The origins of football can be found in almost all areas of the globe. Many of these can be considered as the forerunners to the modern form of football. However, football is a game which requires the use of only foot and ball, deeply associated with human’s primitive movements. Therefore, you cannot take out the history of football from just one particular area and regard it as the origin. Let’s take a look at various assertions.
Europe
According to the record, football is believed to have descended from the ancient Greek game of ‘Harpastum’. ‘Harpastum’ is often referred to as a “very rough and brutal game“and is mentioned quite frequently in Greek literature. Also in the comedies by Antiphanes, there were some remarks about football, describing it as “A short pass, and a long-stretched trail of a ball.” There are even remarks about the fact that Caesar Julius was a left foot and that Emperor Nero could not score a goal.
Asia
Football in China is assumed to have started 5,000 years ago. The early form was developed by an aerialist who danced with a ball. Later form evolved into a match with rules. According to the record, players were not allowed to use hands and the goal post was placed right at the center, both on each side of the pitch. A drawing of a ball made of leather in a picture of Ming Dynasty resembles modern day football. Another similar form can also be seen in Korean history. In Silla Dynasty, the game was played with an animal’s bladder which was inflated with air, and was called ‘Chuk-guk’ which is now called ‘Chuk-gu’.
Central America
According to the Amazon natives of Bolivia, there was a traditional game in which a rubber ball was played with only the use of feet and had to be kicked in between two sticks (sticks were used as goal posts instead). And, the custom spread overseas by a Spanish priest and was introduced to Central America.
Origin of the Current football
The start of modern-days football can be dated back to the medieval days of England. When Rome invaded Britain, ‘Harpastum’ was introduced and the set of rules was modified to a very similar form of modern football; it has been followed for about 1500 years. The modern football with the perfect set of rules was formed in the 1800’s. Because there was no unified set of rules prior to this period, the match was played using a simple rule-of-thumb, thereby making it difficult to make decisions when ambiguous situations came up. After this period of confusion, Football Association was established in England in 1863 to publically form regulations of fouls and accurate score rules. It became the first official football organization in history. Moreover, as Britain in the 19th Century continued its colonial expansion, the modern form of football was reintroduced to many countries. In 1882, a weapon-free war began with its first match between England and Ireland. Later, matches continued in other countries and in 1904, FIFA (FédérationInternationale de Football Association) was established. The first World Cup was held in Uruguay.
Origin of The Premier League - the “center” of modern football.
The Premier League was originally created as the first division of English football League, and then the teams of the first division moved to ‘Premier League’. Premier League is listed as one of the world famous leagues with Italy's ‘Serie A’, and Spain's ‘Primera Liga’. Since February 1922, intense and dramatic history has been written. With innumerable seasons and clubs in history, many have been carrying on cut-throat competitions in order to avoid demotion. Among these, strong teams such as Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Arsenal, and Manchester City which newly invested infinite amount of money to win the championship- have formed rivalries and rewrote the history of football.
Choi Hyuk Soon
xhstar@daum.net