Most popular sport in the world.

Earliest record: 11th century England

Evolved from folk to popular culture.

Origins are obscure, but first recorded event: 1042, England (hearth)

Excavators use a Danish soldier’s head for a ball

Ball evolves to an inflated cow bladder.

Evolved to a “mob game” between local villages.

Local folk culture at this point.

Clubs founded in 1800s England

Churches & Factory workers

Taught in schools

Professional players by mid-century

Soccer exported through colonization

Folk: Traditional Local start Rivalries between

English villages

Popular: Innovative International

organizations and rules

Adoption of modern technology

Folk: communal Village competitions Local clubs

Popular: individualistic

Still communal event Also, accessible at

the individual level: Video games Stats analysis

Folk: Slow Local diffusion for

many years Spread slowly

throughout centuries

Popular: FastDiffused internationally within several centuries

Folk: Slow and Limited Possible contagious diffusion within England

Popular: Rapid and Extensive Hierarchical and contagious diffusion through

colonialism

Folk: Oral Communication

Small village contests

Contagious diffusion

Popular: Mass Media

Adoption of mass media and technology

Folk: Highly Similar

Homogenous population

Popular: Highly Dissimilar

Heterogeneous population

Folk: LimitedLimited to England

Popular: Extensive International

Rubenstein, James M. The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography. Tenth ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2011. Print.