Since the mid-19th century, England has been widely accepted as the birthplace of modern soccer.
Last month Mr. O’Brien and a team of archaeologists identified what they believe is the world’s oldest known soccer playing field, or pitch, on a former 17th-century farm in the town of Anwoth in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. The find offers rare physical proof of an organized playing field, in an era when written accounts of working-class recreations were scarce.
“Our discovery has serious implications for sports historians,” Mr. O’Brien said. “They will have to rewrite everything they think they know about the origins of the so-called beautiful game.”
The first clues emerged in a letter written by Reverend Samuel Rutherford, a Presbyterian cleric who was pastor at Anwoth Old Kirk (Church) from 1627 to 1638 and later a professor of divinity at St. Andrews University. In the document, he expressed dismay about parishioners who played “Foot-Ball” on Sabbath afternoons at a place called Mossrobin Farm.