By Michael Shanks
Short soccer history: In the second and third centuries BCE, the Chinese Han Dynasty military practiced a game that involved kicking a ball into a small net. Let’s look at the history of soccer and how the game developed from this time long, long ago. It’s incredible how soccer has grown and evolved over the years. It’s the beautiful game. It’s the world’s game. Let’s explore a brief history of the game of soccer:
Soccer History: More than 2000 Years of Football
The Romans and the Greeks are said to have played earlier versions of the sport with teams that included 27 players. No one can pinpoint the invention of the sport of soccer, but one thing is certain: that some form of it has been played for the past 3000 years.
The British are undisputedly the founders of the organized game of soccer (football), although the Scottish claim a co-founding with Britain.
The game was in fact originally a game of war. The first recorded instance of the soccer we know and love today was in fact played with the severed head of a Danish Prince that the British had defeated in battle!
These soccer matches were in fact so violent that the authorities tried to ban the sport.
In 1424, King James I passed a law banning the sport of soccer. Queen Elizabeth passed a law that jailed soccer players, and required them to do a penance in church. However, the game was too popular to be shut off like that.
In 1815, Eton College established a set of rules which other schools, colleges, and Universities began to use.
In 1863, 12 London clubs and schools sent their representatives to a meeting in the Freemason’s Tavern to establish a single set of rules, creating The Football Association.
The 12 founding clubs were: Accrington (Old Reds) Aston Villa Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Burnley Derby County Everton Notts County Preston North End Stoke City West Bromwich Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers
In 1869, the rule was set in place that no handling of the ball would be allowed, which was a pillar in the creating of what the game is today.
When was FOOTBALL invented? The history of football (soccer)
One of the most popular games on earth and running almost every day on hundreds of sport channels, football is a classy game that caught up with impulsive fame in the past four decades or so. But have you ever thought about when or how football first originating?
Some suggest that the history of Football dates back as far as 2500 B.C. During this time, the Greeks, Egyptians, and Chinese all appear to have partaken in games involving a ball and feet.
Football began to evolve in modern Europe from the medieval period onwards. Somewhere around the 9th century, entire towns in England would kick a pig’s bladder from one landmark to another. The game was often seen as a nuisance and was even banned during some periods of Britain’s history.
The 1872 association football match between the national teams of Scotland and England was the first-ever official international. It took place on 30 November 1872 at Hamilton Crescent, the West of Scotland Cricket Club’s ground in Partick, Glasgow. The match was watched by 4,000 spectators and finished as a 0–0 draw. Other divisions were formed, including the Football League in 1888 in the north and midlands of the country, and the first championship league games were played.
From the ancient Chinese sport of cuju to France lifting the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, HITC Sevens attempts to recap on the entire history of football / soccer in under ten minutes.
Okay, it actually took me just under 12 minutes, but I hope you enjoyed the soccer history video nonetheless.
Read more about the beautiful game and the history of soccer on the pages below:
