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Why did both Edward II and Edward III prohibit soccer?

In 1314 King Edward II issued a prohibition against so called “mob football” because of the chaotic impact that “this hustling over large balls” had on the city life in London. Edward III also prohibited “futeball” in 1349 because it distracted able-bodied men from archery practice.

Quickies …

Did you know …

that the first recorded soccer death was in 1280 when in a game of mob football at Ulgham, near Ashington in Northumberland, a player was killed as a result of running against an opposing player’s sheathed dagger?

Who owned the first pair of football boots?

King Henry VIII’s soccer shoes — called football boots — were listed within the

Great Wardrobe of 1526, a shopping list of the day. They were made by his personal shoemaker, Cornelius Johnson, in 1525, at a cost of four shillings, the modern equivalent of $160 CDN. Little is known about them, as there is no surviving example, but the royal football boots are known to have been made of strong leather, ankle-high, and heavier than the normal shoe of the day.