<Li> women playing a form of football was first described in 1580 by Sir Philip Sidney in one of his poems: "(a) tyme there is for all, my mother often sayes, When she, with skirts tuckt very hy, with girles at football playes ." </Li> <Li> the first references to goals are in the late 16th and early 17th centuries . In 1584 and 1602 respectively, John Norden and Richard Carew referred to "goals" in Cornish hurling . Carew described how goals were made: "they pitch two bushes in the ground, some eight or ten foote asunder; and directly against them, ten or twelue (twelve) score off, other twayne in like distance, which they terme their Goales". He is also the first to describe goalkeepers and passing of the ball between players . </Li> <Li> the first direct reference to scoring a goal is in John Day's play The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green (performed circa 1600; published 1659): "I'll play a gole at camp - ball" (an extremely violent variety of football, which was popular in East Anglia). Similarly in a poem in 1613, Michael Drayton refers to "when the Ball to throw, And drive it to the Gole, in squadrons forth they goe". </Li> <P> In the 16th century, the city of Florence celebrated the period between Epiphany and Lent by playing a game which today is known as "calcio storico" ("historic kickball") in the Piazza Santa Croce . The young aristocrats of the city would dress up in fine silk costumes and embroil themselves in a violent form of football . For example, calcio players could punch, shoulder charge, and kick opponents . Blows below the belt were allowed . The game is said to have originated as a military training exercise . In 1580, Count Giovanni de' Bardi di Vernio wrote Discorso sopra' l giuoco del Calcio Fiorentino . This is sometimes said to be the earliest code of rules for any football game . The game was not played after January 1739 (until it was revived in May 1930). </P>

When was the first official football game played