Origins of Soccer
Hi there,
(ancient Chinese game cuju)
Here’s a brief survey of the origins of soccer, tracing the game right back to its very earliest roots. The examples included below barely resemble the modern game as we know it today, but the latter nonetheless derives from these ancient ball-kicking sports. If you would like a history of the modern game of soccer, have a look at my history of soccer which covers the more recent period. Otherwise, let’s go through the distant origins!
Cuju
The ancient Chinese game called cuju, also known as Tsu Chu, is believed to have been the first instance of a ball-kicking activity. The game became popular in the 2nd century BCE. The aim of the game was to kick a leather ball filled with feathers through a 30-40cm hole in a piece of silk held up by two 10 metre (30 foot) poles or bamboo canes. Obviously this is a long way from the actual sport of soccer, but everything has to start somewhere, and football began here!
Kemari
Kemari was a Japanese game which developed out of cuju. It was first played in around 600 CE, though it has been restored in recent times. The aim of this game is to keep the ball in the air. All the players must work together so there are no winners or losers.
Harpastum
The Romans played a game called Harpastum, which they imported to England when they invaded, in which there were two teams each trying to get a small ball over the opponent’s boundary line on a rectangular pitch with lines to mark the edges and the centre. Players would pass it amongst themselves, with a great deal of trickery involved, but the use of the feet was strictly limited so it did not much resemble soccer. There was also a lively Greek game called Episkyros but sadly few details of this remain.
Medieval Football
The first time soccer began to be created in anything like the form we know it today was in medieval Europe. However the games were often little more than popular brawls between entire villages and towns. By the 16th century English public schools (i.e. fee-paying schools) already played football. There was as yet minimal uniformity to the game, though, as each organisation played with different rules so it could not be coordinated as a recognised sport across the country, let alone the continent or the world.
The Modern Game
The British spread the popularity of football throughout the world in the 19th century. By 1881 some teams had begun to wear co-ordinated kits, and 1885 they turned professional. By the turn of the twentieth century soccer had become a spectator sport for thousands of fans. In 1901, for example, the English FA Cup final between Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield United attracted 110,000 of them!
To learn what happened next in the development of the modern game, just read my article on the history of the modern game of soccer.
Thanks for reading this article on the origins of soccer. If you have any further information or thoughts to add to the above post, I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.
Have fun,
Soccer Geek
[...] If you would like to know more about the distant roots of soccer, then just read my article on the origins of soccer which addresses that much earlier period of history. Otherwise, let’s press on with the [...]