Dawn - Football World Cup 2006

Football: origin and history of the game

Have you ever wonder how soccer / football games get into our life? When and where is the origin of this game from? Why is it so many peoples in the world crazy about this game? Almost every culture has reference to the history of soccer.

The origin of football / soccer can be found in every corner of geography and history. The Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Ancient Greek, Persian, Viking, and many more played a ball game long before our era.

The Chinese played "football" games date as far back as 3000 years ago. The Ancient Greeks and the Roman used football games to sharpen warriors for battle.

In south and Central America a game called "Tlatchi" once flourished.

But it was in England that soccer / football really begin to take shape. It all started in 1863 in England, when two football association (association football and rugby football) split off on their different course.

Therefore, the first Football Association was founded in England.

On October 1963, eleven London clubs and schools sent their representatives to the Freemason's Tavern.

These representatives were intent on clarifying the muddle by establishing a set of fundamental rules, acceptable to all parties, to govern the matches played amongst them.

This meeting marked the birth of The Football Association.

The eternal dispute concerning shin-kicking, tripping and carrying the ball was discussed thoroughly at this and consecutive meetings until eventually on 8 December the die-hard exponents of the Rugby style took their final leave.

They were in the minority anyway. They wanted no part in a game that forbade tripping, shin-kicking and carrying the ball. A stage had been reached where the ideals were no longer compatible.

On 8 December 1863, football and rugby finally split. Their separation became totally irreconcilable six years hence when a provision was included in the football rules forbidding any handling of the ball (not only carrying it).
Only eight years after its foundation, The Football Association already had 50 member clubs.

The first football competition in the world was started in the same year - the FA Cup, which preceded the League Championship by 17 years.

International matches were being staged in Great Britain before football had hardly been heard of in Europe. The first was played in 1872 and was contested by England and Scotland.

This sudden boom of organized football accompanied by staggering crowds of spectators brought with it certain problems with which other countries were not confronted until much later on. Professionalism was one of them.

The first moves in this direction came in 1879, when Darwin, a small Lancashire club, twice managed to draw against the supposedly invincible Old Etonians in the FA Cup, before the famous team of London amateurs finally scraped through to win at the third attempt.

Two Darwin players, the Scots John Love and Fergus Suter, are reported as being the first players ever to receive remuneration for their football talent. This practice grew rapidly and the Football Association found itself obliged to legalise professionalism as early as 1885. This development predated the formation of any national association outside of Great Britain (namely, in the Netherlands and Denmark) by exactly four years.

After the English Football Association, the next oldest are the Scottish FA (1873), the FA of Wales (1875) and the Irish FA (1880).

Strictly speaking, at the time of the first international match, England had no other partner association against which to play. When Scotland played England in Glasgow on 30 November 1872, the Scottish FA did not even exist - it was not founded for another three months.

The team England played that day was actually the oldest Scottish club team, Queen's Park.
The spread of football outside of England, mainly due to the British influence abroad, started slow, but it soon gathered momentum and spread rapidly to all parts of the world.

The next countries to form football associations after the Netherlands and Denmark in 1889 were New Zealand (1891), Argentina (1893), Chile (1895), Switzerland, Belgium (1895), Italy (1898), Germany, Uruguay (both in 1900), Hungary (1901) and Finland (1907).

When FIFA was founded in Paris in May 1904 it had seven founder members: France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain (represented by the Madrid FC), Sweden and Switzerland.

The German Football Federation cabled its intention to join on the same day.
This international football community grew steadily, although it sometimes met with obstacles and setbacks.

In 1912, 21 national associations were already affiliated to the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).

By 1925, the number had increased to 36, in 1930 - the year of the first World Cup - it was 41, in 1938, 51 and in 1950, after the interval caused by the Second World War, the number had reached 73.

At present, after the 2000 Ordinary FIFA Congress, FIFA has 204 members in every part of the world.

The Fifa World Cup founded in 1971

The World Cup (The Golden Nike) was founded in 1930 by Frenchman Jules Rimet, the creator of the world championship games.

The cup was designed and made by a French sculptor, Abel Lafleur. Thirty cm in height, weighing 1,82 kg and made of pure gold, the sculpture depicted Nike of Samothrace (Winged Victory).

In 1950 the statue was named the Jules Rimet Cup after its founder. It was a trophy passed on to each winner and the team to win the tournament three times got to keep it (Brazil achieved this in 1970).

In 1983 the Cup was stolen and it has never been found. The tournament using Jules Rimet Cup was organized for a total of 9 times from 1930 to 1970. The tournament is being organized once in every four years.

The FIFA World Cup was founded in 1971. It was designed by Silvio Gazzanigi of Italy. Made of 18-carat gold and malachite, the cup is 36 cm tall and weighs 5 kg.

The sculpture depicts two triumphant football players holding a globe in their raised hands.

The trophy is passed on to each winning team that gets to keep an identical (but gold-plated) replica.
The making of the statue cost about $50,000, today its value is estimated to over $10,000,000. The World Cup trophy that being used today has been staged for 8 times from 1974 until now.

First World Cup (Uruguay, 1930): At the 1929 FIFA congress, Uruguay was chosen to arrange the first ever World Cup to honor its achievements in sports.

Uruguay, the reigning Olympic Champions, was chosen ahead of a quartet of European countries including Italy and Spain.

Even though Uruguay offers to pay all team expenses, only four European countries makes the three week trip to South America. The hosts builds a fantastic stadium in Montevideo that can hold 95,000. The Stadium is finished five days after the World Cup has started!

The World Cup Champions were to receive what today is known as "The Jules Rimet trophy".

Second World Cup (Italy, 1934): Italy was the hosts for the 1934 World-Cup. Uruguay, who won the previous tournament in 1930, surprisingly did not participate. So immediately one of the main attractions was missing.

This was the first and last time the previous winners did not show up for the next championships. There was 16 teams took part in the tournament. Argentina and Brazil took part, but booth with average teams.

Therefore the Europeans and especially were favorites for the title. With the fascist dictator Mussolini behind his team, everything was set up for Italy.

Players such as Orsi, Monti, and De Maria from Argentina were drafted into the Italian squad after it was found they had double nationalities.

The championships was no victory for football, but Mussolini and the Italians were pleased with the outcome.

Third World Cup (France, 1938): The World-Cup grew more and more, and in the third championships, there were 36 nations involved. Norway reached the finals for the first time. The last championships were won by the hosts, but that was to change. Again were Italy the winners. This tournament the football was played in a more mature and collective way, with more speed and technical play.

Three players stood out above others, Meazza, Ferrari and Fiola. The draw for the first round was done in Paris on March 5. 1938.

Fourth World Cup (Brazil, 1950): European teams from countries most affected by World War II (among others the Polish team) didn't enter the qualifiers. The silver medalists of the last championships, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Argentina didn't participate either. Most countries in the world used the years 1945-50 to rebuild their countries.

As Usual, Brazil was the biggest favorite of the tournament. Uruguay could not be written off, they had won three championships in a row (OL-24, OL-28, VC-30), and had since not participated in following tournaments. The final between Brazil and Uruguay was played in front of amazing 203 000 people. Brazil had impressed everyone in the early stages and took the lead 1-0. Uruguay could hardly get out of their own half, but still managed to score 2 goals. One of the biggest upsets in football history.

Fifth World Cup (Switzerland, 1954): Wankdorf stadium in Bern, 4. July 1954: Hungarys magical "Magyars", who were undefeated in 31 games over 4 years, met West-Germany in the final of the 5th World-Cup.

Just two weeks ago, Hungary had defeated West-Germany by 8-3 in a group game. Unluckily, this time they lost 3-2 to the confusion of all football lovers.

This legendary team who many regard as one of the best ever never would become world champions. After the World-Cup they continued to win and win until thousands of Russian tanks rolled into Budapest in November 1956. The end of an era.

Sixth World Cup (Sweden, 1958): Garrincha, Didi, Gilmar, Zito and Pele were just some of Brazils stars in 1958, who rewrote the history books.

Hundreds of Swedish flooded to the Brazilian training ground to catch a glimpse of their ball control and tecnique. This championship would be the breakthrough for a 17 year old boy from Sao-Paulo, Pele.

This young man amazed the world with his skills and goals. In the final against the hosts, Brazil won 5-2 with Pele scoring 2 of the goals.

The semi final and final together he scored 5 goals! Arguably footballs biggest star was born.

Seventh World Cup (Chile, 1962): It was expected that Peles Brazil would defend their title. They did, but to the most without Pele. After scoring in the opening match, he was injured and did not play the rest of the tournament. Brazil met Czechoslovakia in the final and won easily.

Even without Pele, Brazil was too strong for the rest of the football world. Teams such as England and West-Germany were in the process of building new teams. Whereas Argentina, Italy and Uruguay were mostly keen on fighting than playing football.

Eighth World Cup (England, 1966): England will win the World-Cup on home soil, said the English manager Alf Ramsey. The games founders had been in 4 previous tournaments, but with disappointment.

In 66 they started slowly with a draw against Uruguay, but slowly found form as the tournament went on. At last in this tournament, they stood as winners, and Ramsey a national hero. The victory was not only popular and deserved, but also controversial. The scoring that decided the final is still discussed to this day!!!

Ninth World Cup (Mexico, 1970): Many believe that the 1970 World-Cup was the best ever played, and inspired millions of kids to start playing.

It was a championship where different styles came against each other. As proved in the final where the passing and skillful Brazilians met the tactical and physical Italians.

Football won that day as Brazil won 4-1 playing some of the best football ever seen. Again Pele was inspirational along with Jairzinho, Gerson, Felix and Carlos Alberto.

They showed the world how football should be played. 1970 proved to be the farewell to who many regard as the greatest, Pele.