[1]: 6 Football faced armed opposition in the 18th century when used as a cover for violent protest against attempts to enclose common land.
Complaints by London merchants led King Edward II of England to issue a proclamation banning football in London on 13 April 1314 because "there is great noise in the city caused by hustling over large balls from which many evils may arise which God forbid; we command and forbid, on behalf of the King, on pain of imprisonment, such game to be used in the city in the future.
"[2] Playing football was seen as a distraction from practising archery, which was a mandatory occupation[3] for every Englishman for much of the Middle Ages because archers were so valuable in battle at that time.
King James I of England's Book of Sports (1618), however, instructs Christians to play at football every Sunday afternoon after worship.
The prosecution triggered a violent protest and resulted in over 100 armed men breaking into the Mayor's house; the ringleader was later fined 10 pounds or 400 shillings,[contradictory] a very large sum of money at the time.
In 1440 the bishop of Tréguier threatened players with excommunication and a fine of 100 sol, saying that "these dangerous and pernicious games must be prohibited because of hatred, grudges and enmities which, under the veil of recreational fun, accumulate in many hearts".
One such event in Deeping Level, north of Peterborough, led to the sheriff of Lincolnshire raising the posse comitatus to quell the riots.
A game of football was advertised in a local newspaper[17] and after the kick off the mob set about tearing down and burning the fences amounting to £1,500 worth of damage.
[1]: 17 In 1931 the women's team from Fløya in Tromsø wrote to the Norwegian Football Association seeking permission to stage a series of fundraising matches.
Women continued to play football in Norway despite the lack of official recognition, and were accepted into the Norwegian FA in 1976.
[23] In July 2013 Libya's women's football team was banned from playing in an international tournament in Berlin, despite initially being given permission to attend.