The History of Soccer

Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world and has been around for quite a while. Much longer than other games, and it will probably last a bit longer. I play soccer, and I think it is the best sport there is, which is why I researched it’s history and wrote it/typed it down.

Like most things, soccer was made in China. The earliest recorded instance of a sport that resembled soccer is from China during the Han Dynasty, which went from 206 B.C. to 220 A.D. (roughly 400 years). This Chinese soccer-like game was called cuju, and was originally made by the military commanders as a training exercise, so that the soldiers could practice working together and running around while being aggressive to the other team. This was near the beginning of the Han Dynasty and by the end of the dynasty the game of cuju had become very popular as a sport and not just as a training exercise, thus becoming a popular past-time for the Chinese royalty and even the emperors. Throughout the dynasty’s before the Ming Dynasty (1,100 years later) cuju kept increasing in quality and popularity (or as much as it can after being played by the emperors), but began to decline and eventually end in the Ming Dynasty. [1]

Pasuckuakohowog was played by the Native Americans in the 1600s, and is extremely close to what we call today “cross country soccer”. This is because the goals were a half-mile wide and a mile apart. There was no “out of bounds” in this game, so you were able to take the ball beyond the goal and score from that side. It was often played on beaches since that was the only common area big enough and flat enough for easy play. [2]

The rules for modern soccer were originally made at the Cambridge university in 1848. Many schools and clubs had come together to form these rules to their liking, but many still did not like the result, so left to play on their own, leading to American football and other offshoots. The modern soccer is played with a maximum of eleven players and a minimum of seven. The positions are normally divided into Forwards who take the ball to the other teams goal, defenders who keep the ball away from their goal if it gets close, and midfielders who run all over the field and play as both defenders and forwards. The other position is the goalkeeper, or goalie, and they stay near the goal so that they can grab or stop any shot the offensive team make at the goal. Goalkeepers are the only players allowed to grab the ball with their hands, but only in an area around the goal. Other than this no player is allowed to touch the ball with their hands. The punishment for touching the ball with your hands is a penalty kick for the team that didn’t do the fouling. A penalty kick is where the fouled team gets a free kick from where they got fouled to any place they want, but the team that fouled has to give them space to kick the ball. Once the fouled team touches the ball the other team is allowed to close in and resume normal play. Other than touching the ball with the hands you can get a foul by injuring a player. [3]

The history of soccer is pretty interesting, and I hope you enjoyed this paper on the subject.

1 “Sports”. Encyclopedia Britannica.

2 Roberts, Mike. “Little Brothers of War Ball games in Pre-Colombian North America”. The same old game: the true story of the ancient origins of football

 3  “Cambridge University”. Bell’s Life in London. 21 November 1863. p. 9.