History Of Soccer Facts

Soccer is the most popular game in the world many people from all walks of life watches this fantastic sport. If you ask them who their favorite goalie is or team they have an answer for you right away but, if you ask them where soccer was invented they look at you with a blank stare. After researching the topic thoroughly there are some interesting things that I have come to find out and would like to share with you about the wonderful game of soccer.

The exact date of the game being invented is not really known but, there is evidence that it was being played as early as 1000 B.C. Maybe its related to the human fascination that drives men and woman to love to kick a ball around a field. The Japanese are thought to have been the first to use a ball in a similar fashion to what soccer is today. After it had gained popularity you can see the westward movement of the game to the Chinese mainland and on towards the Greeks as time went on.

In England during the 1300’s during the reign of king George II there was a law passed that soccer was a nuisance to public health. It was this ban in England that anyone playing the game of soccer was instantly arrested and thrown in jail. Just like if anything is banned people still continued to play and it became a regular pastime the ban in England on soccer did not get lifted until the late 1600s.

The game took off from there and soon people started having national competitions with each other. It really started to take off in most countries around the early 1800s. Many provinces in England and local towns started forming small leagues which met for monthly competitions against each other. Then of course as popularity grew national leagues and competitions grew in England.

Of course keeping such a popular game secluded on a little island in the Atlantic was next to impossible. It was only a matter of time that the rest of Europe followed in England’s footsteps. Spain, Germany, Italy, France all started taking up the game not soon afterward. Formal competitions started to spring up with in there provinces and local townships. Soon there were calls for country wide competitions for national prestige. In 1900 the first Olympic competition that included soccer started and soon gold and silver medals were introduced to the best soccer players. One thing to note about the Olympics and Soccer is that if you were to play in the Olympics you could not be a professional soccer player. National professional soccer players were banned from the Olympics for more than 80 years.

In the early 1900s the FIFA or the Federation International Football Association, which soon after that started hosting the first world cup series. The world cup is played every four years with competitions from most countries in the world. Eliminated one by one the 25 teams left will be allowed to compete in the world cup finales.

The United States of course has pretty much always taking a back seat to the game of soccer. It is very popular around the world but Americans prefer the American football. alought for quite awhile there was a US soccer Czar and they had adopted a Brazilian name Pele. Pele was so good during the 60s and 70s soccer was very popular because no one had ever seen such an amazing player. But, after his retirement soccer has once again taken a back seat in popularity in the US. Now it is still popular with young athletes and many high schools and small pee-wee teams are still competing each year. The soccer mom generation has taken hold and now is one of the popular sports in the U.S. It has also helped that the US has entered the competition for the world cup this year and people have started to notice.

Soccer does remain the number one sport outside the U.S and it is taken very seriously. Wars have actually been started over this game. (See... El Salvador Honduras Soccer War) and any down talk to this outside the U.S.is usually met with fierce resistance. But, in the end it is a wonderful and I greatly enjoy the game and if you ever get to see some international games I suggest that you do. It brings all types of people together for a few hours while they put their differences aside and enjoy the sights and sounds of the soccer stadiums.