There are around 3.5 to 4 billion soccer fans worldwide. This is approximately 45% of the total global population. Therefore, with almost half of the people glued to watching their favorite teams scoring, soccer is undeniably the world’s most popular sport. Consequently, this makes soccer very interesting to discover its history and who came up with the original idea of the game.
As for the remaining 55%, soccer merely represents a set of facts to them. It is a form of football played by two teams of eleven players. A round ball and a goal at each end of a large grass field. The game is to get the ball into the opposing team’s goal, only using feet, head or body.
Well, that might not be the most enticing way to describe soccer. However, there is one rather interesting fact for all of us: Who invented soccer and where did it originate from?
Soccer History in Eastern Civilizations
According to many studies, the Chinese were the first to invent this game. Although, it is still unclear where the game was exactly invented. However, ancient civilizations had to always come up with new ways to train their armies. Therefore, soccer might have been a military exercise for precision and stamina.
There is no clear documentation stating the date and place of origination of today’s most popular sport. Even though, many historical documents mention scenes of people gathered to play similar games (or exercises), but not the exact same game of today.
However, some historians suggest that the history of soccer dates back to the era of the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, better known as Pharaohs back then.
However, oriental studies still traces the Chinese culture as the originator of this sport. It was given a specific name “Tsu’Chu” or Cuju which bore a distinguished meaning.
As stated previously, it has been a training exercise for soldiers. Therefore, the main difference between Tsu’Chu and soccer was the height of the goal, which hung about 30 feet from the ground.
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Soccer History in Western Civilizations
In Western civilizations, both the Romans and the Greeks are reported to have played a version of the modern day football. In Rome the game of the day was Harpastum. This game was about “snatching’ the ball which inlvoved a lot of physical exertion. On the other hand, the Greeks played the Episkyros which dictated the presence of two teams. Each would comprise 12 or 14 players.
Also, parts of Central America had similar versions of the sport. Although, it is not very clear in relation to the real purpose of the team, whether sports or military training for wars.
Fast forward a couple of centuries, England made a huge impact on the game and “modernized” it to the current version known today. Soccer began to evolve in modern Europe from the medieval period onward. Somewhere around the 9th century, entire towns in England would kick a pig’s bladder from one landmark to another.
It literally transitioned the sport and tampered with soccer history to the best of mankind. The British call the game “football” and many populations followed suit. While the US used the term soccer to distinguish it from other national sports in the country.
