the meaning of be + infinitive

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Mori

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The first football games played in Britain were in the 700s and the English equivalent of a football was made using an animal bladder. Games were violent and injury and death were common. Despite the violence, however, they were still very popular. The game had become so popular that in the 1300s Edward II banned the sport because people were playing football rather than practicing archery. This was especially important to this king, as he was preparing to go to war with Scotland. This was to be the first of many bans imposed by the kings and queens of England.
Source: Mindset for IELTS Level 2, page 33

Does it mean the same as the 7th sense in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary?
be to do something: used to say what happened later
He was to regret that decision for the rest of his life (= he did regret it).

Or the 7th sense in the Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary?
You use was and were with an infinitive to talk about something that happened later than the time you are discussing, and was not planned or certain at that time.
Then he received a phone call that was to change his life.
 

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