The history of football is as wonderful as the game. World’s most popular game has a rich history of its existence from its beginning to its present position. Now it has become one of the highest level competition games consisting of a large number of greatest footballers and football clubs. Players like Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and clubs of La Liga like FC Barcelona and Real Madrid are one of the most successful and popular clubs. 
How was Football started?
Most people believe that football began in 1963 in England which is true but modern football started that you see today. Actual football game was much different than today’s game. But when and how football started? It has a long history. The earliest traces of football were founded 3000 years ago in Old Mesopotamian culture. It was called Tchatali while its several forms were prevalent in a variety of regions with distinct names. It also had a significance in some rituals. On the ritual occasion, the ball used to symbolize sun and the captain of the loser team would be sacrificed to the god. Mesopotamian culture had another unique thing; the ball of rubber, an element no other Culture had access to.
Where was Football Invented?
As you saw above, ball games were in existence since prehistoric period but the first ball game with kicking involved in it was introduced in China in 2nd and 3rd century BC. It was called Cuju and was played with a leather ball filled with fur. Sometime later, another modified form of this game spread to Japan which was known as Kemari. The ball games kept being modified day by day. Several modified forms of football came to the spotlight while some didn’t. Some varieties of Ball games are also known from Ancient Greece.
Evolution of Football
One thing was common in all of these ball games and that is lack of organisation and uniformity. The most prevalent story is that the sport developed in England in the 12th century. At this time, football was played on meadows and roads and did not just involve kicking but also involved punching, snapping, etc. It makes it apparent that the earliest versions of the game were far more fierce and violent than what it is Today.
This characteristic of football caused damage to the cities and towns and provoked anger in the people. It all was destroying humanity and citizens were getting aggressive. Sometimes the game got so violent that it caused death to the participants. Due to several other reasons, the game was forbidden for centuries and if someone would be caught playing, he would be punished. But in the 17th century they returned to the streets of London. In 1835, it was forbidden again but by that time the foundation of football would be already established in public schools.
It took a very long time for football to evolve as the game you see today. For a long time, no Clear distinction was made between Rugby and Football. There were a lot of variations concerning the size of the ball, rules of game, players dress code, etc. It was only in 1848 when an attempt was made to set new unified rules for football. In 1863, a football association was founded which administered international game events until FIFA came into existence in 1904. In 1867, a meeting finally resulted in the standardization of football rules including size and weight of football. Many changes were yet to be made in the game because even after standardization of rules in 1967, the game looked quite different from what it is today.
Football Competitions
The first known important football competition is the Football Association challenge cup (FA Cup) which was introduced in England in 1871. In the same year, the first match was also played between two national teams from England and Scotland. The match resulted in a draw. In 1883, the first international tournament was held and included four teams from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.
Then in 1904, the federation Internationale de Football Association was founded by seven nation representatives: Belgium, France, Spain, The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland. England and other British countries did not join FIFA at that time although they had invented the game. Still they joined it a little later but did not participate in the FIFA World Cup till 1950.
Domestic leagues also began emerging in some countries. First professional football league, the English football league, was established in 1888. In 1908, football became an official sport to be included in Olympic games. The prestigious Olympic games had a High level significance on national level but women’s football was not added until 1996.
Nowadays, the Summer Olympics is the only competition that can be compared with the FIFA World Cup. First FIFA World Cup was held in 1930 in Uruguay and was also won by the same. Since then, it was held every four years except for two times during the second World war. After six decades, the women’s World Cup was also introduced and the first FIFA women’s World Cup was played in 1991 in China. Since then it was also held at an interval of four years similar to FIFA men’s world cup.
People’s Passion for Football
There are definitely a lot of passion sports but football is the sport with the most passion. The passion people have for the game is unbeatable. People watch it on television with such enthusiasm that no other sport can challenge it. To be honest, passion for this game is one of those top things which make it the most popular and valid game. In the 19th century, the Goodison park was built in England with a specific purpose of hosting football. In 1894 when the FA Cup was played between Notts County and Bolton Wanderers, over 37000 fans attended it live. One of the landmarks in the development of football stadiums is the construction of Maracana stadium. By the year 1950, this beautiful stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was ready for around 200,000 people. It is rare to see stadiums of this capacity in other sports.
The passion for which football started known all over the world led to blacks coming into the field. Yes, the first Black football player is Andrew Watson who played in the Scottish club Queen’s Park in the 1880s. Before that only white players used to play the game. But soon football became a sport consisting of a mix of black and white.
