Illustration of a game of football being played in the streets of London during the 14th century. Football of this time, played without rules in narrow medieval streets, was both fantastically popular and equally violent. In 1314 a group of London merchants petitioned King Edward II to ask him to ban the playing of football, due to the impact it was having on their business. The King was happy to ban the game, feeling that 'many evils might arise...' from the playing of football.