King Henry's Coventry Jersey

Rugby, Eton, Charterhouse, Winchester and so on…: sports were essentially born in the industrial era in English “Public Schools”.

The headmasters of these great boarding schools, such as Dr Thomas Arnold, responsible for forming the executives of the British Empire, seek to associate theoretical education and physical exercise.

Pupils from every age lived there in “Houses” under the authority of the eldest, and often met on a sports field to defend their colours against nearby “Houses”. So was born the necessity to wear a jersey or a distinctive cap.

Each Public School played a football of its own, at times dictated by the specificities of their field, (such as the Eton’s “Wall Game”), often following the rules passed down orally between generations.

We owe Rugby to the collegians of Rugby School who were the first in 1845 to codify and write their sport’s law allowing “Football Rugby” to develop itself in the whole country, and later worldwide.

Rugby is therefore the only sport that can claim to be named after a Public-school!
And vice versa!