Footie-Facts TheHistory Of Soccer
A look at the origin of the beautiful
game
A form of football, or soccer as some people
call it, can be traced back to China and Japan in 1004 BC,
where a ball was kicked around a defined field of play. There
is evidence of a match between China and Japan, in Kyoto, the
then capital of Japan, in 611 AD.
There is also evidence of a form of football being played by
the Ancient Greeks, Italians, Native American Indians,
Persians, Central Americans, Scottish Clans, Vikings and
Assyrian's. The early Roman Olympic games had an event that
resembles modern day Football. The game was so taxing that two
thirds of the players required hospitalization by the end of
the contest.
However, the origin of football, as we know it today can be
clearly traced to England. The best evidence of the games
history in England are the laws enacted in the early 1300's by
the reigning monarch to outlaw the game. A prison term was the
punishment for playing. A succession of reigning monarchs also
enacted laws to stop the practice of what was seen to be a very
unseemly hobby. Queen Elizabeth 1st not only ordered a week in
prison for players, but prison was to be followed by penance in
the church.
Official sanction was finally given to the game in England
in 1681. It was not until 1815 that rules were finally applied
by a group of five English schools. As the sport spread, rules
varied from school to school, region to region, country to
country. The first united set of rules was drawn up by the
world's first football federation in England in 1886.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) was
founded in England in 1888. FIFA, (The Federation
Internationale de Football) is the governing body of
international football and was founded in Paris in 1904. The
rules of the English football association were adopted as
standard for the international soccer community.
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