 We all know that soccer is arguably one of the most played and viewed sports in the world. Soccer in many places is actually called futball, America is the only place in the world it is called soccer. Just in Asheville, there are at least two different soccer organizations that train kids of almost all ages. Still, over 240 million people play soccer daily. Some of the first rules in soccer came from England. These included preventing the players from tripping each other and from handling the ball. The English also takes credit for making the first uniforms. Then in 1891, the penalty kick was introduced into soccer.
The first game of soccer dates back to 2000 years ago in ancient China and Greece. It is also said that Rome and parts of Central America also had their own versions of soccer during this time. These versions are said to have been popular for 500-600 years, and some are still played today. Another form of soccer originated in Japan and is still played today, where people stand in a small place and try and not let the ball touch the ground. Today this might be called hacky sack or juggling. This game remained popular for 700-800 years by the Romans and then was carried over to England. After this, the English made the first rule book for soccer. As said before soccer’s first rule book was made by 4 British associations who then formed the International Football Association Board. After that FIFA joined the International Football Association Board in 1913. FIFA stands for the Federation Internationale de Football Association. FIFA today is now responsible for developing and evolving the game of soccer. Now how did soccer first become a sport? Well, it wasn't actually considered a sport until 1863 in England. Soccer still made changes and advancements as the years went on, some of these included the penalty kick in 1891, yellow and red card in the 1970’s world cup finals, tackles from behind becoming red card offenses in 1998, and disallowing goalies to make intentional passes back to their teammates in 1992. Story by Hadley Wallace Sources: https://www.athleticscholarships.net/history-of-soccer-football.htm https://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/who-we-are/the-game/index.html https://www.topendsports.com/sport/soccer/history.htm |
