than even the most athletic players, according to research from the University of Queensland. A study found that balance and skill when controlling the ball can tip a game toward a win more than speed, strength, or fitness. The researchers say their study could help football coaching academies focus their training on player attributes that are more likely to win games. The Queensland team used analytical techniques developed in evolutionary biology to determine the impact of a player's skill, athletic ability, and balance on their success during a game. They found that a player's skill that was the most important factor to their and their team's performance. Players will higher skill were more likely to be more involved in games and have more successful contributions. However, players with top athletic abilities like speed, strength and fitness were not associated with higher success rates in games. 'Higher skill allows players to have a greater impact on the game,'said lead researcher Dr Robbie Wilson, from the University of Queensland, Australia, told MailOnline. 'Accurate passing and greater ball control are more important for success than high speed, strength and fitness. 'It may be obvious to fans and coaches that players like Lionel Messi and Neymar are the best due to their skill. 'However, 90 per cent of research on soccer players is based on how to improve their speed, strength, and agility — not their skill.' Share or comment on this article: World's oldest pitch proves football was born in SCOTLAND - and not England, expert claims Add comment