Gaelic football has changed immeasurably since the 1880s and according to UCD history professor Paul Rouse, one of the biggest changes is how referees are treated.
Speaking on Thursday’s OTB Live Drive for Five, Rouse said they basically had no authority when the sport was first played.
“There was an issue with refereeing. As in there was no tradition of refereeing in football games that were played before 1882.
“In a match here in Dublin around the outskirts up past Ballyboden, a referee was headbutted.
"So you weren’t allowed to headbutt on the field unless it was a referee clearly. So there were various assaults on referees and generally, the referee was ignored," he said.
In terms of the sport's beginnings, Rouse said it came from the mind of one man.
The early days
“We can talk about the idea of what even is Gaelic football itself? Where does it come from? Is there such a thing as Gaelic football before 1884? The answer, of course, is there isn’t.
"It is basically the case that Gaelic football was invented by Maurice Davin, who was charged at the meeting of the GAA on the 27th of December 1884 with writing a set of rules for hurling, Gaelic football and athletics.
"He constructed the rules of the game in the most broadest sense possible… It didn’t really define a tackle," the UCD history professor said.
The rules were extremely basic in the beginning and you can understand why things were so rough and tumble.
"It did say you couldn’t push someone from behind, you couldn’t pull someone from behind and you couldn’t headbutt anyone. They were the three basic lines in all of this.
“The first games of Gaelic football were played with soccer goals at either end. You won by scoring more goals - if you could score at all - than the opposition team. Which when there are 21 players on each team is a considerable challenge," Rouse said.
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