Football fever is griping the world. So let us look at some interesting facts and history of this fascinating game.
Versions of football
Modern Football or Medieval Football – The history of modern football can be traced to 12th century Europe especially England. William FritzStephen in an entry in 1174 describes a group of London youth playing a game of ball. Each group defined their own rules, but mostly it involved kicking some kind of ball with legs and a goal post. Football held popularity mostly with school boys and was played at almost all English schools. For the next 600 years, football alternated between getting accepted and banned at various levels. The schools msotly encouraged it as a way to keep fit.
With the industrial revolution gripping entire Europe, it became six days work and one Sunday with a game of football playing or watching.
Rugby Union or Rugby Football or simply rugby – In 1823, at a public school in Warwickshire, England, a student by the name William Webb Ellis decided to grab the ball by his hand and run to the opposite goal post. This was against rules, but those days rules were mostly guidelines created at school level. But William by picking up the football invented the game Rugby. The name originated from the name of the school which is also Rugby. The game began and still continues till date as a game of brute power and strategy.
American Football or gridiron – When an American says football, he or she actually means American version of rugby. Concerned by the number of injuries caused by the game of rugby, the Americans modified many rules to create a more safer game. The first game of American Football was played in 1869 between two college teams with a round ball instead of an oval one which is used now. Walter Camp, a student of the Yale University made significant changes in rules in 1880 and reduced the size of each team to 11. He is regarded as the “Father of American Football”.
Soccer – We finally come to the latest definition of football. It is also known as Association football or simply football. The International Football Association Board or IFAB founded in 1886 to standardise rules of the game. FIFA or Fédération Internationale de Football Association is the international level governing body founded in 1904 to coordinate international games. That is a big responsibility to govern the most popular game in the world. FIFA coordinates with national football federations to organise and promote football all over the world.
Did you know that?
The oldest football club is the Notts County FC founded on 25th Nov 1862 based in Nottingham, England.
Pariwat Temple in Bangkok has a gold-painted statue of Soccer legend David Beckham. It was crafted in 1999 to coincide the most important achievement of Manchester United Club under David Beckham, winning three competitions.
Yubi Lakpi is a traditional football like game played in Manipur, India. Seven players on each side try to snatch a coconut from each other. Traditional football games have been played in many parts of the world in ancient times like cuju in China or Calcio in Italy.
The first international game of football was played between England and Scotland on 27 March 1871. Scotland won the game.
German player Miroslav Klose has scored 16 goals in the 24 world cup matches he has played ranking him right at the top of world cup goal scorers. Ronald comes at number two with 15 goals. In 1958 Just Fontaine of France scored 13 goals in a single match which the most in any match till date. He also won the Golden Boot award for that world cup. Ronaldo of Brazil won the Golden Boot in 2002 World Cup with 8 goals.
Thomas Muller of Germany is one of the most prolific football players at least representing his own country. He won the Golden Boot award in 2010 with 5 goals. That was his debut year for world cup. In 2022, he is still playing for the national team and has played 19 World Cup matches till date scoring 10 goals.
Pele has won three World Cups for Brazil, a record worth it’s weight in Gold. No wonder he was announced as FIFA’s Player of the Century. However, the internet poll placed Diego Maradona on the top spot with more than 50% popularity. Lionel Messi has scored 672 goals in 778 appearances and is the top ranking FIFA player of all time.
Finally if it comes down to money, there should be a tie between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo at approx 450 million dollars or 45 crore dollars or 3708 crore Rupees at today’s exchange rate. Cristiano Ronaldo however is the most influential on social media with an amazing number of fan following.