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What British king was first to give soccer royal approval?

Charles II of England gave the game of soccer royal approval in 1681 when he attended a match between the Royal Household and the Duke of Albemarle’s servants.

What was tsu chu?

As far back as 2500 BC a game of kicking a ball called tsu chu (also spelled as cuju) was played in China. Tsu means “to kick the ball with feet” and chu means “a ball made of leather and stuffed.” Matches were often staged in celebration of the emperor’s birthday. The objective was for players to kick a ball through a round opening into a small net attached to bamboo poles. The opening was about 1 foot (30–40 centimetres) wide and elevated about 30 feet (nine metres) from the ground. During the Ts’in Dynasty (255 BC–206 BC) a form of tsu chu was used for training by soldiers, and from the Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) there survives a war manual featuring physical exercises called tsu chu. These exercises involved a leather ball filled with feathers and hair. With the exception of the hands, all other body parts could be used while trying to “score.”