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History of English football: Football, Football in England, Association football, Medieval football, Timeline of English football
History of English football Football Football in England Association football Medieval football Timeline of English football The History of English football is a long and detailed one, as it is not only the national sport but England was where the game was developed and codified. The modern global game of Football was first codified in 1863 in London. The impetus for this was to unify English public school and university football games. There is evidence for refe... more »reed, team football games being played in English schools since at least 1581. An account of an exclusively kicking football game from Nottinghamshire in the fifteenth century bears similarity to football. England can boast the earliest ever documented use of the English word "football" (1409) and the earliest reference to the sport in French (1314). The modern passing game is believed to have been innovated in London and England is home to the oldest football clubs in the world (dating from at least 1857), the world's oldest competition (the FA cup founded in 1871) and the first ever football league (1888). For these reasons England is considered the home of the game of football.« less