The World Cup Story the first sixty years

Early Football: Legends

There are many strange legends about the early history of football - but there are very few written records.

Which of these stories do you think are:

a) true? b) probably true? c) possibly true? d) certainly not true?

  • The Eskimos also played a game like football - on ice!. They used a ball filled with grass and animal hair. Games were played between different villages. Sometimes the goals were fifteen kilometres apart.
  • A Roman man was killed whilst having a shave when a ball was kicked into a barber's shop

  • Roman soldiers played football - but used the skulls of their enemies as balls.

  • An English village beat a Roman team on the pitch and then in battle in 217 AD.

How much do you know about the early history of football? Try this Quiz