THE MOST IMPORTANT GAME IN HISTORY: FOOTBALL HISTORY AND STORY

Thousands of years of history of football, the most popular sport in the world.
There is no clear document showing the date and place of the emergence of world football, today's most popular sport. However, most historians agree that this ball game has been played in some form for at least 3,000 years. The origins of modern football, first developed in England, date back to the ancient ball game played in China, Japan, Egypt and Greece.

The Country That Invented Football

The game of football has been shaped throughout history and reached today. The first people to invent football were China in 5000 BC. They called this ancient ball game Cuju. This game, also known as Tsu Chu, was basically football. Tsu means "kick the ball with the foot" and Chu means "stuffed leather ball". With Tsu Chu, it was not allowed to handle the ball during the game, like football today. There is concrete evidence that in the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC, Han Dynasty soldiers played a game called "Tsu Chu" in which they kicked a leather ball stuffed with fur into a small hole. An attempt was made to hit the ball into a 30-40 cm gap with a net inside.
By 2500 BC, III. There was a type of ball game played by young women in Egypt during the Baket period, as drawings of this sport are depicted in Baket's tomb. Although not much is known about the sport, it is clearly seen that he is playing with a ball.

In 1000 BC, the Japanese called this game "Kemari". Much like today's hacky sack, it was played by two to twelve players and used a larger ball filled with sawdust. The field where Kemari was played was called kakari and was 15 m2 in size. There were four trees in each corner of the field: cherry, maple, pine and willow. However, bamboo could also be used and remains so today.
A game called Episkiros was played in Ancient Greece, dating back to BC. Two teams with equal players would try to throw the ball over the other team's head. There was a white line between the teams and another white line behind each team.
When one of the teams crossed the last line behind them, the ball would pass to the other team. In 50 BC, Chinese Tsu Chu players and Japanese Kemari players united and developed their own international football game. The first clear evidence that such a game was played is a match held in 611 AD.
In 600 AD, the first rubber ball was invented in Mexico and Central America. The ball was played on an indented, 12-15 meter field shaped like the letter "I". A stone or wooden ring is fixed in the middle of each wall and the purpose is to prevent the hard rubber ball from passing through the ring. The game continued to be played into the 1600s.

Football Was a Bloody Game

The first game of football was played in Britain in the 700s and its story is a strange one. Natives in the east of England celebrated by kicking the severed head of the Danish prince they defeated in battle. This type of celebration continued in the following years. However, these games were extremely violent; Getting injured and dying wouldn't be uncommon.
By 1331 this barbaric celebration game was still popular in Britain. King of England III. Edward legislated to stop the game on this date. More than a century later, King James I of Scotland implemented the same ban in 1424.
In 1500, "calcio" was played in Italy with teams of more than 27 people. The game involved kicking, carrying or passing a ball over the goal line. Giovanni Bardi published the rules of the game calcio in 1580. Before this, Queen Elizabeth I of England banned football in 1572. It was reported that those who played would be sentenced to a week in prison followed by penance in church. The reason was that the rules were not followed and the game was played on Sunday, the holy day of rest.

In 1600, native Inuit in Alaska and Canada played a game called aqsaqtuk on ice with balls filled with grass, caribou hair, and moss. One legend states that two villages played with targets 15 km away from each other. In 1605, football was made legal again in England. In 1620, native Indians living in Jamestown, North America, played a game called "pasuckuakohowog," which means "gathering together to play ball with feet." The field was 800 meters wide and the goal targets were 1.6 away. There would be 1000 players on the field at a time.
In 1815, Eton College in England established rules for football. In 1820, football came to the United States and was played between Northeastern University and colleges such as Harvard, Princeton, Amherst, and Brown.

The First Football Club in History

In 1848 the rules became more standardized and all schools, colleges and universities adopted the version known as the Cambridge Rules. The world's first football club was Sheffield F.C. in England in 1857. It was founded under the name The club is active today. The first football club established in a country other than England was Oneida Football Club, which was opened in Boston, USA, in 1862.
On 26 October 1863, the Football Association, which still operates today, was founded. 11 London schools and clubs met at the Freemasons' Tavern to determine the rules that would apply to any football match played between them. On 8 December 1863, Association Football split into two and the Rugby Football organization was born.

First Football Match

The first football match was played in the same year. The match between Barnes Football Club and Richmond Football Club was played on Barnes Common in Mortlake, London, on 19 December 1863 and ended in a 0-0 draw. The Football Association changed the rules further in 1869 to prevent any handling of the ball.

First Official International Match

In 1872 the first official international football match between the Scotland and England national teams was played in Glasgow Scotland. The match took place on 30 November 1872 and ended in a 0-0 draw. In 1883, the four English associations agreed on the same rules and the International Football Association Board was formed.
The first international football match played between teams from outside Great Britain was between the USA and Canada in Newark in 1885, with Canada winning 1-0.

Penalty kicks were introduced to football in 1888. Football was played for the first time in the Olympic Games in 1900. Delegates from France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland attended a meeting held in Paris and FIFA was established on 21 May 1904.
The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) organized the first football World Cup tournament in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1930 with 13 teams.
Football was removed from the program of the Olympic Games to be held in Los Angeles in 1932. The reason was that many powerful football nations were unwilling to cover the costs of traveling to the USA. There were also discussions between FIFA and the IOC (International Olympic Committee) over the definition of amateurism.
The first Women's World Cup, held in China in 1991, was won by the USA. 1996 The American women's soccer team wins the first women's soccer game at the Olympics.

Football is a huge industry now, games, matches, tickets and more. What really matters is the unforgettable memories and feelings it gives us. Thank you for reading this article and I look forward to your comments and support.