H. de Winton and J. C. Thring

Who is H. de Winton and J. C. Thring?

Henry de Winton and John Charles Thring were influential in the development of modern codes of football. In 1848, at Cambridge University they published a set of rules — Cambridge Rules — that were widely adopted in England. These influenced the development of Association football, Australian rules football, and subsequent games.

Winton and Thring both attended Shrewsbury School before going to Cambridge.

In 1848, they called a meeting at Trinity College, Cambridge, with representatives from Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Winchester and Shrewsbury. An eight-hour meeting took place, and the Cambridge rules were produced. No copy of these rules now exists, but a revised edition from about 1856 is held in the library at Shrewsbury School.

A later revision produced in October 1863 were brought to the table at an early meeting of The Football Association in December. The adoption of some of the ideas from this set of rules led to the decision of the FA to make hacking and carrying illegal, thus precipitating the split with rugby football. The Cambridge rules were therefore the basis of the FA's Laws of the Game.

Thring also produced another set of rules when he was a master at Uppingham School in 1862, which he called The Simplest Game. These rules are also known as the Uppingham Rules.