Ancient Football Games

There have been reports of football games played by a variety of nations from the earliest of times. Some can however, not be considered frontrunners of today's football games but it is still interesting to see that from the earliest of times a ball was either kicked, caught or run with. Sports like "Harpastum" played by the Roman soldiers in the early days could have made an impression on the local people and it could have been a precursor for the football played especially in the British Isles today. "Marn Grook" played by the Australian Aborigines could have planted the seed for Australian Rules Football played today but this is doubtful. "Knattleikr" played in Iceland could have developed into something like Hurling played in Ireland because both sports involve hitting the ball with a stick.

Australian Aborigines:

When the British arrived in Australia, the aborigines already played a kind of game with a ball. In the aborigines' 40 000 year history, mention is made of this game and this would make it one of the oldest ball games known to historians. The name of the game is "Marn Grook" and in Gunditjmara (an aborigine language) the meaning is 'game of the ball'. The game primarily consisted of kicking, jumping and catching. It was widely played among the Australian aborigines. In the Australian states of Victoria, the tribes of Djabwurrung and Jardwadjali particularly played the game. The ball was the size of an orange, made of possum skin and stuffed. Teams consisted of between 50 and 100 players each. The ball was dropped and then kicked in the air. The only ball handling allowed was to catch the ball after the kick and no passing was allowed. Points were allocated to the player who jumped the highest to catch the ball.

In 1841 a certain Mr Thomas, an officer in Aborigine Affairs wrote the following on the game he observed during his roaming through urban Australia:

"The men and boys joyfully assemble when this game is to be played. One makes a ball of possum skin, somewhat elastic, but firm and strong. The players of this game do not throw the ball as a white man might do, but drop it and at the same time kick it with his foot. The tallest men have the best chances in this game. Some of them will leap as high as five feet from the ground to catch the ball. The person who secures the ball kicks it. This continues for hours and the natives never seem to tire of the exercise."

Tom Wills, one of the establishers of 'Australian Rules Football' played the game with the aborigines during the 1840's on his father's farm in Victoria.

Central and South America:

As early as about 1500 a kind of ball game was played by the inhabitants of Central and South America. The Olmec civilisation apparently was the first to play it but it quickly spread to the Teotihuacan, Mayan, Toltec and Aztec civilisations. In 1521 when Spain colonised Mexico, the game was prohibited.

The interesting aspect of this game is that from the earliest times it was played with a rubber ball. The ball was driven forward by kicking it with feet and knees and knocking it with hips and buttocks. The ball had to be kept in the air and was not allowed to touch the ground. The game was played on a court with a ring high up on a pole or against a wall and the purpose was to kick the ball through the ring. It was very difficult to score a goal and it is assumed that some or other point system would have indicated the winning team. The players wore a specially made and very uncomfortable shoulder piece that hung on them like an apron. They also wore protection around their knees and elbows.

In ancient South American civilisations the temple was built in a pyramid shape with steps and was located in the middle of the community. The king or ruler's residence was built very close to it. The court for the game was usually against the temple wall with sufficient provision for spectators. As the court and temple were built so close to each other, it is assumed that the game had significant religious meaning.

Usually only kings and the nobility were allowed to participate in the game and it was played only during important religious feasts. After the competition, one or more players of the losing team were sacrificed to the gods.

In 1528 Hernan Cortez took a number of the players to Portugal to demonstrate the game there. The introduction of a team sport played with a rubber ball must have made a huge impression on the Europeans but the game never took off there.

Greece:

In Greek literature and history there are several mentions of a ball sport which probably refers to the same game. Antiphanes, a Greek author (388–311 BC) mentioned a team sport known as 'Phaininda', but it was also called 'Episkyros' or 'Sphaeromachia' or 'Ephebike' - a game played by 12 players in each team and where the ball was caught with the hands.

Around 180 AD, Julius Pollox described the game Episkyros in his 'Dictionary Onomasticon' as follows:

"Two teams are separated with a line made with a piece of chalk, and behind each team there is another line. The purpose of the game is throwing a ball over the opposite team without passing the line in the middle, trying to reach the line behind the opponent."

In his work on the Ancient Olympic Games, Tony Perrottet wrote the following on Episkyros which seems to be considered an Olympic sport:

"Developed by the Spartans. The field was large and marked with stones. The rules were obscure. The two teams tossed a small leather ball back and forth at each other and trying to drive each other over their defence line. There were some bone-crunching collisions."

Later on a game called 'Harpaston' developed. Harpaston literally means 'hand ball'. In classic Greek culture 'Harpaston' is described as a hard and brutal game. All the rules of the game could not be found but the following rules are known:

1) Points are gained if a player kicks or carries or throws the ball to a team mate over the opposite goal line.

2) The opposition would try and prevent it at any means possible.

3) The pitch did not have a fixed size.

4) There were no sidelines.

5) There was no limitation to the number of players participating.

China:

The earliest form of ball game for which proof could be found, is a ball game played with feet. It dates back to the 2nd and 3rd Century BC. The game was called "Cuju" or "Tsu Chu". In a military text book from the times of the Han dynasty (206 BC to 24 BC) "physical education" was called "Tsu Chu". "Tsu" means kicking the ball with feet and "Chu" refers to a ball made of leather and stuffed. Initially the game was only played on the birthday of the Chinese ruler for him and his guests. Gymnastic movements for his soldiers were often based on the game and...