The Cambridge Rules were several formulations of the rules of football made at the University of Cambridge during the nineteenth century.

Parker's Piece is a 25-acre (100,000 m2) flat and roughly square green common located near the centre of Cambridge, England, regarded by some as the birthplace of the rules of association football. The two main walking and cycling paths across it run diagonally, and the single lamp-post at the junction is colloquially known as Reality Checkpoint. The area is bounded by Park Terrace, Parkside, Gonville Place, and Regent Terrace. The Cambridge University Football Club Laws were first used on Parker's Piece and adopted by the Football Association in 1863. "They embrace the true principles of the game, with the greatest simplicity". 'The Cambridge Rules appear to be the most desirable for the Association to adopt'.