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The History of Soccer

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China

5000 B.C - 300 B.C

In China, it was during the Han dynasty that people dribbled leather balls by kicking it into a small net. Recorded facts also support the fact that Romans and Greeks used to play ball for fun and frolic. Some facts point to Kyoto in Japan where kicking of ball was a popular sport.

soccer

2500 B.C - 2013

There was possibly a version of a type of ball game played by young women in Egypt during the age of Baqet III, as images of this sport were depicted on his tomb, though there is not much known of this sport except that it was played with a ball.

Japanese

1000 B.C - 2013

The Japanese version of 'soccer' is was called Kemari, a game much like modern hackysacks, played with two to twelve players, and played a larger ball stuffed with sawdust. There was also a field designated by four trees (cherry, maple, pine and willow).

Ancient Greece

60 B.C - 20013

In ancient Greece, they played a game called Episkyros, in which two equally numbered teams would try to throw the ball over the heads of the other team. There was a white line between the teams and another white line behind each team. Teams would change the ball often until one of the team is forced behind the line at their end.

soccer

50 B.C - 2013

Soccer is one of the most popular sports in Europe and the Americas. It has a vivid and interesting history in the world of sports.

Mexico

600 A.D - 1600 A.D

In Mexico & Central America the rubber ball was created, and used in a game on a recessed court 40-50 feet long shaped like a capital "I". In the middle of each wall, was a mounted stone or wooden ring and the object was to project the hard rubber ball through the ring.

Britian

700 - 2013

The first Football games played in Britain was played by the locals of east of England, starting after a 'legendary' game that involved kicking around the severed head of a Danish prince that they have defeated in a war. These games were violent, where injury and death were not uncommon

King Edward III

1331 - 2013

Despite the violence of these games, they were still popular. This led King Edward III of England to pass laws in 1331 to stop the game

Italy

1500 - 2013

In Italy they played a game called "calcio" with teams of 27+ people. The game involved kicking, carrying or passing a ball across a goal line. In 1580, Giovanni Bardi published a set of rules of the game of calcio.

Queen Elizabeth I of England

1572 - 2013

Queen Elizabeth I of England, enacted laws that could sentence a football player to jail for a week followed by penance in a church.

Alaska and Canada

1600 - 2013

In Alaska and Canada the native Eskimos played a game called aqsaqtuk on ice, using balls stuffed with grass, caribou hair, and moss. One legend tells of two villages playing against each other with goals 10 miles apart.

native American Indians

1620 - 2013

In North America, native American Indians in the original Jamestown settlement played a game called pasuckuakohowog, meaning "they gather to play ball with the foot." It was a rough game, played the beach, the field a half-mile wide with goals 1 mile apart, with as many as 1000 players at a time.

London

1863 - 2013

October 26 of 1863, the Football Association was formed when eleven London schools and clubs came together at the Freemason's Tavern to establish a single set of rules to administer any football match that were to be played among them.

London

1863 - 2013

On December 8, 1863, Association Football and Rugby Football finally split onto two different organizations. Later in the year, the first ever soccer match was played on Barnes common at Mortlake, London on 19th December 1863 between Barnes Football Club and Richmond Football Club. The game ended in a 0-0 draw.

first official international football match was played

1872 - 2013

The first official international football match was played, between the national teams of Scotland and England, played in Glasgow Scotland. The game was played on 30 November 1872, and finished with a 0-0 draw.