The original handwritten draft rules for soccer from 1858 and the only known surviving copy of the printed Rules, Regulations, & Laws of the Sheffield Foot-Ball Club, published in 1859, weresold at an auction for more than $1.4 million.
Sheffield FC, the world’s oldest football club, sold them to an anonymous bidder. The club was organized in 1857, a year before soccer’srules officially came into play in Britain.
The rules encouraged a passing game played with the feet, and included the free kick, throw-in, goal kick, restrictions on handling the ball,and the banning of “hacking or tripping.”