On This Day – 12th June
If you think that it’s been bad having no football during lockdown, imagine what it must have been like on this day back in 1349 when Edward III banned football across the country!
Of course, football in the 14th century was nothing like the sport we all love of today but it was still a sport played by thousands of men. The game had been banned by Edward II from cities across England but his son Edward III went one better by enforcing a country-wide ban!
The King’s reasoning behind the ban was that the game was having a bad effect on Englishman’s archery skills. These were particularly important as the country was in the middle of the Hundred Years’ War with France.
Luckily, the ban was eventually lifted and the game eventually grew into the sport that we all love today. Just as those football fans back in he 14th century, we too will be delighted when football returns to normality!
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