Do You Know How Football Originated?

The inside story of who invented football - it's more complicated than you think and dates back far further than you may have thought it would. The beautiful game, children all over the world, from the favelas of Rio to the dusty villages of Africa, play football religiously. The Champions League final in 2013 drew a whopping 360 million viewers whilst an astounding 1 billion people watched the World Cup final in 2014. However, there are claims that it was the Scottish who invented football as we know it, as well as the Chinese also believe they played an integral role in the birth of the game.

So let's investigate just who invented football.

Ancient Times

Some have claimed that football dates back to as far as 2500 B.C. with the Greeks, Egyptians, Chinese, and the Romans all having played a game involving a ball and feet. Of these ancient games, the most relevant to football in its modern incarnation is a Chinese game called Tsu-Chu which means "kicking the ball", with records dating back to the Han Dynasty, 206 B.C. - 220 A.D. The game involved kicking a small leather ball into a net strung between two bamboo poles. Using your hand was permitted but the foot and other parts of the body were allowed. There was one crucial difference: in Tsu-Chu the goal hung about 30 feet from the goal. The Japanese, Native Americans and Indigenous Australians all played games that centered on the feet, too.

England's storied history

What is not in doubt is England's huge influence on the spread of football, and indeed, many other popular sports such as tennis and cricket. Around the 9th Century is when people in England began to kick around a pig's bladder in villages. Authorities saw it as a nuisance and in 1314 there was a decree issued, banning the game due to its "great noise in the city". In fact, Henry VIII ordered the construction of his own pair of football boots and was perhaps England's first football lad with his heavy drinking. At this point of time, football was violent and disorganized and a long way from the balletic game we watch today.

Folk Football

Folk football began in England in the 18th and 19th Centuries and even spread to other countries such as France. It was played by huge numbers of people and the goals were as much as three miles apart. The object of the game was to drive a ball, usually a pig's bladder, to a goal, and could be kicked, thrown or carried. Unsurprisingly, the game was extremely violent and kicking an opposing player in the shins was a legitimate tactic - no matter how far from the ball they were. However, as Britain became increasingly industrialized and capitalist folk football became less popular, as people moved into urban areas.

Folk football modernizes

It was in the public schools of England that football began to modernize. Hands were still allowed but goalkeepers and tactics were introduced and high tackles were outlawed. Space restraints were devised, too. Football clubs emerged in the 19th Century but some incarnations of the game still resembled rugby more than modern football. Schools began to play against each other but violent "shinning" was only frowned upon when the player was being held.

The creation of FA

The Football Association (FA) was formed on 26 October 1863. They wanted to bring together the different codes and systems used across the country and handling the ball, shin-kicking and tripping were all outlawed. More clubs joined the FA until the number reached 128 by 1887. in 1872 the first FA Cup game was played and by the 1870s players were getting paid by their clubs. The English Football League was formed in 1888.

Scottish influence

Some in Scotland claim that in fact, it was the Scottish that shaped football as we know it today. Young men from Perthshire and the Highlands would gather at Queen's Park in Glasgow in 1867. They obtained a copy of the FA's and modified, introducing a subtle blend of passing and dribbling which contrasted with England's more brutal "heads down" approach. The Scots were smaller than their English counterpart and so developed passing as a way to circumvent the problem of their diminished stature. Whether this introduction of a new element to the game can be claimed as inventing football is up for debate.

Football goes global

Football began to spread to other parts of the world swiftly: the Netherlands and Denmark in 1889, Argentina in 1893, Chile in 1895, Switzerland and Belgium in 1895, Italy in 1898, and many other places. The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) was formed in Paris in 1904 with seven members. In 1930 the first-ever FIFA World Cup was held in Uruguay.

Conclusion

As with most things in life, the history of football is long and full of ups and downs and many different influences. The Chinese have a claim, as do the Scottish, but it seems the English have had the most pronounced influence over the birth of football.

By: Harsh Yadav

School: S.D. Public School

Class: 10th