History
of football
LSS 3003 - Sports, Leisure, and Society
Instructor:
Hedley Butterfield;
Student:
Mohammed Ahmed AlMansoori
H00236836
CIQ
History of football
Introduction
Football is a game that has the highest
number of fans around the world and it is played in many countries. The game is
more prominent in Europe and also in South America where it is believed to have
originated in the 19th century (FIFA, 2014). Football is played
between two teams which have a total of eleven players each. The game is also
guided by rules that ensure that the players do not injure each other as they
play. To ensure that there are reduced conflicts during the game, a referee
ensures that the rules are followed and gives punishment to offenders. The game
has developed over the years from its primitive form where there were no
guidelines on how the game should be played. Before setting up the rules,
football was rough and there was no specific number of players that were
allowed in the field. This paper looks at the history of football and how it
has progressively changed to become what is witnessed today.
Football history and
development
Football can be traced to have roots in England
as early as 1863 when there was little distinction between rugby and football
(Siebert, 2009). The game involved kicking a ball using the feet and directing
it to the direction of the opponent towards an established line. When the ball
crossed the line, the team was said to have scored. The opposing team was
expected to defend and prevent themselves from being scored against. The game
was commonly played by college students as a competition between different
colleges in England (FIFA, 2014). The large number of participants created disorder
in the field which made many suffer serious injuries, even to the extent of
dying. During this period, there were few rules that guided the game and this
added to the confusion. There are many instances that governments banned participation
in football because of the damage it caused to individuals. These decisions
were later reversed with the introduction of regulations on how to control the participation
of all players during a match.
In the 1870s, the number of players who
participated in the game was reduced to 11 for each team, and this was meant to
reduce congestion and confusion in the field (Pope & Nauright, 2010).
The introduction of goal posts was carried out around this time and this
changed the aimless scoring on the lines. This helped to differentiate the mode
of playing football with that of rugby (Siebert, 2009). During this period,
some players fixed themselves near the goal posts of their opponent where they
could wait for the ball to score. This was considered to be unfair by some
people and therefore led to the introduction of the offside rule. The rule
stipulated that during a game, the players were supposed to dribble the ball and
wait for passes without necessarily staying fixed near the goal posts
(Dietschy, 2013). These rules led to the rise of the positioning of the players
where some were meant to defend, while others were meant to concentrate of
scoring. This increased the enthusiasm that was associated with the game and
more people liked it.
Despite
these changes and rules, there were still conflicts that arose during the
matches and they were settled by the captains of the teams. The captains agreed
on how to solve the conflict to avoid wastage of a significant amount of time. In
the early 1860s, the fields were not clearly demarcated and this made the players
play aimlessly. In the 1870s the field was demarcated to show the dimensions
within which the game was supposed to be played (FIFA, 2014). To ensure that the
game was played within the set rules, a referee was introduced in 1898 and
given the mandate to control the behaviour of players on the field (FIFA,
2014). The referee had the power to offer remedies for players who committed
fouls to their opponents, and used a whistle whenever there was a foul. This has
been practised up to date, and the present football follows most of the rules
set during this period.
The
rules used in the 19th century were set by IFAB to govern football
matches. FIFA was later founded in 1904 as the world body to govern football
(FIFA, 2014). The idea of a new body to govern football was not welcome by the United
Kingdom but later it accepted the move. FIFA was headed by a president who
guided the members on making rules and major decisions regarding to football. Over
the years many changes have occurred in football such as preventing goalkeepers
to handle balls when they are outside stipulated areas. The rules and the
guidance of FIFA has streamlined football with increasing matches such as the World
Cup, the English Premier League, the Champions League, La Liga and many others
(Dietschy, 2013). In current football matches, the game is supervised by a
referee inside the field and two other referees on the lines to help the centre
referee monitor the game.
Conclusion
Football is a well-known game that is
played in all parts of the world with its history dating to the 19th
century. There are many changes that have occurred in the manner the game is
played and the participants. The dimension of the field where the match is
played has also changed. There are rules that guide how the game is played and
a referee is responsible for ensuring that the rules are followed. The rules
have assisted in reducing the number of injuries that were resulting from rough
attacks during the games.
References
Dietschy,
P. (2013). Making
Football Global? FIFA, Europe, And the Non-European Football World, 1912–74. Journal of Global History. 8: 279–298
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