[MR] Medieval Football

[firespiter at yahoo.com]

One point I would make is that the term football definately pre-dates 
William Midleton in the 15th century.
As an archer from 1360, I noted it specifically due to the fact that the sport and similar "idle games" are outlawed by Edward III in favor of and to promote archery.
The words "fote ball" and "pelotes de pee{pied}" appear in writings in the 1300's, well before the 15th. Maybe she's refering specifically to the Welsh using the term, though.
There's many more references to football notated in wikipedia under "medieval football". I especially like the references where people are stabbed to death accidentally by the knives of other players. (Evidently, people occasionally still wore daggers and knives on their belts while playing the aggressive contact sport).
-Cian of Storvik