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As you have maybe read in my last article regarding the History of Soccer in ancient times, there were games similar to soccer which involved kicking and prohibited the usage of hands and developed in completely different areas of our earth.  

But now you are probably wondering how the quite complicated Soccer with its many rules and leagues united from those original outsets to one big game. 

In the 12th century a game known as Mob,-Folk- or Shrovetide Football, was being played in many small villages and cities in England. Those games were violent as well as unorganized and often led to big fights in between the rival villages. Eventually, the English authorities and upper class tried to prohibit the games, which was not successful. There were as many players allowed as possible and the goals were about five kilometers apart from each other, sometimes even rivers were part of the field. The ball was not made for kicking it, considered the fact it weighed four kilograms. This is why the Shrovetide Football is also known for not only being the first version of the game Soccer, but also the game Rugby, in which the ball has to be mainly carried by hands and is only being kicked a few times. With the beginning of the Industrial times and the Urbanization, the Folk Football lost its importance. Nevertheless, there is a city in England called Ashbourne, that still hosts the original game once a year.  

In the 16th century, the elite schools in England started to play games similar to Soccer as well. Like wise to the Folk Football though, the games were violent and dangerous. Consequently, the English teachers were not happy about the existence of it. But, knowing they would not be able to prohibit it, the tutors decided to even support the games and underline the positive aspects of Soccer more such as Fairness, team-spirit and self-control.  

Because the game was still lacking important rules though and each school played their own version of Soccer and Rugby, it was impossible for them to compete against each other.  In 1848, students of the well-known University of Cambridge shared a draft with the first rules, called the “Cambridge Rules”. They wanted the game to be more about the feet and kicking the ball, instead of the usage of hands and throwing. This draft was being acknowledged and the schools had the opportunity to play a tournament for the first time. In the following years, the rules were being improved. In 1863, members of eleven Soccer-teams gathered in London to finalize 14 rules, which would also apply outside of Cambridge. Those included the prohibition of hands, kicking a player or carrying the ball.  Additionally, they founded the first national Soccer Association, the Football Association (FA).  

In the following years, Soccer became one of the most popular sports in England and its neighbor countries. Mainly the working class spent all their free time practicing or watching Soccer. The FA continued to improve the game and its organization, eight years after the founding of the Association, the “FA Cup”, the English Cup, was hosted for the first time. A year later, the first national game between England and Scotland was being celebrated.  

Though British travelers and students, Soccer was being exported to other countries in Europa as well as South-America. In Europe, Switzerland, Denmark and the Netherlands were the first ones to really push the game and develop clubs and national teams.  

Soccer had arrived in the modern world and continued to spread out even more in the following years.  

Sources:  https://www.planet-wissen.de/gesellschaft/sport/fussballgeschichte/index.html https://www.iffhs.de/wie-ist-fussball-entstanden