For many British Jews, Shabbat leads them not to their nearest synagogue but to their favoured football stadium. But what do historic Jewish texts say about playing the beautiful game on the holiest days of the year?

Plenty, according to Alex Goldberg, presenter of When Shabbat Comes, a Limmud session looking at halachic approaches to soccer.

Mr Goldberg, who is training to become a rabbi, said there were Talmudic references to playing with a ball on Yom Tov. Citing the Shulchan Aruch - the code of Jewish law - he explained: "In the 19th century it said it was forbidden to play with a ball on Shabbat or Yom Tov.

"It was pre-association football, but it seems Jews were kicking around leather balls in Poland and Germany in the 15th century. The more you read, the more it seems it was a football."

Sephardi and Ashkenazi opinion differs on whether having a kick-about on Shabbat afternoons is acceptable. The latter takes a slightly more relaxed approach to the issue.

Sunday evening's session heard of the lengths some go to in order to enjoy the country's favourite sport. Examples were given of families having replaced lawns with artificial turf so that children could play without tearing up the ground and therefore breaking Shabbat.

As a teenage boarder at Carmel College, Mr Goldberg asked for permission for fellow pupils to play on Saturdays - and got a London Beth Din ruling allowing games to take place.

Now, as chair of the Football Association's faith and football group, he works to increase the participation of minorities in the game.

"We try to get religious Jewish and Muslim women to play football. We are looking at issues around religious clothing, like women wearing the hijab while playing, and finding venues where women can play unwatched by men," he said.

"Some strictly Orthodox Jews point to these religious texts as their argument against it."