Minnesota Vikings

What is the history/evolution of the goal post in rugby/gridiron? Why did it evolve this way?

Of course gridiron football is based on rugby and rugby was a deviation of soccer. So, what was the purpose of changing the goal? How and why did it go from a net-based goal to uprights?

Public Comments

1. We kept running into the nets.
2. OMG THAT LAST ANSWER WAS FUNNY! lol To be honest I havnt a clue...but Irish football..or Gaelic Football has nets and bars...its pretty old...could of come from that...
3. The American football single post at the bottom and not in the way of the try line actually makes sense. I played in eastern europe last year and they used that for rugby.
4. There isn't a clear reference, however at the same time that Rugby was invented goal posts soon appeared. They were referenced by 1830, and were 18 feet wide with a crossbar 10 feet tall. The focus was primarily on kicking for points, with the 'try' or 'touchdown' primarily used as a means of getting a chance to kick for points. Perhaps Rugby as the only school playing their game at the time wanted to differentiate themselves from other schools that were all playing a version of soccer. Since they changed the ball so that it wasn't round (easier to carry), a soccer net type goal would be very hard to consistently kick in for points. It seems to me that related sports that keep a rounder ball tend to have nets and 'soccer goals' and those that have changed to an oval or pointed ball have goal posts with or without a crossbar.