Dead Funny History: History of Football.
Join historian Greg Jenner for a funny and fascinating journey through the History of Football. A laugh-out-loud episode of Dead Funny History, the family podcast that brings the past back to life.
From medieval madness to the modern game
Football might be the world’s favourite sport today, but its early days were anything but beautiful. Greg takes us back to medieval Britain, when football was a chaotic town-wide scramble played on Pancake Day, complete with hundreds of players, broken windows and absolutely no referee in sight.
Kings, chaos … and the rules of the game
We meet monks who first wrote about the sport and kings who tried (and failed) to ban it. Then, in the 1800s, posh public-school students invented their own versions, and their many arguments eventually gave us both football and rugby.
Enter the gloriously named Ebenezer Cobb Morley, the man who helped create the Football Association and the rulebook that changed the game forever.
The women who made football their own
Greg also features the brilliant women who played, led and loved football long before it was accepted. There’s Nettie Honeyball, who founded the British Ladies’ Football Club, and Lily Parr, the teenage superstar striker of the Dick, Kerr Ladies, famous for her unstoppable shot and trailblazing spirit.
Even when the FA banned women’s matches in 1921, these pioneers kept playing, paving the way for today’s Lionesses.
History meets hilarity
With jokes, sketches and sound effects galore, from “Vatican VAR” to medieval mob matches, Greg Jenner and the Dead Funny History team bring the story of football roaring to life. It’s packed with fun facts, silly moments and quick-fire quizzes that make learning irresistible for children, families and football fans alike.
The perfect family listen
If you’ve ever wondered how football began, why kings banned it, or how women’s teams made sporting history, this episode delivers a clever mix of comedy and education.
Funny, factual and full of heart, Dead Funny History: The History of Football is history with extra time and plenty of laughs.
Host: Greg Jenner
Writers: Jack Bernhardt, Gabby Hutchinson Crouch and Dr Emma Nagouse
Performers: Mali Ann Rees and John Luke-Roberts
Producer: Dr Emma Nagouse
Associate Producer: Gabby Hutchinson Crouch
Audio Producer: Emma Weatherill
Script Consultant: Professor Jean Williams
Production Coordinator: Liz Tuohy
Production Manager: Jo Kyle
Studio Managers: Keith Graham and Andrew Garratt
Sound Designer: Peregrine Andrews
A BBC Studios Production