Street Feet
Soccer Academy
Street Feet
Soccer Academy
Hudson WI
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The History of Football
(Soccer)
This history was compiled by Kenny Hills of Street Feet Soccer Academy. A number of resources have been consulted, including Dr. Wilfried Gerhardt (Press Officer for the German Football Association in Frankfurt Germany), news clippings from the 1980’s, and websites from the History Channel, FIFA, and epic soccer.
The contemporary history of football or soccer (a corruption of the word assoc derived from association football) spans more than 100 years. It all officially began in 1863 in England, when rugby football and association football branched off on their different courses and the world's first football association was founded - The Football Association in England. Both forms of football stemmed from a common root and both have a long and intricately branched ancestral tree.
Early history reveals at least half a dozen different games, varying to different degrees and to which the historical development of football is related and has actually been traced back. Whether this can be justified in some instances is disputable. Nevertheless, the fact remains that playing a ball with the feet has been going on for thousands of years and there is absolutely no reason to believe that it is an aberration of the more "natural" form of playing a ball with the hands.
This game is reputedly Anglo-Saxon in origin and there are many legends concerning its first appearance. For example, in both Kingston-on-Thames and Chester, the story goes that the game was played for the very first time with the severed head of a vanquished Danish prince. The first recorded game probably was that on a Shrove Tuesday in Derby, England, part of a festival to celebrate a victory over a contingent of Roman troops (A.D. 217).
The Greek game "episkyros", relatively little of which has been handed down, was much livelier, as was the Roman game "Harpastum". This game remained popular for 700 or 800 years, but, although the Romans took it to England with them, it is doubtful whether it can be considered as a forerunner of contemporary football. It is possible that influences were asserted, but it is certain that the decisive development of the game of football with which we are now familiar took place in England and Scotland.
On the contrary, apart from the absolute necessity to employ the legs and feet in such a tough bodily tussle for the ball, often without any laws for protection, it was no doubt recognized right at the outset that the art of controlling the ball with the feet was extremely difficult and, as such, it required special technique and talent. The very earliest form of the game for which there is scientific evidence was an exercise of precisely this skilful technique dating back to the 2nd and 3rd centuries B.C. in China. A military manual dating from the period of the Han Dynasty includes among the physical education exercises, the "Tsu'Chu". This consisted of kicking a leather ball filled with feathers and hair through an opening, measuring only 30 - 40 cm in width, into a small net fixed onto long bamboo canes - a feat which obviously demanded great skill and excellent technique. A variation of this exercise also existed, whereby the player was not permitted to aim at his target unimpeded, but had to use his feet, chest, back and shoulders whilst trying to withstand the attacks of his opponents. Use of the hands was not permitted. The ball artistry of today's top players is therefore not quite as new as some people may assume.
Another form of the game, also originating from the Far East, was the Japanese Kemari, which dates from about 500 to 600 years later and is still played today. This is a type of circular football game, far less spectacular, but, for that reason, a 'more dignified and ceremonious experience, requiring certain skills, but not competitive ' in the way the Chinese game was, nor is there the slightest sign of struggle for possession of the ball. The players had to pass the ball to each other, in a relatively small space, trying not to let it touch the ground.
The game that flourished in the British Isles from the 8th to the 19th centuries and by 1175 the Shrove Tuesday football game was an annual event. Which had a considerable variety of local and regional versions - which were subsequently smoothed down and smartened up to form the present day sports of association football and rugby football. - They were substantially different from all the previously known forms which were - more disorganized, more violent, more spontaneous and usually played by an indefinite number of players. Frequently, the games took the form of a heated contest between whole village communities or townships - through streets, village squares, across fields, hedges, fences and streams. Kicking was allowed, as in fact was almost everything else. However, in some of these games kicking was out of the question due to the size and weight of the ball being used. In such cases, kicking was instead employed to fell opponents. Incidentally, it was not until nine years after the football rules had been established for the first time in 1863 that the size and weight of the ball were finally standardized. Up to that time, the parties concerned had usually reached agreement on this point when they were arranging the match, as was the case for the game between London and Sheffield in 1866. This match was also the first where the duration of the game was prearranged for one and a half hours.
The Forbidden Game
Scholars might have conflicting views on the origins of the game and the influences that certain cults may have had on its evolution, but one thing is incontestable: football has flourished for over a thousand years in diverse rudimentary forms, in the very region which we describe as its home, England and the British Isles. The chain of prohibitions and censures, sometimes harsh, sometimes mild, proves beyond a shadow of a doubt what tremendous enthusiasm there was for football, even though it was so often frowned upon by the authorities, The repeated unsuccessful intervention of the authorities and high offices of the land shows how powerless they were to restrict it, in spite of their condemnation and threats of severe punishment.
As long ago as 1314 the Lord Mayor of London saw fit to issue a proclamation forbidding football within the city due to the rumpus it usually caused. Infringement of this law meant imprisonment. King Edward III passed extremely harsh measures in 1331 to suppress football, which was regarded as a public nuisance. At the same time, similar measures were also introduced in France.
During the 100 years' war between England and France from 1338 to 1453 the court was also unfavorably disposed towards football, albeit for different reasons. Edward III, Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V made football punishable by law because the well-loved recreation prevented their subjects from practicing more useful military disciplines, particularly archery, which played an important and valuable role in the English army at that time.
All the Scottish kings of the 15th Century also deemed it necessary to censure and prohibit football. Particularly famous amongst these was the decree proclaimed by the Parliament convened by James I in 1424: "That na man play at the Fute-ball". None of these efforts had much effect. The popularity of the game amongst the people and their obvious delight in the rough and tumble for the ball went far too deep to be uprooted.
The passion for football was particularly exuberant in Elizabethan times. And an influence from Renaissance Italy, where they that had produced their own brand of football known as "Calcio" was certainly more organized than the English equivalent and was played by teams dressed in coloured livery at the important gala events held on certain holidays in Florence. It was a truly splendid spectacle. In England the game was still as rough and ungracious and lacking in refinement as ever, but it did at this time find a prominent supporter who commended if for other reasons when he saw the simple joy of the players romping after the ball. This supporter was Richard Mulcaster, the great pedagogue, head of the famous schools of Merchant Taylor's and St. Paul's. He pointed out that the game had positive educational value and it promoted health and strength. He claimed that all that was needed was to refine it a little and give it better manners. His notion was that the game would benefit most if the number of participants in each team was limited and, more importantly, there were a stricter referee.
Resentment of football up to this time had been mainly for practical reasons. The game had been regarded as a public disturbance that resulted in damage to property, for example, in Manchester in 1608, football was banned again because so many windows had been smashed.
In the course of the 16th century a quite new type of attack was launched against football. With the spread of Puritanism, the cry went up against "frivolous" amusements, and sport happened to be classified as such, football in particular. The main objection was that it supposedly constituted a violation of peace on the Sabbath. Similar attacks were made against the theatre, which strait-laced Puritans regarded as a source of idleness and iniquity. This laid the foundations for the entertainment ban on English Sundays, which would later become a permanent feature during the Commonwealth and Puritanical eras (even though it is said that Oliver Cromwell himself was a keen footballer in his youth). From then on football on Sundays was taboo. It remained so for some 300 years, until the ban was lifted once again, at first unofficially and ultimately with the formal consent of The Football Association, albeit on a rather small scale.
However, none of these obstacles could eradicate football. Between 1731 and 1841, the town's authorities made continual attempts to ban football from the streets. In the end, they had to resort to riot laws before there was any effect at all.
All told there was scarcely any progress at all in the development of football for hundreds of years. But, although the game was persistently forbidden for 500 years, it was never completely suppressed. As a consequence, it remained essentially rough, violent and disorganized. A change did not come about until the beginning of the 19th century when school football became the custom, particularly in the famous public schools such as Eton. This was the turning point. In this new environment, it was possible to make innovations and refinements to the game.
Although the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) was formed in 1913 and sent a national team to the first World Cup competition, soccer was long resisted in the U.S., where a different form of football had evolved. Nevertheless, the sport was popular among groups of immigrants, mainly British, central Europeans and Latin Americans, and the U.S. Open Cup competition has been held since 1914. With the goal of promoting professional play, the North American Soccer League was formed in the U.S. in 1968. Interest became widespread after Pele, the popular Brazilian athlete considered by many the greatest who ever played the game, joined the league’s N.Y. Cosmos in 1975. After his retirement in 1977, the league slowly lost popularity and fan support until it was dissolved in 1985.
Soccer is distinguished from all other games in that it is primarily played with the feet. Soccer also differs from these other games in that it does not have complex and detailed rules. The action is almost constant; with few stoppages of play, players must improvise tactics themselves as play proceeds, constantly shifting positions to receive or intercept passes.
All that is needed to play soccer is a ball, goals (which may be represented by chalk marks drawn on the playing area), and for those who want them, uniforms consisting of shorts, stockings, and athletic shoes; the game can even be played barefoot. The simplicity and informality of soccer is a chief reason for the worldwide popularity of the game.
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Street Feet Soccer Academy
PO Box 381, Hudson Wisconsin 54016 --- 715 222 2342