The History of Football
As we all know, soccer has become the most popular
, most watched & televised and most played sport. According to Federation Internationale de Football Association or FIFA, over 270 million people are actively associated with soccer. The question is why soccer has become so interesting for people of every walk of life? What is the history behind such a widely popular game?
Soccer is a sport with history that dates back to 2nd & 3rd century and it is said that its earliest form originated from China where a game was played known as "cuju". In 2004 FIFA officially mentioned China as birthplace of soccer. In latter years different forms of this game has been spotted at other parts of world like "Kemari" in Japan, Harpastum in Rome & Knattleikr in Iceland. But these sports were quite different from modern football. By 19th century these different forms of soccer became organized & an event that was played mostly in England in prestigious schools.
The modern day soccer as we know it grew in England with formation of Football Association (FA) in 1863, the governing body for soccer in England. After establishment of FA, Ebenezer Cobb Morley, one of the founding members of the association drafted the "Football Laws" which implemented rules following which soccer is played today. The rules were defined about; number of players in a team, the ball, player equipment, field in which the game was played, referee, assistant referees, match duration, fouls, misconducts, offside, scoring methods, corner kicks, penalty, free kicks, goal kicks, ball out of play, start of play and throws. In about 9 years the Football Association had fifty member clubs & started to grow rapidly permitting a competition to start in 1972. FA Cup was the first soccer competition which is regarded as most prestigious soccer competition in England.
With British influence soccer started gaining popularity in other countries also and many countries developed their own football associations such as Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Uruguay and New Zealand.
FIFA was formed in 1904 for regulating international fixtures and had 7 founding members; Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, France, Switzerland & Belgium. In 1908 the first international soccer competition was started at Summer Olympics in London with England winning Gold medal. As the World Wars started, World War I and then World War II, the game was brought to halt. It gradually resumed in the years after wars finished. Before World Cup competition was created, in summer Olympics FIFA continued organizing a football competition to continue the game and by 1930 in Uruguay it had its own tournament with the host country winning the cup.
Soccer now is a rapidly growing sport and there are 208 teams which are recognized by the football association. In addition to these 208 teams representing their countries, there are numerous club teams which compete among themselves in different leagues. The game of soccer has now become a type of addiction for people all around the globe, helping not just individuals, but whole countries to come closer.
Author: Raj Ramsey
Raj Ramsey is a sports enthusiast who runs a
football forum that services thousands of football fans.
Football forums are a blast these days, letting fans express themselves about what they think of the latest happening in the sport.
The History of Football
By: Abdul Ramsey
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