The Story of Football

People have played games like football for thousands of years.

• In ancient China they played a special game for the emperor's birthday. Soldiers kicked balls made of animal skin into a net between two posts. These posts were ten metres high.
• In the Pacific Islands they played games using hands and feet. They used coconuts and oranges as balls.

• In Mexico & Central America they played on a special pitch shaped like a capital "I". It was 10 - 15 metres long with high walls several feet at each end. In the middle of each wall there was a special stone or a wooden ring. You scored ‘goals’ by putting a hard rubber ball through the ring.
  

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• There are many legends about the early history of football in England. One story is that soldiers used the skulls of their enemies as balls.

• Another is that an English village beat a Roman team on the pitch and then in battle in 217 AD.
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How much do you know about the early history of football? Try this Quiz