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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