History of Soccer

A brief retelling of the world's most popular sport

Though it's exact origin is impossible to pinpoint, historians have found evidence of an early form of soccer being played over 3,000 years ago by the Chinese military during the Han Dynasty.

Medieval times

The story goes that the first soccer ball was the severed head of a Danish Prince, whom locals had defeated in battle. In the Medieval era, rival villages played a violent form of soccer, using tactics that included biting, gouging, punching, and kicking.

Attempts were made by English Queen Elizabeth I to ban or curtail this violent form of soccer, as she passed a law mandating that soccer players be "jailed for a week, and obliged to do penance in church."

The rise of British football

Still, no law could slow the popularization of soccer in Britain. In 1815, famous Eton College formed the Cambridge Rules, a set of game regulations which banned tripping, ball carrying, and shin-kicking. Most of England's universities and colleges adopted these regulations, and the Football Association was formed.

The late 1800s saw the game spread worldwide, as British traders, sailors, and soldiers introduced soccer to other countries.

American roots

According to the National Soccer Hall of Fame, a form of soccer was played in America as early as the 1600s: "American folklore asserts that Pilgrim Fathers, upon settling at Plymouth Rock, found American Indians along the Massachusetts coast playing a form of soccer. The Indians called it 'Pasuckquakkohwog,' which means 'they gather to play football.'"

The modern game

The British version of soccer first appeared in the United State Colonies in 1820 and many American colleges played a non-regulated form in unofficial matches. Following the Civil War, Princeton and Rutgers Universities engaged in the first official intercollegiate soccer competition.

Soccer has been an Olympic event since 1900 and in 1914 the United States Football Association (USFA) was formed. (USFA changed its name to the United States Soccer Football Association (USSFA) in 1945.)

Since then, the sport has grown in popularity and by the 1970s American soccer has been a mainstay in public school and private league athletic programs, with players ranging in age from 5 through college level. An American professional league played its first season in 1996 and currently has 12 teams.

According to the Columbia University Press, soccer is the most popular team sport worldwide. Membership of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA; founded in 1904), the global organization that governs soccer and sponsors the quadrennial World Cup competition, is larger than that of the United Nations.

More information on soccer goals