The History of Football — Part I

This post is the first part of a series I’d like to call “A cricket fan’s guide to football”. Having realized that a lot of cricket fans in India, including me, are new to the game, I decided to pen down my findings about the game so as to overcome FOMO at social gatherings.

The Origins

Legend has it that the first version of football started in the country we now know as Mexico during the Mayan Civilization where a rubber ball was thought of to be the sun and the area they played was thought of to be the earth. The captain of the losing team was beheaded as a sacrifice to the sun god.

Some historians believe football to have originated in the Chinese kingdom of Su Chu (of the Han dynasty). The game spread to Japan and was renamed Kamari. In time, the Romans began thinking of Football as their own game and played the game as a military exercise.

The Romans divided themselves into four lines — the Astati, the Veliti, the Principi and the Triari which would in time become the attack, the midfield, the defence and the goalkeeper. This game spread across geographies to the British who played various ball games, foremost of which became Football.

The fundamental rule of the game was that the ball was to always be in motion. Sometimes the strongest player in a team would lift up the opponent player who had the ball and carry him all the way to the nets, throwing in the player still clutching the ball, to score a goal. Football was thought off as a very violent game and so was banned in many parts of England until the church recognized football as a game of team work and passion. The church proclaimed that a fit body is a fit mind and that physical activity ought to be the way for young men to express their mind. Various churches recognized various formats of the game: some versions recognized football as a game of the feet and some recognized it as a game of hand.

On the 26th of Octover 1863, 11 London clubs met at the Freemasons Tavern to discuss a universal set of rules and agreed to call themselves the Football Association which opposed the rules of Rugby.

First played in 1871, the FA Cup (Football Association Cup) is the world’s oldest football tournament which established the key element of knockout competition which caught the eyes of many and drew the crowds.

Queens Park, the Scots’ greatest side had pioneered the game (oldest club in the FA Cup), which involved passing the ball to the other players, would have a profound impact on Association football.

As a result of the industrial revolution and the development of railways, more and more fans started attending the games and new clubs began springing up throughout England. Clubs like Aston Villa began posing a serious threat to the FA Cup.

The mass exodus of new industrial labour established the game of Football throughout Europe. Most countries absorbed football willingly. Wherever railways emerged, so did the beautiful game and it became a manifestation of culture.

Football emerged in India in the 1870s when the first christian missionaries arrived. The church would organize football to attract young boys to the church. At first Indians just watched football, but all that changed when Mohan Bagan football club was found. The Durand Cup, the second oldest cup tournament in the world began in 1888. In 1911, Mohan Bagan became the first domestic Indian team to win a major tournament.

Check out Part II of this series — History of Football in Africa and USA.