The original free kick in football was always Indirect (the ball had to be passed before a goal can be scored). It was adopted
into the game in 1877. Later, for more serious fouls, the Direct Free Kick was added to differentiate between the violence and
injures caused by the more serious fouls.

In the original set of football rules, there was no ‘foul’ included. The reason for this was that football was a game played by gentlemen and a foul would have been ungentlemanly behaviour. An apology to the player fouled was all that was needed.