Why was football banned 30 times in medieval England?

The European football championships have kicked off, so it's time to talk sports! Join Olivia and Aran as they crack open a cold one or several and take a look at the long history of football in Europe, as well as the almost-as-long history of football hooliganism. In doing so, we will try to understand why there have been so many attempts to ban the sport....that is to say, why every attempt to do so has failed!

For more on some of what we discuss, check out:

• Quest for excitement : sport and leisure in the civilizing process (Chapter 5) by Norbert Elias and Eric Dunning
  • https://archive.org/details/questforexciteme00elia/
• Football in Medieval England and in Middle-English Literature by F.P. Magoun, Jr.
  • https://www.jstor.org/stable/1838470
• Sport and Social Hierarchy in Medieval England by Thomas S. Henricks
  • https://www.jstor.org/stable/43609079
• Two poems about James Dog by William Dunbar
  • https://allpoetry.com/poem/15427673-Of-James-Dog--Madame--ye-heff-a-dangerous-dog--by-William-Dunbar