0
[Course title]
Football : Earth’s Favourite Sport
Ishmam
THE END
1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Origins and History…………………………
1st
Earth’s Most Viewed Show……………. 2nd
The Future…………………………………….
3rd
THE END
2
Chapter -1
Origins and History
The most admitted story tells that the game was developed in England in the 12th
century. In this century, games that resembled football were played on meadows and
roads in England. Besides from kicks, the game involved also punches of the ball
with the fist. This early form of football was also much more rough and violent than
the modern way of playing.
An important feature of the forerunners to football was that the games involved
plenty of people and took place over large areas in towns (an equivalent was played
in Florence from the 16th century where it was called Calcio). The rampage of these
games would cause damage on the town and sometimes death to the participants.
These would be among the reasons for the proclamations against the game that
finally was forbidden for several centuries. But the football-like games would return
to the streets of London in the 17th century. It would be forbidden again in 1835, but
at this stage the game had been established in the public schools.
It took, however, long time until the features of today’s football had been taken into
practice. For a long time there was no clear distinction between football and rugby.
THE END
3
There were also many variations concerning the size of the ball, the number of
players and the length of a match.
The game was often played in schools and two of the predominant schools were
Rugby and Eton. At Rugby the rules included the possibility to take up the ball with
the hands and the game we today know as rugby has its origin from here. At Eton on
the other hand the ball was played exclusively with the feet and this game can be
seen as a close predecessor to the modern football. The game in Rugby was called
“the running game” while the game in Eton was called “the dribbling game”.
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.
The game would, however, continue to develop for a long time and there was still
much flexibility concerning the rules. For one thing, the number of players on the
pitch could vary. Neither were uniforms used to distinguish the appearance of the
teams. It was also common with players wearing caps – the header was yet to be a
part of the game yet. Further reading: The development of football rules.
Another important difference at this stage could be noticed between English and
Scottish teams. Whereas the English teams preferred to run forward with the ball in a
more rugby fashion, the Scottish chose to pass the ball between their players. It
would be the Scottish approach that soon became predominant.
The sport was at first an entertainment for the British working class. Unprecedented
amounts of spectators, up to 30,000, would see the big matches in the late 19th
century. The game would soon expand by British peoples who traveled to other parts
of the world and as a result to the British colonization efforts. Especially in South
America and India would the interest in football become big.
THE END
4
Chapter -2
Earth’s most viewed show
T here is nothing in football that can compare with the World Cup. Even
though the UEFA Champions League may produce games of the same quality, it can't
overreach the status earned from the long tradition and the fact that one team
represent a whole country. No other sport event can compete in significance: the
latest FIFA World Cup reached over three billion television viewers worldwide and
one billion watched the final.
Before the World Cup was inaugurated, the football tournament arranged as part of
the Summer Olympics was given the most prestige. But in the 1920s, the game was
facing a transition to professionalism that wasn't consistent with the Olympic spirit.
Therefore, the government body, FIFA, made plans to organize a World Cup. The
decision of arranging the first edition was officially declared on May 26, 1928.
The first official World Cup was played in Uruguay 1930, and since when the
tournament has been held every fourth year (with exceptions for interruption due to
the Second World War). There were, however, unofficial pre-FIFA World Cups already
in the late 1800s, in a time when only few national teams existed. Another unofficial
"world cup" arranged before 1930 was Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy held in 1909 and
1911. Besides that, the Summer Olympic football competitions would be a mark of
which the best national teams were before 1930. The Olympic tournaments
consisted, however, only of amateur teams – the World Cup became the "real deal".
THE END
5
Figure 2 2022 FIFA WORLD CUP FINAL
Figure 1 Japan's Celebration
Chapter -3
THE END
6
THE FUTURE
Football is the world's most popular sport, but success and
riches have been localized to Europe and South America
for generations.
The majority of football tourism, too, centers around a handful of
leagues and countries, with the Premier League dominating.
But will football's powerhouses de-centralize away from
traditional zones? Will we see national team and domestic
might transfer into Africa, Asia or North America?
Or will leagues like the Premier League merely move abroad?
When it comes to untapped potential, the mega populations of
China and India seem an obvious place to start. With almost
three billion people living in those two counties, the power of
probability says there must be enough talent to discover and
harness inside those borders to challenge on the world stage.
However, in both countries the football landscape is complex.
China's substantial financial foray into football in the middle of
the last decade sent shockwaves through the game, attracted
star names to the Chinese Super League but always seemed
THE END
7
too extreme to last - and so it proved. Perhaps that is a warning
to the players heading to play in the Saudi Arabian league. With
the political drive behind the China boom waning and even
eight-time champions Guangzhou succumbing to financial
crisis, the growth of the game has slowed.
There isn't a single Chinese player in any of Europe's top five
leagues and the impact of the investment hasn't translated to
the international stage. Defeats to Vietnam and Oman were low
points during their failure to qualify for the last World Cup, while
they rank a lowly 81st in FIFA's standings.
India are even worse off, down in 101st. Stephen Constantine,
an Englishman who has managed the country twice and
coached in the Indian Super League last season, explained
to Sky Sports the wide-ranging issues preventing India from
converting their huge population figure into a successful football
system.
Even smaller, Iceland - with not even 400,000 inhabitants -
have also punched above their weight in recent years,
incredibly reaching the quarter-finals of Euro 2016, their first-
ever major tournament, before qualifying for the World Cup for
the first time in 2018.
So what could smaller nations, hoping to make their mark on
the world stage, learn from those exploits?
Lars Lager back - a key figure in that Icelandic improvement,
taking charge in 2011 before leading the team in France
alongside co-head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson - says a
THE END
8
combination of good coaching from an early age, player
exposure to high-quality foreign leagues, organization on and
off the pitch, and some good luck with a talented generation are
all essential ingredients.
Perhaps the country which ticks all of these factors discussed
above - population, an emerging talent pool, tournament
experience and an increasingly organized, driven structure
based around good coaching - is the USA.
With the States co-hosting the next World Cup, it's no secret
there has been added impetus in their desire to make sure they
perform well at that tournament. And if it is a competition in
which they can perform well and spring a few surprises, it could
well be the launchpad and inspiration for greater things to
come.
Cindy Parlow Cone, the president of US Soccer, is bullish about
the potential for the current generation of players and what they
could achieve in 2026.
"Our men's national team is young and dynamic and so fun to
watch and to see their growth leading up to the World Cup last
year, throughout the World Cup, and then now, those players
THE END
9
looking forward to 2026... I agree with all the studies. I haven't
done any studies on this and I might be a little biased, but I
agree that our men's team has the potential to make a run for
the World Cup title here very soon.
"That World Cup is going to be the biggest event the world has
ever seen and having the World Cup in our home country is
really going to help with all of that [development] at every level."
Parlow Cone outlined the hard groundwork which has already
gone into developing the game in the States.
"Our sporting department as well as our professional leagues,
our youth organisations and our development academy that US
Soccer was running has really positively impacted the
development and growth, both on the women's side and on the
men's side. So we're seeing the impact of the growth of the
game in this country and more and more players playing out
sport."
It could be a winning formula - but World Cup history and
structure remains on the side of the established elite.
Potential Current Predicted Percentage
Countries Players Players
Increase
India 23 45 67
Nepal 43 34 66
Austria 45 56 56i
THE END
10
USA Portuga Egypt
l
BIBLIOGRAPHY
All information has been taken from third party sources.
Brazil
THE END
i
USA, Portugal, Brazil, Egypt
