If you want to understand the history of soccer, you have to admit that, for some reason, humans have a natural need to kick things. Whether it's to release frustration or just for fun, we do it even without realizing it.
How many times have you not walked down the street as a child (and not just), just kicking that stone or cone on the ground in front of you out of boredom. It is this natural impulse that lies at the base of football's history.
- When was soccer invented?
When talking about the history of football, many people regard England as the birthplace of football and, while this could be a true statement in a particular context, the truth is that the English were the first to organize football around 1863, however, he did not "invent" it to say. So, if 1863 is the year the sport was "baptized", in what year football was invented and where?
Since football or football-like sports date back to antiquity, it is difficult to determine a specific year, but historians of the phenomenon usually divide it into 3 periods of time.
- History of football in ancient times.
They may not have had our modern products, but the old ones knew how to have fun. And, he guessed, kicking a ball (obviously, the balls were extremely rudimentary compared to what is used today) was considered a fun activity in many areas around the world, most of them developing at the same time, without Interaction. each other.
In football's history, the first written statement about the start of football comes from a Chinese military manual around 300 BC, which describes a practice called "cuju" involving players kicking a leather ball through a hole in a stretched silk fabric between two poles On the other side of the world, in the Americas, the Aztecs played a similar sport, although some compare it more to basketball than to football.
The purpose of the game was to kick the ball through a small circle of stone that was placed on top of the walls of the arena, hence the relationship with basketball.
Now I don't know about you, but to me it sounds much harder to place a little leather ball exactly in the middle of a stone circle that is far above your head with your foot, than hitting a modern "high-tech" ball on an 8-yard goal.
- History of football during the Middle Ages.
We generally thought of the medieval era as a time when war was considered a necessity and a "work" rather than a calamity. Despite being a fairly "dark" period of time, somehow medieval people managed to take some time for some sports, including football.
The forms of football played during this time were obviously incomparable to our current definition of sport; therefore, they are generally classified as "mafia football".
While their parents were at war, the children used to grab a patched leather ball, hit the nearby field and start a "war" in the field. Lack of rules often leads to fights and serious injuries and the sport was considered dangerous in many places.
A clear example of this can be found at the British Museum in London, where an engraving shows a group of men struggling to win a leather ball, with a second image showing a man with a broken arm. You do the math.
- Modern football
As mentioned above, although we don't know when football was invented, we do know when it was organized as a sport under a clear set of rules. Being a popular practice in England, football was played in a chaotic manner and would often lead to the same on- and off-court battles, similar to those that occur during medieval football matches. In each match, the two teams would agree on a particular set of rules, but with the lack of a referee, arguments would often arise.
To keep things in order, some English clubs gathered in London on 26 October 1863 to create a set of well-defined and universal rules for the game.
The Football Association was born and, although its set of rules did not apply to all clubs immediately, in a few decades, when football clubs moved from amateurism to professionalism, their laws and restrictions of conduct became standard for everyone.
As you can see, there really isn't a "right" way to answer "When football was invented?" he asks and you'll have a good deal of arguments at hand, regardless of the period you think was the spark that caused the wildfire that football is today.
