Hendon Hooker's perseverance leading revival of Tennessee football as family proudly watches on
Some schools favoured a game in which the ball could be carried , while others preferred a game where kicking and dribbling the ball was promoted . The division into these two camps was partly the result of circumstances in which the games were played. This is considered by historians to be a defining moment in the creation of Australian rules football. Through publicity and personal contacts Wills was able to co-ordinate football matches in Melbourne that experimented with various rules, the first of which was played on 31 July 1858. Rugby football was thought to have been started about 1845 at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, England although forms of football in which the ball was carried and tossed date to medieval times. In Britain, by 1870, there were 49 clubs playing variations of the Rugby school game. There were also "rugby" clubs in Ireland, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Finally, it was at English public schools that the division between "kicking...