| Believe it or not, but the modern day soccer | | | | predetermined spot. Hundreds of people would |
| owes its origin to the barbarous war | | | | take part in these games and a single game |
| mongering nature of human beings. | | | | could last a whole day. Punching, kicking, |
| | | | biting , everything was allowed. |
| There is no proper documentation that can | | | | |
| state the date and place of origination of | | | | The savage nature of this form of football |
| the most popular modern day sport-Soccer. | | | | was not much appreciated by the rulers and |
| However, depending on the socio-historical | | | | the Royalty took all possible steps to stop |
| facts and data we can assume that some type | | | | these games. King Edward III of England, |
| of a ball game was played somewhere in this | | | | passed laws in 1331 to stop the game, he was |
| planet for at least over 3000years now. | | | | followed by King James I of Scotland in 1424. |
| | | | The Queens were not far behind, rather, had a |
| The earliest evidence of soccer was found in | | | | more strict approach. Queen Elizabeth I of |
| Kyoto, Japan where a field marked to play a | | | | England, enacted laws that could sentence a |
| ball-kicking game was found. | | | | football player to jail for a week followed |
| | | | by penancing in a church. |
| There is also proper documentation that | | | | |
| supports the fact that the Chinese military | | | | However, in spite of all their best efforts |
| forces around 2nd and 3rd century BC (Han | | | | and intentions they could not stop the game. |
| Dynasty) played a game that involved kicking | | | | It was too popular among the masses and they |
| a ball into a small net. This was then an | | | | loved the game. |
| essential skill building exercise for the | | | | |
| armed forces. | | | | The first approach to regularize and give a |
| | | | civilized form to this game was taken by the |
| Historical evidence also shows that some form | | | | famous Eton College of England in 1815 when |
| of Soccer was played also by the Greeks and | | | | they established a set of rules for the |
| the Romans, however, the primitive form | | | | games. These rules were accepted by the other |
| involved a larger team on each side. At times | | | | schools, colleges and universities. Later, in |
| the team strength would go up even to around | | | | 1848, these rules were further standardized |
| 27 people on each side. The Greeks were | | | | and a new version was adopted by all the |
| playing four different forms of the ball | | | | schools, college and universities. This new |
| game, namely "Episkyros", "Ourania", | | | | set of rules was known as the Cambridge |
| "Pheninda" and "Keritizein". Episkyros was | | | | Rules. |
| the closest to football. In this 2 equally | | | | |
| numbered teams, would try to throw the ball | | | | At this stage, there were actually two set of |
| over the heads of the other team. There was a | | | | rules that were being followed in this game. |
| white line between the teams and another | | | | Some organizations preferred to follow the |
| white line behind each team. Teams would | | | | rules of the Rugby School, that allowed |
| change the ball often until one of the team | | | | tripping, kicking and carrying the ball, |
| is forced behind the line at their end. | | | | whereas the Cambridge rules prohibited all |
| | | | this methods. |
| Now, how many of you would believe that the | | | | |
| modern day soccer actually originated as a | | | | In October, 1863, The Football Association |
| war game? | | | | was formed, when eleven London schools and |
| | | | clubs came together to establish a single set |
| Unbelievable, but true! The first Football | | | | of rules to administer any football match |
| (as Soccer is called in Britain) game was | | | | that were to be played among them. On 8 |
| played by the locals of east of England, | | | | December 1863, Association Football and Rugby |
| where they started a game, kicking around the | | | | Football finally split onto two different |
| severed head of a Danish prince whom they | | | | organizations. |
| have defeated in a war. That marked the | | | | |
| origination of Football as a war game. | | | | In 1869, these rules were further amended to |
| | | | exclude any handling of the ball beyond the |
| After this, for a long time, football was | | | | scope of acceptability and that created the |
| played by rival towns and villages where the | | | | foundation for the modern day sports |
| objective was to move the ball to a | | | | mania-SOCCER ! |