The Origin of Football
Football, as the most popular game in the world, has the deepest history of any game.
Have you ever asked yourself what real football is? Have you ever thought about how football came to be? That question running through your mind is, who invented football? Then you might have to get all these answers. You definitely will if you read till the end. Regardless of your gender, it is almost certain that you have played or come across football at least once.
With football, I mean soccer. As you grew up, mostly boys, you innovatively made your own balls irrespective of size and weight and played them merrily. Girls on the other side, you might have played with your older or younger brother, or maybe that day you went to the shop, and the boys happened to hit you with the ball; perhaps you helped them collect it when it came rolling down to your legs and kicked it. All I am saying is that we all know what football is, and we have played it at one time in our lives.
The History and Origin of Football
Football, as the most popular game in the world, has the deepest history of any game. At times, this history goes untracked and is very hard to tell. All this history is just about to be revealed to you—historians trace Modern football back to the 12th century in England. [Mind you that ancient football and the origin of football trace back earlier than this.] Football at this age involved punches and kicks. Balls at these times were made of rocks. This sounds really funny. How did they play it? There weren’t really rock balls but rock-like balls. Perhaps they were more like golfs and would be played by rolling.
As time progressed and football’s popularity grew, officials modified the rock-like ball to a bouncing ball made of rubber. This took place in the Mesoamerican culture. People played football at these times during cultural activities. The Mesoamericans used the ball to represent the sun, and the captain of the losing team would be sacrificed. That sounds diabolic, right? At all this time, officials did not really define football in all its aspects as it is today. Actually, it was not to be called football, and it had its names depending on the developments and where players played it.
Football is one of the oldest sports of all time.
The Development and Modification of Football [Ancient Football]
History has it that the Chinese played football as early as in the 3rd Century; only they called it ‘Cuju’. The ball used was a rounded stitched leather ball. The Chinese played the first-ever football game on a square field with this ball, not as it’s played on modern pitches today. The game spread and reached the Japanese, who called it ‘Kemari’. Kemari was played in ceremonies.
With the growing popularity of the game, it was discovered that there was even an older ball termed as ‘Marn Gook’. Aboriginal Australians played this. The game involved purely and plainly kicking the ball [this is definitely modern football.] The ball used was made of leaves and roots. The game later spread to Ancient Greece. The ball used in Ancient Greece was made of leather and hair.
