East Anglians played Capball whose name suggests a Germanic origin, the French la Soule or la Chole (a rough-and-tumble cross-country game, very similar to the mass football being played in England and also played mainly on Shrovetide).
In fact, there had been traditions of ball sport games for many centuries before Webb Ellis' was born.
Pastimes of this kind were also known to many nations of antiquity, the existence of ball games among the tribes, such as the Maoris, Faroe Islanders, Philippine Islanders, Polynesians and Eskimos, points to their primitive nature. Although it is extremely unlikely that these had anything to do with the development of football in England.
The first recorded game of ball being played in London (in a large flat open space just outside the city) was during the annual festival of Shrove Tuesday in 1175. This was documented by a London born monk called William Fitzstephen (c.1174-1183) who wrote a 'history of London' in Latin where he documented:
"After lunch all the youth of the city go out into the fields to take part in a ball game. The students of each school have their own ball; the workers from each city craft are also carrying their balls. Older citizens, fathers, and wealthy citizens come on horseback to watch their juniors competing, and to relive their own youth vicariously: you can see their inner passions aroused as they watch the action and get caught up in the fun being had by the carefree adolescents"
The earliest confirmation that such ball games in England involved kicking comes from a verse about St Hugh, the Anglo-French bishop of Lincoln. This was probably written in the twelfth century, although the specific date cannot be known: "Four and twenty bonny boys, were playing at the ball.. he kicked the ball with his right foot".
In about 1200 "ball" is mentioned as one of the games played by King Arthur's knights in "Brut", written by Layamon, an English poet from Worcestershire. This is the earliest reference to the English language "ball". Layamon states: "some drive balls (balles) far over the fields".
Records from 1280 report on a game at Ulgham, near Ashington in Northumberland, in which a player was killed as a result of running against an opposing player's dagger. This account is noteworthy because it the earliest reference to an English ball game that definitely involved kicking; this suggests that kicking was involved in even earlier ball games in England.
The earliest reference to ball games being played by university students comes in 1303 when "Thomas of Salisbury, a student of Oxford University, found his brother Adam dead, and it was alleged that he was killed by Irish students, whilst playing the ball in the High Street towards Eastgate".
Between 1314 and 1667, football was officially banned in England alone by more than 30 royal and local laws.
The earliest reference to a game called football occurred in 1314 when Nicholas de Farndone, Lord Mayor of London issued a decree on behalf of King Edward II banning football. It was written in the French used by the English upper classes at the time. A translation reads: "[f]orasmuch as there is great noise in the city caused by hustling over large foot balls [rageries de grosses pelotes de pee] in the fields of the public from which many evils might arise which God forbid: we command and forbid on behalf of the king, on pain of imprisonment, such game to be used in the city in the future."
Another early account of kicking ball games from England comes in a 1321 dispensation, granted by Pope John XXII to William de Spalding of Shouldham:
"To William de Spalding, canon of Scoldham of the order of Sempringham. During the game at ball as he kicked the ball, a lay friend of his, also called William, ran against him and wounded himself on a sheathed knife carried by the canon, so severely that he died within six days. Dispensation is granted, as no blame is attached to William de Spalding, who, feeling deeply the death of his friend, and fearing what might be said by his enemies, has applied to the pope."
Banning of ball games began in France in 1331 by Philippe V, presumably the ball game known as La soule.
King Edward III of England also issued such a declaration, in 1363: "moreover we ordain that you prohibit under penalty of imprisonment all and sundry from such stone, wood and iron throwing; handball, football, or hockey; coursing and cock-fighting, or other such idle games". It is noteworthy that at this time football was already being differentiated in England from handball, which suggests the evolution of basic rules. A clear reference is made ad pilam. . . pedinam in the Rotuli Clausarum, of Edward III (1365), as one of the pastimes to be prohibited on account of the decadence of archery. Richard II did the same thing in 1388.
The first clear reference to the English word, 'football' was not recorded until 1409, when King Henry IV of England issued an edict forbidding the levying of money for "foteball.
Both Henry VIII and Elizabeth also enacted laws against football, which, both then and under the Stuarts and the Georges, seems to have been violent to the point of brutality, a fact often referred to by prominent writers.
James I, immediately after his release from prison in England in 1424, held a council meeting and issued an act where he debarred "fute ball". This was also the earliest reference to football or kicking ball games in Scotland. James II followed suit in 1457.
James III decreed against it at his sixth parliament in Edinburgh 1471 and James IV did the same in 1491
Charles II again made the game unlawful. In fact during the period 1314 to 1527 no less than nine European monarchs make it a specific offence to play "foote balle", instead directing their subjects to practice archery instead or face fines or even imprisonment. Despite it all, youths continued to play the game.
In about 1430 Thomas Lydgate refers to the form of football, Camp Ball: "Bolseryd out of length and bread, lyck a large campynge balle".
Source: Rugbyfootbalhistory
