Soccer has not changed much since the 1870s, but it had changed a lot during the first half of that century. Different regions and schools played different rules. Once the Football Asdociation came into being, common rules were agreed to. Hence the term Association football or soccer.
American and Canadian gridiron football, Gaelic football, rugby, soccer, Australian rules football and many others trace back to a lot of different variations going all the way back to the Greeks and Romans.
Did not know it went that far back. Thanks for the information. It was more interesting reading your posts than doing the paper work I am supposed to be doing.