Set-pieces have been in football since the game was codified by the moustachioed men of the newly-formed FA. They were very strange affairs, however – even stranger than seeing grown adults recoil in horror at the sight of a tiny canister of white spray foam.
In 1863, the original Laws of the Game defined a free-kick as “the privilege of kicking the ball, without any obstruction, in such a manner as the kicker may see fit”, which seems straightforward enough. But, as the original Laws allowed hacking, holding, tripping and “wresting”, free-kicks were rarely awarded for fouls.
Instead, before the introduction of goalkeepers, any player could handle the ball by way of a “fair catch” and, so doing, were entitled to set down the ball for a free-kick. The first…
