While it is undisputed that the origins of modern
soccer, or
football, originated in Britain, there is a great deal of evidence that
points to this beloved game as having an older history.
Where did
the game of soccer really begin, and how old is it? To understand how
many different varieties of "soccer" there are, you need to understand a
bit about the older versions of the game and how they have evolved.
Below,
you will find a list of the predominant cultures that had a variety of
soccer, and learn how each one differs from what we play today. And no,
they never used anything like Lotto shinguards back then either!
- Chinese Soccer History
- Japanese Soccer History
- Egyptian Soccer History
- Greek/Roman Soccer History
- British Soccer History
To many, this is the oldest
version of soccer to exist. However, there is quite a lot of controversy
of whether or not this is the oldest, or Japan's version is the elder.
The Chinese version of the game, originally named "Tsu Chu", involved
players on a field that had to hit a leather ball stuffed with fur into a
small hole. Like Soccer, no hands were permitted during the play of the
game, and it was considered an honor to be a member of a team.
The
Emperor of the Han Dynasty, when the game was developed, was an avid
player and fan, and spread the popularity of this game all over China
during his reign. This roughly dates back to 300 B.C., although there is
controversy on the subject of dating, which could result in the origins
of the game being as far back as 5000 B.C. Regardless, this version of
Soccer is extremely old. Despite that, there is still a version of Tsu
Chu played today. While the two games are similar, Tsu Chu has had no
effect on the modern version of the game, as it was originally developed
and created for play in Great Britain.
Kemari,
the Japanese version of "Soccer", is perhaps one of the most different
forms of the sport, in comparison to modern soccer. Kemari was a game of
"Keep it up", much like modern hacky sacks, although used with a larger
ball that was stuffed with saw dust. This version involves a "pitch",
or the field, designated by the selection of four trees, the cherry,
maple, pine and willow. Many great houses in Japan would grow trees to
have a permanent pitch, or field, established.
Kemari was normally
played with two to twelve players. Established in roughly 1004 B.C., it
vies for position of the oldest game with China's Tsu Chu. In fact,
China's Tsu Chu players and Japan's Kemari players were the first to
have an "International" game of their versions of Soccer, which is dated
to have occurred in roughly 50 B.C., although a definite date of 611
A.D. is known. Regardless, this game stands with China as a sister sport
to Soccer, while it never affected the modern version of the game.
While
not much is known about Egyptian Soccer, or other ball games, it is
thought there was a version of a type of ball game played by young women
during the age of Baqet III. On his tomb, images of this sport were
depicted, although no one is certain how the game was played or whether
or not it truly affected the outcome of modern soccer. Recordings of
this game date as far back as 2500 B.C., although not much more is known
asides the fact that it was played with a ball. The lack of information
on the sport and how it was played has eliminated it from runnings as
the first evidence of a game similar to soccer.
Perhaps
the closest relative to modern soccer are the games that were formed by
the Greeks during the prime of their culture. They had numerous
varieties of football style games, some of which required hands, some of
which forbade hands. In the end, after the Roman conquering of Greece,
the game Harpastum is what modern soccer would be based from. This game,
probably a modified version of the Greek's "Harpaston", which
translates roughly to handball. While grossly misnamed, this game is
what is considered to be one of the precursors to modern soccer.
In
Britain during the 8th century, soccer was created, not as a
recreational sport, but as a war game. One of the stories of the
original roots of the sport comes from when a Danish Prince was
beheaded, and his head was used as a ball and was kicked around. Ever
since this 'legendary' tale, villages and other communities would play a
game where they would have to kick a ball to a specific goal. It was a
violent game, where injury and death were not uncommon, but it was
popular nevertheless. In fact, it was so violent, that in 1331, King
Edward the III passed laws to try to stop the playing of the game. It
did not work, however, and the sport continued on.
There are even
stories of soccer games that involved hundreds upon hundreds of players.
In these games, there were many deaths, some resulting in the hundreds.
It wasn't until 1815 when Eton College set up a series of rules for the
game that it became less violent and more of a true sport. At this
time, other colleges and universities took up the banner and began to
play under similar rules. Later, the rules were evaluated and judged,
and the Cambridge rules were created as a result in 1848. In the
Cambridge rules, shin-kicking, carrying the ball and tripping were all
forbidden. Rugby rules allowed these aspects, and the two varieties of
soccer, or football, split to form their own followings.
On
October 26, 1863, London schools and sports club sent representatives to
the Freemason's Tavern, where the Football Association was formed.
Rugby supporters left this association to form the Rugby Association.
This is where the birth of modern soccer began. In 1969, the Football
Association finalized the modern game of soccer by forbidding the use of
hands in the game.
The term "
Soccer" was coined when someone was
asked if he was a Rugger, which is a Rugby player. The -er signified
that the person participated in a a particular sport. The individual,
Charles Wreford Brown, replied with "Soccer!", taking the phrase from
Association, SOC, and adding the -er. The term stuck. While British
individuals still call the game Football, Americans and other countries
call it Soccer, especially if they have heavy support in American
Football present. Ever since the foundation of the Association,
"Football" has risen in popularity, becoming one of the best love games
in the history of Earth. Now, hundreds of thousands play the sport,
although it lacks the initial violence present at its creation.
Rebecca Blain is a professional and hobbyist writer who enjoys
taking care of her fish and educating people about soccer equipment such
as goals which you can read about here:
