History of Football
Football's modern origins began in England more than 100 years ago, in 1863. Rugby football and association football, once the same thing, went their separate ways and the Football Association, the first official governing body for the sport, was established. Records show that, in 1314, the Lord Mayor of London banned football in the city due to it causing ‘chaos’. Despite opposition for the game, football thrived in Britain from the 8th to 19th centuries, however, a standardised version of the game was still a rarity as regional versions often gained favour. These different versions of the game were neatened up to eventually become association football, rugby football and Gaelic football, all of which contributed to the contemporary equivalent of the game we play today. Even though the official rules of modern football were dictated in 1863 when the Football Association was established, the specifications of the ball were not standardised for another eight years. Eight years after it was founded, The Football Association had established 50 member clubs. That’s when, in 1872, the FA Cup was born, with the first championship in the works by 1888. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was established in Paris in 1904. Its founding members included Belgium, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. By the 1950s, after the Second World War, there were more than 73 FIFA members.