History of Football
You're Dead to Me
12/15/25
•13m
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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
Previous Episode
Introducing... Dead Funny History
December 13, 2025
•1m
Attention kids of all ages! Greg Jenner introduces his brand-new comedy history show for all the family.
From Ramesses the Great to the History of Football, the team behind You're Dead to Me serves up a smorgasbord of the funniest, messiest, and most astonishing stories from history.
Expect pirates, spies, superstars, chariot races, bouncing cats, ancient toilets, radioactive notebooks, and a pig named Albert, all crammed into 14-minute episodes packed with jokes and sketches.
Next Episode
Hadrian's Wall
December 16, 2025
•13m
Dead Funny History: Hadrian's Wall.
Join historian Greg Jenner for a hilarious and fascinating family adventure through ancient Britain, exploring the History of Hadrian’s Wall, one of the most iconic landmarks of the Roman Empire.
Rome meets Britain When the Romans first invaded Britain, they weren’t prepared for the chilly weather, the fierce tribes or how long it would take to build their empire. From Julius Caesar’s half-hearted invasions to Emperor Claudius’s chilly conquest, Greg Jenner whizzes through the centuries of Roman rule with his trademark wit and sketches.
Enter Emperor Hadrian! Then along comes the main man himself: Hadrian. The bearded emperor with a love of architecture, art, and... his boyfriend Antinous. With comedy flair, Greg tells how Hadrian rose to power, toured the empire, and decided to solve his northern problem by building a giant wall across Britain.
Hadrian’s Wall stretched 80 Roman miles, from coast to coast. A monumental feat of engineering that marked the edge of the empire. But was it an impenetrable defence, or just an ancient form of border control (with a bit of extra tax collection on the side)?
Behind the wall Greg and the Dead Funny History cast bring the world of Roman soldiers to life, complete with bustling forts, bakeries, temples, hospitals and toga shops! There’s even a few unfortunate emperors who discovered that visiting York didn’t always end well...
With jokes, sketches and sharp historical insight, this episode turns stone and history into laughter and learning for children, families and anyone curious about ancient Britain.
The afterlife of a wall From the Romans’ chilly retreat to the medieval locals who recycled Hadrian’s Wall into castles, churches and pigsties, Greg reveals how this monumental structure survived and how it later became a treasured World Heritage Site.
History has never been this funny Packed with facts, puns and fast-paced fun, Dead Funny History – Hadrian’s Wall makes the Roman past lively and unforgettable. Perfect for curious kids, history-loving families, and fans of Greg Jenner’s clever storytelling.
Writers: Jack Bernhardt, Gabby Hutchinson Crouch, and Dr Emma Nagouse Host: Greg Jenner Performers: Mali Ann Rees and Richard David-Caine Producer: Dr Emma Nagouse Associate Producer: Gabby Hutchinson Crouch Researcher: Dr Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow Audio producer: Emma Weatherill Script consultant: Dr Andrew Birley Production Coordinator: Liz Tuohy Jo Kyle: Production Manager Studio Managers: Keith Graham and Andrew Garratt Sound Designer: Peregrine Andrews
A BBC Studios Production
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