The first football game was started at 1869. The game took place in New Brunswick in New Jersey. There was about ~100 spectators.
The rules were actually different. Quite opposite compared to modern actually. The goal was to kick the ball into the opponent goal but instead of just kicking, people were allowed to bat the ball with hands, feets, and even their head! And throwing/carrying the ball was actually not permited.
This was where american football started gaining popularity