Ayedh: The History of Soccer "Football"

Soccer game has a very interesting history is the world of sport. It was one of the most popular sports in Europe. In the 2^nd and 3^rd centuries BC, soccer game was played as a sport in China. At that time people in China had the idea of kicking leather balls into a small net, their game was called “Tsu Chu”. In addition, romans, Greek and Japanese used to play ball for fun and it considered as a sport at that time. Japanese in the 100 BC they have also a version of soccer and it was called “ Kemari “ and two to twelve players played it. In Egypt the game was played as well during the Baqet III age, and the games was played by young women, and as an evidnec of that sport was played at that time there was an image in the Baqet III tomb. However, there is not much known about that sport, only that it was played by a ball. In addition, in ancient Greek they played a game called “Episkyros” where two teams with equal number of players trying to throw the ball over the heads of other team.

The early growth of the modern soccer started in England, at that time, the old type of soccer allow violence, so there were kicking, punching, biting and other type of violence because that main purpose was to carry the ball to the target spot. However, the violence did not last long, because in 1365, king Edward III banned soccer because of the incident that increased as a result of the soccer game. Also, in 1424, king James I of Scotland, passed the law of banning the game because of the violence. Moreover, the game was played in Italy in the 1500, and they called the game “Calcio”, and the game consist teams with over than 27 people, it included kicking, carrying and passing the ball across the goal line. But in 1572 Queen Elizabeth I of England, set a very strike rules against football players where they spent one week in jail and after that penance in church., and in the 1605 football became legal again in England. Soccer game is a very popular game that has been played for more that three thousand years.

Soccer was popular in the universities, in 1815. As a result of it popularity, Cambridge rules for soccer was developed by the popular English school and Eton collage. Moreover, the modern history day of the soccer was established in 1863, and in that year in October a meeting was held between eleven representatives from London clubs and schools, the aim of the meeting was to set up common fundamental rules to control the game among themselves, and as a result of the meeting was the establish of the Football Association. They banned any type of handling the ball in 1869, however, Soccer’s popularity spread rapidly during the 1800s, as British sailors, traders and soldiers present the game globally (History of Soccer).

In 1872, the first official international football match was played between two national teams of Scotland and England with a result of 0-0. Further more, in 1883, there was a uniform code and formed the international football association board agreed by the four British associations. The first international game played by a team outside of Great Britain, and it was between USA and Canada and it ended with Canada wining 1-0. In addition, penalty kick was introduced in the 1888 (Soccer History Timeline). FIFA was established in 1904 when delegates form France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherland, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland in their meeting in Paris in the 21 of May. As an evidence of the soccer popularity, it was played in the Olympic games for the first time in 1900. Also, The Federation International Football Association (FIFA) held soccer’s’ for the first World Cup tournament in 1930, but in 1931 soccer was taken off from the Olympic games in Los Angeles and that because of the disagreement between the FIFA and the IOC. Moreover, women also has the chance to join the game and in 1996 the American women’s’ team won the first ever women’s’ soccer event at the Olympic in 1996 (A Football History).

FIFA considered as the governing body of the football, the headquarter of the FIFA located in Zurich, Switzerland. The other regional confederations that are associated with the FIFIA are listed below:

Asia : Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
Africa: Confederation of African Football (CAF)
Europe: Union of European Football Association (UEFA)
North / Central America & Caribbean: Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF)
Oceania: Oceania Football Confederation (OFC)
South America: Confederation Sudamericana

The History of the Soccer Ball:

Moving to the early soccer ball history, though out the history people enjoyed kicking anything like a ball. Ball is the 1900’s were made of strong rubber; balls at that time were made from inner tubes covered with heavy brown leathers. These balls were painful when heading due to the heavy stitching and the water absorption characteristics of the leather, each time of the centuries different countries preferred different type of balls, until the FIFA standardized the size, weight, and the type of the balls with the introduction of international board (History of Soccer Ball).

The Rules of Soccer:

The soccer rules were published by the FIFA and they called the “Laws of the Game”, below there are 17 laws of any game.

Law 1: The Field of Play:

There are fixed dimensions for soccer fields, the length must be between 100 yards and 130 yards with a width of 50 and 100 yards.

Law 2: The Soccer Ball:

The soccer ball must not weight more than 16 ounces (450 grams), and not less than 14 ounces (410 grams) at the start of the match.

Law 3: The number of players:

Two teams should play the match with no more than 11 players who should be in each team. And if one of the teams had less than seven players, then the match won’t start.

Law 4: The players’ Equipment:

One of the FIFA rules is that a player should not wear or use any equipment that might be danger to the player himself or to any other player.

Soccer player basic equipment includes: (a shirt with a sleeves, jerseys, short, stocking, shin pads and footwear).

Law 5: The Referee:

The referee in the match has the full authority and has the final decisions of the game as well. The referee controls the match and ensures that the players’ equipment and the ball meet the requirements

Law 6: Assistant Referee:

In each soccer game there are two assistant referees, what they mainly do is help the referee who make the decision and call offside and throw ins.

Law 7: The Duration of the Match:

The total duration time for the match is 45 minutes and half-time interval must not exceed 15 minutes. The referee may add more time and that depends on the match situation. For example, time wasting, removal of injuries players from the field of play or other causes.

Law 8: The Star and Restart of Play:

Kick off is the way of starting or restarting play:

To begin a match
If a goal has been scored
To begin the second half
To begin a period of extra time

Law 9: The Ball in and out of Play:

The ball is out of play when:

- Crossed the goal line

- Play has been stopped by referee

The Ball is IN when:

- It rebound of goal post

- It hits the referee or the assistant when they are in the field

Law 10: the method of Scoring:

When the ball cross the whole goal line, the team consider win the goal. And the team that succor’s the most goals, usually wins the game. It is a draw when both teams succored equal number of goals. In that case if rules of the game require a wine then the following must be done:

Away goals rules
Extra Time
Penalty Kicks

Law 11: The offside:

The offside law means that if the ball played or touched by the teammate then the player may not be active involved in the match.

Law 12: Fouls and Misconduct:

Where the referee can stop the match, or take disciplinary action.

Law 13: Free Kicks:

The free kicks can be direct or indirect. The kicker must not touch the ball until it touch’s another ball.

Law 14: the Penalty Kick:

Feinting in the game and run up to take a penalty kick in order to confuse the goal -keeper is permitted.

Law 15, 16 and 17: Throw Ins, Goal Kicks and Corner Kicks;

“ When the ball goes out of play over the touchline, a player will take a throw in from the team who did not touch the ball last. When the whole of the ball goes over the goal line, a goal kick or corner is awarded, depending on which team touched the ball last. If the defending team touched it, a corner is awarded to the opposition. If the attacking team had the last touch, a goal kick is awarded.” (The Rules of Soccer – About Sport)

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