Francis Magoun

American Francis Magoun was a literature professor who studied medieval and 20th century English literature, although he also authored some texts on football history. Although he was an American he served in the British Royal Air Force during World War I. Discharged from service in 1919, Magoun remained in England at the end of the war and attended Cambridge before returning to the United States. After his return he was employed by Harvard University, eventually being named professor. He published more than a dozen books, including a prose translation of the great Finnish epic The Kalevala. Honored by Finland in 1964, he was awarded the Order of the Lion. He also translated Grimm’s Märchen (Grimm’s Fairy Tales) in English, and became an expert in Germanic name setting.

“Annals of British Football” was a 183-page manuscript, published in Germany in 1938 as Volume 31 of the Kölner Anglistische Arbeiten entitled “History of Football: From the Beginnings to 1871”.