Eversincemedievaltimes,footballseemedtofittheEnglishpeoplelikeaglove.Legendtellsusthatthefirst"football"matcheswereplayedbythemobsatpublicexecutions,usingtheunfortunatevictim'sheadasaball.Althoughthisgoryimageisprobablynottrue,thehistoryofEnglishsoccerdidstartinmedievaltimes,butinalessgruesomescenario.

　　OneofthefirstreferencestoakickinggamecomesfromNorfolk,ina1321documentwhereitisstatedthatayoungmanhurthimselfduringa"gameashekickedtheball".Otherreferencesofkickinggamesaboundduringthatperiodandthefirstmentioningoftheword"football"wasmadebyKingHenryIVofEngland,whoissuedaproclamationthatforbadbettingon"foteball".

　　Inanycase,it'swellknownthatthehistoryofEnglishfootballasweknowitbeginswiththegamebeingintroducedinphysicaleducationclassesthroughouttheentirepublicschoolsystemofEngland.

　　Thesepublicschoolshadtheirownrulesthattheyplayedby,althoughtheobjectofthegame,theboundariesandseveralotheraspectsstartedtobecomecommonforallofthem.