Table Content

Football description 3 – 5

Etymology 6

History and Ancient games 7 – 15

Disapproval of football 16

Rules of football 17

Professional Football 18

References 19

FOOTBALL

Football is the word given to a number of similar team sports, all of which involve (to varying degrees) kicking a ball with the foot in an attempt to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer". The English language word "football" is also applied to "gridiron football" (a name associated with the North American sports, especially American football and Canadian football), Australian football, Gaelic football, rugby football (rugby league and rugby union), and related games. Each of these codes (specific sets of rules, or the games defined by them) is referred to as "football".

FOOTBALL

These games involve:• Two teams of usually between 11 and 18 players; some

variations that have fewer players (five or more per team) are also popular

• a clearly defined area in which to play the game; • scoring goals and/or points, by moving the ball to an opposing

team's end of the field and either into a goal area, or over a line;

• goals and/or points resulting from players putting the ball between two goalposts

• the goal and/or line being defended by the opposing team; • players being required to move the ball—depending on the

code—by kicking, carrying and/or hand passing the ball; and • players using only their body to move the ball.

FOOTBALL

• In most codes, there are rules restricting the movement of players offside, and players scoring a goal must put the ball either under or over a crossbar between the goalposts. Other features common to several football codes include: points being mostly scored by players carrying the ball across the goal line and; players receiving a free kick after they take a mark/make a fair catch.

• Peoples from around the world have played games which involved kicking and/or carrying a ball, since ancient times. However, most of the modern codes of football have their origins in England.

Etymology

While it is widely believed that the word "football" (or "foot ball") originated in reference to the action of the foot kicking a ball, there is a rival explanation, which has it that football originally referred to a variety of games in medieval Europe, which were played on foot.These games were usually played by peasants, as opposed to the horse-riding sports often played by aristocrats. While there is no conclusive evidence for this explanation, the word football has always implied a variety of games played on foot, not just those that involved kicking a ball. In some cases, the word football has even been applied to games which have specifically outlawed kicking the ball.

History

There are a number of references to traditional, ancient, and/or prehistoric ball games, played by indigenous peoples in many different parts of the world.

For example, in 1586, men from a ship commanded by an English explorer named John Davis, went ashore to play a form of football with Inuit (Eskimo) people in Greenland.

Documented evidence of an activity resembling football can be found in the Chinese military manual Zhan Guo Ce compiled between the 3rd century and 1st century BC.

Ancient Greek football player balancing the ball. Depiction on an Attic Lekythos.

An illustration from the 1850s of Australian Aboriginal hunter gatherers. Children in the background are playing a

football game, possibly Marn Grook.

Ancient games

The Japanese version kemari developed during the Asuka period is known to have been played within the Japanese imperial court in Kyoto from about 600 AD. In kemari several people stand in a circle and kick a ball to each other, trying not to let the ball drop to the ground. The game appears to have died out sometime before the mid-19th century. It was revived in 1903 and is now played at a number of festivals.

A revived version of Kemari being played at the Tanzan Shrine.

Ancient games

An illustration of so-called "mob football".

Ancient games

These forms of football, sometimes referred to as "mob football", would be played between neighbouring towns and villages, involving an unlimited number of players on opposing teams, who would clash in a heaving mass of people, struggling to move an item such as an inflated pig's bladder, to particular geographical points, such as their opponents' church. Shrovetide games have survived into the modern era in a number of English towns.

Ancient games

In the 16th century, the city of Florence celebrated the period between Epiphany and Lent by playing a game which today is known as "calcio storico" ("historic kickball") in the Piazza della Novere or the Piazza Santa Croce. The young aristocrats of the city would dress up in fine silk costumes and embroil themselves in a violent form of football. For example, calcio players could punch, shoulder charge, and kick opponents. Blows below the belt were allowed. The game is said to have originated as a military training exercise. In 1580, Count Giovanni de' Bardi di Vernio wrote Discorso sopra 'l giuoco del Calcio Fiorentino. This is sometimes said to be the earliest code of rules for any football game. The game was not played after January 1739 (until it was revived in May 1930).

Ancient games

An illustration of the Calcio Fiorentino field and starting positions, from a 1688 book by Pietro di Lorenzo Bini.

Official disapproval and attempts to ban football

Numerous attempts have been made to ban football games, particularly the most rowdy and disruptive forms. This was especially the case in England and in other parts of Europe, during the Middle Ages and early modern period. Between 1324 and 1667, football was banned in England alone by more than 30 royal and local laws.

In 1424, the Parliament of Scotland passed a Football Act that stated it is statut and the king forbiddis that na man play at the fut ball under the payne of iiij d - in other words, playing football was made illegal, and punishable by a fine of four pence.

By 1608, the local authorities in Manchester were complaining that: "With the football there has been a great disorder in our town of Manchester, and glass windows broken yearly and spoyled by a companie of lewd and disordered persons ..."

A more detailed description of football is given in Francis Willughby's Book of Games, written in about 1660.Willughby, who had studied at Sutton Coldfield School, is the first to describe goals and a distinct playing field: "a close that has a gate at either end. The gates are called Goals." His book includes a diagram illustrating a football field. He also mentions tactics ("leaving some of their best players to guard the goal"); scoring ("they that can strike the ball through their opponents' goal first win") and the way teams were selected ("the players being equally divided according to their strength. He is the first to describe a "law" of football: "they must not strike [an opponent's leg] higher than the ball"

Nowadays, football is still being played and it is also the best sport in England.

Football is now played in a more professional way and with very strict rules.

Examples of professional footballs are: World Cup Euro Cup FA Premier League

References

http://www.wikipedia.com

http://www.officialmanutd.com

http://www.freefever.com/animatedgifs/sports/football2.com