Why did “folk football” disappear around the mid-19th century in England? Multistage process of enclosure, the fencing in of waste & common land, industrialization & urbanization, as well as regulatory repression almost caused the rural football to disappear.

bladder-inflated ball
The version they developed was called football and was played using a bladder-inflated ball.

It is believed that the earliest football games were played using human heads as balls. The heads in question were most likely detached from the shoulders of tribal enemies or criminals, before being put to use in friendly games.

Football was a truly working class sport in Europe. It was first played by rural labourers in villages and then workers in industrial cities. For many working class people with talent it was a way out of poverty, just as boxing had been also. But capital took it over in the last 150 years or so.

Sheffield F.C.
Sheffield F.C. in England, is the world’s oldest surviving independent football club—that is, the oldest club not associated with an institution such as a school, hospital or university. It was founded in 1857.

Cuju means “kick the ball with foot”. It was a popular sport played by ancient Chinese which is similar to today’s soccer game. During the Warring States Period (476-221 BC), Cuju was used as fitness training for military cavaliers.

Early Soccer Ball History However; rubber was not to be practically manufactured until a few thousand years later. According to historical references and legend, early balls ranged from human heads, stitched up cloth, animal and human skulls to pig or cow bladders.

England invented a game of running around kicking a ball in the mid-19th century (although the Chinese claim to have played a version centuries earlier). They called it “football,” not because the ball is played with the feet, but because the game is played on foot rather on horseback.

England
Football’s modern origins began in England more than 100 years ago, in 1863. Rugby football and association football, once the same thing, went their separate ways and the Football Association, the first official governing body for the sport, was established.

FIFA — Soccer’s World Governing Body Founded in 1904 to provide unity among national soccer associations, the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) boasts 209 members, rivaling that of the United Nations, and is arguably the most prestigious sports organization in the world.

Disturbed by the adverse effect that football was having on the good citizens of London, King Edward II banned the game from the city. Later in 1349, his son Edward III banned football entirely, concerned that the game was distracting men from practising their archery.

There have been many attempts to ban football, from the middle ages through to the modern day. The first such law was passed in England in 1314; it was followed by more than 30 in England alone between 1314 and 1667. Football faced armed opposition in the 18th Century when used as a cover for violent protest against the enclosure act.

The games were typically played in the streets which caused damage to property. A law was passed in 1818 banning street football. This law was ignored in Alnwick until 1827 when the Duke of Northumberland provided a field for the game to be played on legitimately.

Henry “the young king” was under the tutelage of the great William the Marshal. He, his brothers Richard, Geoffrey, and John turned to Europe where with Philip Count of Flanders they continued to practise and gain renown at the tournaments after their King, Henry II, had banned the tournament in England.