The Football Encyclopedia

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For a long time, the British teams would be dominant. After some decades, clubs from Prague, Budapest and Sienna would be the primarily contenders to the British dominance. FIFA Survey: approximately 250 million footballers worldwide" (PDF). FIFA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 September 2006 . Retrieved 15 September 2006. The first direct reference to scoring a goal is in John Day's play The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green (performed circa 1600; published 1659): "I'll play a gole at camp-ball" (an extremely violent variety of football, which was popular in East Anglia). Similarly in a poem in 1613, Michael Drayton refers to "when the Ball to throw, and drive it to the Gole, in squadrons forth they goe".

An attempt to create proper rules for the game was done at a meeting in Cambridge in 1848, but a final solution to all questions of rules was not achieved. Another important event in the history of football came about in 1863 in London when the first Football association was formed in England. It was decided that carrying the ball with the hands wasn't allowed. The meeting also resulted in a standardization of the size and weight of the ball. A consequence of the London meeting was that the game was divided into two codes: association football and rugby. In the mid-19th century, various traditional football games, referred to collectively as caid, remained popular in Ireland, especially in County Kerry. One observer, Father W. Ferris, described two main forms of caid during this period: the "field game" in which the object was to put the ball through arch-like goals, formed from the boughs of two trees; and the epic "cross-country game" which took up most of the daylight hours of a Sunday on which it was played, and was won by one team taking the ball across a parish boundary. "Wrestling", "holding" opposing players, and carrying the ball were all allowed. BBC – Tom Fordyce: Why are New Zealand so good at rugby?". Archived from the original on 12 August 2021 . Retrieved 28 July 2020.Sports clubs dedicated to playing football began in the 18th century, for example London's Gymnastic Society which was founded in the mid-18th century and ceased playing matches in 1796. [65] [63] a b FIFA.com. "History of FIFA – Foundation". FIFA. Archived from the original on 16 May 2015 . Retrieved 7 November 2019.

RFU". englandrugby.com. Archived from the original on 20 November 2021 . Retrieved 7 November 2019. The World Cup is football’s premier tournament. It is a quadrennial tournament and is likely the most popular sporting event in the world, drawing billions of television viewers every tournament. The History of Football". The History of Sports. Saperecom. 2007. Archived from the original on 27 May 2007 . Retrieved 15 May 2007.

The first football clubs

One of the longest running football fixture is the Cordner-Eggleston Cup, contested between Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch College, Melbourne every year since 1858. It is believed by many to also be the first match of Australian rules football, although it was played under experimental rules in its first year. The first football trophy tournament was the Caledonian Challenge Cup, donated by the Royal Caledonian Society of Melbourne, played in 1861 under the Melbourne Rules. [80] The oldest football league is a rugby football competition, the United Hospitals Challenge Cup (1874), while the oldest rugby trophy is the Yorkshire Cup, contested since 1878. The South Australian Football Association (30 April 1877) is the oldest surviving Australian rules football competition. The oldest surviving soccer trophy is the Youdan Cup (1867) and the oldest national football competition is the English FA Cup (1871). The Football League (1888) is recognised as the longest running association football league. The first international football match took place between sides representing England and Scotland on 5 March 1870 at the Oval under the authority of the FA. The first rugby international took place in 1871. Murphy, Brendan (2007). From Sheffield with Love. Sports Book Limited. p.59. ISBN 978-1-899807-56-7. Archived from the original on 27 February 2023 . Retrieved 23 July 2018.