The contemporary history of the world's favourite game spans more than 100 years.

t all
began in 1863 in England, when rugby football and association football branched off on their
different courses and the Football Association in England was formed - becoming the sport's
first governing body.
Both codes stemmed from a common root and both have a long and intricately branched
ancestral tree. A search down the centuries reveals at least half a dozen different games,
varying to different degrees, and to which the historical development of football has been
traced back. Whether this can be justified in some instances is disputable. Nevertheless, the
fact remains that people have enjoyed kicking a ball about for thousands of years and there
is absolutely no reason to consider it an aberration of the more 'natural' form of playing a ball
with the hands.
On the contrary, apart from the need to employ the legs and feet in tough tussles for the ball,
often without any laws for protection, it was recognised right at the outset that the art of
controlling the ball with the feet was not easy and, as such, required no small measure of
skill. The very earliest form of the game for which there is scientific evidence was an exercise
from a military manual dating back to the second and third centuries BC in China.
This Han Dynasty forebear of football was called Tsu' Chu and it consisted of kicking a
leather ball filled with feathers and hair through an opening, measuring only 30-40cm in
width, into a small net fixed onto long bamboo canes. According to one variation of this
exercise, the player was not permitted to aim at his target unimpeded, but had to use his
feet, chest, back and shoulders while trying to withstand the attacks of his opponents. Use of
the hands was not permitted.
Another form of the game, also originating from the Far East, was the Japanese Kemari,
which began some 500-600 years later and is still played today. This is a sport lacking the
competitive element of Tsu' Chu with no struggle for possession involved. Standing in a
circle, the players had to pass the ball to each other, in a relatively small space, trying not to
let it touch the ground.
The Greek 'Episkyros' - of which few concrete details survive - was much livelier, as was the
Roman 'Harpastum'. The latter was played out with a smaller ball by two teams on a
rectangular field marked by boundary lines and a centre line. The objective was to get the
ball over the opposition's boundary lines and as players passed it between themselves,
trickery was the order of the day. The game remained popular for 700-800 years, but,
although the Romans took it to Britain with them, the use of feet was so small as to scarcely
be of consequence.
Reference : hLLp//wwwflfacom/classlcfooLball/hlsLory/game/hlsLorygame1hLml






















History of Soccer
Although the official rules of soccer were founded in England, we do not know exactly where
it originated. Yet from what we know of the history of soccer, the earliest forms of soccer
were seen in Asia close to 3,000 years ago.
These forms of the sport were not played with the same rules that we use today, but we can
see resemblances.
One early form of soccer was an ancient Chinese game called cuju. This game was played
with 2 to 10 players. The players were allowed to touch the ball with any part of the body
except the hands. They would shoot a ball at a minuscule hole to score. points were also
deducted for fouls (the worse the foul the more points deducted). n the end, the team with
the most points won.
Asia, however, was not the only continent throughout the history of soccer to play sports that
resembled soccer in those days. n some areas in South America they were using rubber
balls to play a sport that vaguely resembled soccer as we know it.
Also, the Greeks and Romans were said to have a game that was very similar to soccer. t
was played with 27 players on each team. t is not an established fact that they had the
game, but some believe it to be true.
Other than this, there seems to be little evidence in the history of soccer that shows the
game made its way into Europe until around 1000 AD.
As soccer began to move toward Europe, it began to look a little more like modern soccer. t
was still a brutal sport, though. Many injuries occurred in virtually every game. For this
reason, people of higher class began to dislike the sport.
Soccer was banned in England during the reign of King Edward (1307-1327). Anyone who
was caught playing soccer at this time was thrown into prison. This did not stop people from
playing soccer.
Soccer continued to grow, though it was banned by many other kings and queens of England
who came into power after King Edward. Many players were imprisoned and otherwise
punished for playing the sport throughout the history of soccer.


The nvention of Soccer
After a few centuries had gone, soccer became more popular and was no longer banned.
Schools in England began to make teams that would play each other. The idea of
tournaments started to spread outside of the schools. However, tournaments were still hard
to have as rules varied wherever you were.
Finally, in the year 1863 a man from England named Ebenezer Cobb Morley, who had
previously established the Barnes Club, called a meeting for the founders of many soccer
clubs to decide the official rules of soccer. On the 8th of December of 1863 the official rules
of soccer were established.
Though some changes were later made to the rules, this moment in the history of soccer has
credited Ebenezer Cobb Morley as the founder of soccer as we know it.
From there soccer continued to gain popularity and is now unquestionably the most popular
sport in the world.

World Cup Soccer
After much growth in popularity and the invention of many soccer clubs, in 1904 the first
international match outside England in the history of soccer was played in Paris between
France and Belgium. This led to the founding of FFA, the international soccer organization,
on May 22, 1904.
Soccer had recently been established as an Olympic sport. t had seen its first Olympic
match in the year 1900. Yet, after the 1928 Olympics it was agreed that soccer would not be
played in the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, due to lack of interest in the United States.
FFA decided that it was time for an international soccer tournament. Therefore they set the
first World Cup to be played in Uruguay in 1930.
The World Cup is played every four years.
The World Cup grew in popularity at an incredible rate and is now the most popular sports
event on the planet.
Reference : hLLp//wwwhlsLoryofsoccerorg/abrlefhlsLoryofsoccerhLml