History of Soccer

Different versions of football have been played for thousands of years. There is evidence that the ancient Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Greek, Persian, and Vikings played; with China dating back the furthest by 3000 years.

Football Association that created European football (soccer) as we know it now was created on October 1863, by a gathering of members of the eleven London clubs and schools. They met at a Freemason’s Tavern and debated the rules of football. The no tripping, no hand touching, or carrying the ball rules didn’t sit well with some of the club members so they branched off to become what is modern rugby. The Ancient Greeks and the Roman used football games to sharpen warriors for battle. In south and Central America a game called “Tlatchi” was played.

The first international game was played in 1872 by England and Scotland. Soon the creation of the Scottish Football Association (1873) emerged, Wales FA (1875) and Irish FA (1880) soon followed. The popularity of Football spread quickly with the Netherlands and Denmark joining in 1889, New Zealand (1891), Argentina (1893), Chile (1895), Switzerland & Belgium (1895), Italy (1898), Germany, Uruguay (both in 1900), Hungary (1901) and Finland (1907).

FIFA was founded in Paris in May 1904 but the first World Cup game wasn’t played until 1930 in Uruguay. They have been staged every four years since except for during World War II which suspended the 1942 and 1946 games.

Source: AllSoccerInfo

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