There are vaious forms of "football" in different parts of the world and at different times in history.
The most popular is association football, also known as soccer.
The modern game can be traced back to English public schools in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Football League was founded in England in 1888.
Early History:
The Aincient Greeks and Romans are known to have played many ball games, some of which involved the use of the feet. It is mentioned by the Greek playwright Antiphanes (388-311BC) and by Clement of Alexandria (c150-c215AD) but these games appear to have resembled rugby football. The Roman politician Cicero (106-43BC) describes the case of a man who was killed whilst having a shave when a ball was kicked into a barber's shop.
A Chinese game called Cuju from between the 3rd century and 1st century BC involved kicking a
leather ball through a small hole in a piece of silk cloth which was fixed on bamboo canes and hung
about 9m above ground.
There is evidence of "football" being played in Japan from about 600AD and explorers found various
forms of football being played by the indigenous peoples in many different parts of the world - the Inuit
people from Greenland, native Americans, Aborigines in Austrailia and the Maori in New Zealand.
Football Facts 1: The Early History of Football
Above: Children playing Cuju
Left: An illustration from the 1850s of Australian Aboriginal hunter gatherers. Children in the background are playing a football game.