Football’s Beginnings
        •  The origin of Football can be found in every corner of 
           geography and history. 
        •  The Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Ancient Greek, Persian, 
           Viking, and many more played a ball game long before our 
           era. 
        •  The Chinese played "football"  games date as far back as 
           3000 years ago. 
        •  The Ancient Greeks and the Roman used football  games 
           to sharpen warriors for battle. In South and Central 
           America a game called "Thlatchi" once flourished. 
     Mesoamerican Football
    The Mesoamerican ballgame or Tlatchtli in 
  Náhuatl was a sport with ritual associations 
  played since 1,400 B.C. by the pre-Columbian 
  peoples of Ancient Mexico and Central 
  America. The sport had different versions in 
  different places during the millennia, and a 
  modern version of the game, ulama, is still 
  played in a few places by the local indigenous 
  population.
  • The rules of the ballgame are not known, but judging from its 
   descendant, ulama, they were probably similar to racquetball. 
   where the aim is to keep the ball in play. The stone ballcourt goals 
   (see photo to right) are a late addition to the game. This later 
   addition of the game changed the game entirely though, since an 
   immediate win could be attained from them by tossing the balls in 
   the ring, or points could be scored by simply tossing the ball so 
   that it touched the ring.In the most widespread version of the 
   game, the players struck the ball with their hips, although some 
   versions allowed the use of forearms, rackets, bats, or handstones. 
   The ball was made of solid rubber and weighed as much as 4 kg 
   (9 lbs), and sizes differed greatly over time or according to the 
   version played.The game had important ritual aspects, and major 
   formal ballgames were held as ritual events, often featuring human 
   sacrifice. The sport was also played casually for recreation by 
   children and perhaps even women.
                     ROMAN FOOTBALL
 •   HARPASTUM, also known as Harpustum, was a form of ball game 
     played in the Roman Empire. The Romans also referred to it as the 
     small ball game. The ball used was small (not as large as a follis, 
     paganica, or soccer-sized ball) and hard, probably about the size and 
     solidity of a softball. 
 •   The word harpastum is the latinisation of the Greek ἁρπαστόν 
     (harpaston), the neuter of ἁρπαστός (harpastos), "carried away”, 
     from the verb ἁρπάζω (harpazo), "to seize, to snatch”.
 •   This game was apparently a romanized version of a Greek game 
     called phainind  (Greek: φαινίνδα), or of another Greek game called 
     ἐπίσκυρος (episkuros). It involved considerable speed, agility, and 
     physical exertion. 
 •   Little is known about the exact rules of the game, but sources indicate 
     the game was a violent one with players often ending up on the 
     ground. In Greece, a spectator (of the Greek form of the game) once 
     had his leg broken when he got caught in the middle of play.
        Football in Europe
   • As we go forward on the history of Football timeline, 
     we notice that the game has gradually entered 
     European territory, Europe being the place where 
     modern day Football will start in several centuries. 
   • Middle age Football is covered in a combination of 
     myth and historical facts. 
   • One popular form of the game (Mob Football) 
     involved entire villages or towns and was rather 
     chaotic.