How football began : a global history of how the world's football codes were born / Tony Collins.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- 1. The failure of the Football Association -- 2. Before the beginning: Folk football -- 3. The gentleman's game -- 4. Sheffield: Football beyond the metropolis -- 5. The end of the universal game -- 6. From the classes to the masses -- 7. Glasgow: Football capital of the 19th century -- 8. The coming of professionalism -- 9. Women and football: Kicking against the pricks -- 10. Rugby football: A house divided -- 11. Melbourne: A city and its football -- 12. Australian rules and the invention of football traditions -- 13. Ireland: Creating Gaelic football -- 14. Football and nationalism in Ireland and beyond -- 15. American football: The old game in the New World -- 16. Canadian football: Between scrum and snapback -- 17. Rugby League football: From people's game to proletarian sport -- 18. The 1905-06 football crisis: North America -- 19. The 1905-06 football crisis: Rugby -- 20. Soccer: The modern game for the modern world -- 21. The global game.