History of Association Football

Football arose in England in the middle of the 19th century. But alternative versions of the game existed much earlier and are part of Football history. The game dates back to Meso-American culture, played with a rock some 3000 years ago. Followed by Cuju, where the ball was used for kicking in China. Various forms of the game were played in multiple countries. However, the present state of the game developed in England in the 12th century.

In this century the game that resembled football was played on meadows and roads of England. besides kicks the game involved also punches on the ball with the fist. This early form of football was much rougher and more violent than the modern way of playing. An important feature of the four runners to the football was that the games involved plenty of people and took place in large areas and towns. An equivalent was played in Florence in the 16th century, where it was called Calcio. Which of these games would cause damage to the town and even death. These would be among the reasons for the proclamations against the game that was finally forbidden for several centuries.

It took however long time for the features of today's football had be taken into practice. for a long time, there was no clear distinction between football and rugby and there were also many concerns about the varying size of the ball, the number of players, and the length of the match. The game was often played in the school and two of the dominant schools were Rugby and Eton. At Rugby, the rules included the possibility of taking the ball with the hands, and the game we know today as Rugby has its origin here. At Eton on the other hand the ball was played exclusively with the feet and the game can be seen as the close premise of modern football. The game in Rugby was called "the running game." While the game of Eton was called "the Dribbling game." Proper rules for the game were decided at the meeting in Cambridge in 1848. The first football association was formed in 1863. This also led to the standardization of the size and weight of the ball. And also divided the game into 2 cores. Association football and Rugby the game would continue to develop for a long time and there was still much flexibility concerning the rules. One thing the number of players on the pitch could vary neither was uniform to distinguish the appearance of the teams. It was also common for players to wear caps. the header was yet to be part of the game. Another important difference in this part of the game could be noticed between England and Scottish teams. Whereas the English teams preferred to run forward with the ball in more Rugby fashion, the Scottish chose the pass the ball between the players. It could be the Scottish approach that soon became predominant. The sport was at first entertainment for the British working class. An unprecedented number of spectators up to 30,000 could be seen in some of the matches. The game was soon expanded by the British people who traveled to another part of the world. Especially South America and India. The interest in football became big. Football clubs have existed since the 15th century but are unorganized and without official status. Thus it is hard to decide when was first football club started. Some historians suggest that it was the football club formed in 1824 in Edenberg. Earlier clubs were often formed by former school students and the first of this kind was formed in Sheffield in 1855. The oldest among professional football clubs is the English club. Notts County was formed in 1862 and still exists today. an important step for the emergence of the team for industrialization that led to larger groups of people meeting in places such as factories, pubs, and churches. In bigger cities, football teams were established and the new railroad could bring them to other cities. In the beginning, football was dominated by the public school teams successfully but later teams consisting of workers made up the majority of those. Another change was successfully taking place when some clubs became willing to pay the best player to join their team. This was the start of professional football. Slowly tickets for the games were sold. Initially, the game was restricted to England but over the period, it moved to other countries too. The Federation International Football Day Association was founded in 1904. The foundation act was signed by representatives from France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. England and other British countries did not join FIFA from the start. They had invented the game and saw no reason to subordinate to an association still they joined in the following year but would not part take in the World Cup until 1950. Domestic leagues took root early and very soon they started thriving Initially there were no black players but soon they too joined Football became a part of the Olympics and also FIFA World Cup had its origin. These have created great enthusiasm in the spectators. The Americans had their own version of football. and hence they have a distinction between Football and soccer. This game is gaining popularity but can be no match as yet to the original game of football.