England—The
Birthplace of Soccer
Even though games that involved kicking
a ball were played in other parts of the
world, England is without doubt the birthplace
of the game now known as soccer, or Association
Football. (Trivia note: the word “soccer”
is actually a shortened form of the word
“association.”) You can even
visit the actual birthplace of modern soccer—the
Freemasons Tavern in London. It was here
in 1863 that the Football Association was
founded, but we’re getting ahead of
ourselves.
Ancient England had its
own form of a soccer-type game. The earliest
English games may have been played to celebrate
military victories. Some historians say
that after a victory against the Danes,
the English played a soccer-type game with
the head of defeated prince. The real roots
of soccer came not from the battlefields
but from the streets of England and Scotland.
Games of mob football were played in village
streets and squares. Unlimited numbers of
men from opposing villages would attempt
to kick an inflated pig’s bladder.
According to an early handbook, any means
short of murder and manslaughter could be
used to get the ball across the goal.
In spite of such “rules”
these violent street games often did involve
the injury and even death of both players
and spectators. This led to the game being
banned by the King. Even when it was illegal
to play, people couldn’t help themselves;
they just had to kick the ball. Despite
laws and edicts, soccer-type games continued
to be played for the next 500 years, particularly
by working class men who played on Sundays,
the one day each week they took off from
the fields and factories.
A School Boy’s
Game
In the 1820s, modern soccer began to take
shape in the public schools of England.
Schoolmasters recognized that the game promoted
health and strength and could be “civilized.”
So schools including Eton, Harrow, Rugby
and Westminster began playing recreational
games with a “ball” that was
flat on both top and bottom. Each school
developed their own rules and defined their
own field of play. Before these schools
began to organize the sport, matches were
played in open spaces without boundaries.
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Edict of 1314 describing the prohobition of soccer by the King of England
(Click image to enlarge)
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