There are different opinions about the origin of football.

Some people say that the origin of football can be traced back to almost every corner of the world. Ancient China, Egypt, Europe, America, the Pacific and other regions have recorded about football.

There was a game similar to football in China during the Warring States Period. In the Han Dynasty, this game evolved into a two-team game, with each team defending six goals. In the Tang Dynasty, the number of goals scored by each team dropped to 1. In Egypt, some historians believe that some sacrificial ceremonies may be one of the origins of football. Murals in ancient Egypt depict all kinds of ball games, from circus acrobatics to ball games played by one person riding on another.

Indigenous people in the Pacific islands used to play football with coconuts, oranges or pig bladders.

Eskimos play a game called aqsaqtuk on the ice. Their balls are stuffed with grass, animal hair and moss.

In Mexico and Central America, some people think that rubber balls may have been invented by indigenous people there. Their field is I-shaped, 40 to 50 feet long and surrounded by a fence several feet high. There is a stone or a wooden circle in the middle of each wall. The goal of the game is to send the ball into the circle.

Indians in North America have a game called pasuckuakohowog, which means playing football together. Thousands of people will kick each other between two goals a mile apart on the beach. They have a lot of paints and decorations on them. Usually the game is rough and lasts for two days. Finally, everyone drinks together.

According to legend, ancient European football originated from Spartans and was brought to all parts of Europe during the Roman Empire. The football match in Florence during the Renaissance is considered as the originator of modern football.

Football originated in China.

1985, at the opening ceremony of the first "Koda Cup" World Youth Football Championship held in China, Mr. Havelange, then president of FIFA, said in his speech that football originated here with a history of more than 2,000 years, which is indisputable (almost at the same time, Comrade Deng Xiaoping issued the instruction that "football starts with dolls").

In 200 1 year, FIFA confirmed for the first time that "football originated in China, then spread to Britain through Persia, Egypt and Italy, and then developed". Later, Mr. Samaranch, President of the International Olympic Committee, repeated the same conclusion again. This should be regarded as an authoritative conclusion. In the long history, China people not only invented football, but also created rich bow-drawing techniques and complete rules of the game, which laid the initial foundation for modern football.

In ancient China, football was called "Cuju" or "Cuju", which was recorded in many documents. Yan Shigu, an exegetist in the Tang Dynasty, said in the notes of "Cuju Carving" in the Biography of Han Mei that "it is enough to kick"; Bow, take Wei for it, take things in the middle; It's also fun to play. "

Some scholars believe that China had primitive football in the era of the Yellow Emperor 4,600 years ago. The basis may be Liu Xiang's bibliography book Bielu in the Western Han Dynasty, which says in an uncertain tone that "Cuju players spread rumors about the actions of the Yellow Emperor or talk about the Warring States". It is said that at that time, most of the kicks were stone balls, or solid balls with animal stomachs as shells and filled with other things. This primitive football is not only a training project in the army, but also a competition content for soldiers. The origin of ancient football in China can be traced back to the Warring States period 2,500 years ago. "Qi Ce of the Warring States Policy" once recorded that Su Qin said to Qi Xuanwang after lobbying other countries: "Linzi is very rich and solid, and its people are all people who play, drum, build, play the piano, fight cocks, walk, lie down and bow." The so-called "kicking" or "cuju" is an ancient expression of kicking with a substitute foot in China. "Bow" is a ball, the outer layer is leather, and the inner core is filled with hair. There were craftsmen or families who made bows. It is said that with the popularity of "bow", water polo, rattan ball, bamboo ball and so on have been made in different regions.

The Han and Tang Dynasties was the most prosperous period for the development of ancient football in China. The "Cuju" movement in Han Dynasty has been very common and developed into a form of direct confrontation. In the army, there are certain rules, and the game is played on the court. On the court, there is a "Cheng Ju" specially used for competitions, and there are crescent-shaped "boulders" at both ends of Cheng Ju, which are equivalent to today's goal. According to Ju Chengming written by Li You, a native of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were 12 people on both sides of the competition at that time, and the referee was responsible for law enforcement. There are six bowling rooms at each end of the stadium, and the football used is made of leather wrapped in hair. At that time, not only men participated in football, but also some unearthed cultural relics proved that women also played football in the second year of Yan Guang in the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 123), but only for performances. In the building of Zhongyue Sanque in Songshan Mountain, Henan Province, there are all kinds of murals with vivid images of women kicking a ball with long sleeves and high buns (in addition, the lithe figure of women Cuju can be found in ancient paintings and stone statues of Han Dynasty, porcelain pillows and bronze mirrors of Song Dynasty and paintings of Ming Dynasty). At the end of Han Dynasty, "Cuju" spread to ethnic minority areas all over China. The Tang Dynasty was the heyday of the development of ancient Cuju in China. The biggest change was the manufacture of Cuju. The inflatable rubber ball with "outer skin and cells inside it was suffocating and exciting" appeared, which changed from solid to hollow with a bag, and the wool was replaced by inflating or blowing. This change enhances the elasticity of the ball, and the change of cuju is more abundant and more ornamental. In addition, the goal is also changed to erect high poles at both ends of the field, and make nets on the poles as the goal. The two teams won the game with more goals. In addition, there are two people playing together or many people playing together, some playing higher in the game, and there are records of women playing football. At that time, the sport also spread to Japan and was recorded in the Japanese football book "Biography of You Mi Ting".

In the Song Dynasty, there were folk football groups called Yun Qi Club or Round Club, similar to today's football clubs. These groups emphasize individual skills and play in various ways. There are goals and no goals in the game, ranging from one person to more than a dozen people. Among the emperors in Song Dynasty, Song Huizong liked cuju very much, and Gao Qiu in Water Margin was favored by Song Huizong because of his superb skills.

The folk cuju organization in the Yuan Dynasty has also been maintained, and the competition mode is basically the same as that in the Song Dynasty. What is worth mentioning is women's cuju. From the writer's works, we can know that the kung fu of women cuju was considerable at that time.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Ming Taizu once ordered that soldiers should not play cuju. Some soldiers had their right feet cut off for disobeying orders and were sent to the frontier. At that time, Wang Yuncheng wrote Cuju Atlas, which left an important written record for the history of ancient Cuju in China.

After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, Cuju gradually declined. It is said that Manchu, who rose up outside the customs, was not aware of the fun of cuju because it was located in a bitter and cold place, which was not conducive to the development of ball games.

After the Opium War, due to the arrival of westerners, modern football was introduced to China. 1897, a football match was held in Hong Kong. Since then, football matches have been held in major cities along the mainland, and even included in the National Games in 19 10. Although it has developed to this day, it has not recovered the weather in the Tang and Song Dynasties.

The development of modern football

Although Britain is not the birthplace of football, it is the country with the best development of this sport. In the early days of England, because there were no rules such as venue and number limit, football match was regarded as a rough sport, and rough fights often occurred. From12nd century to16th century, the king of England issued a "football ban" four times, and Edward II even ordered a nationwide ban in 13 14. However, due to the unique charm of football, the ban cannot make it die. In 1603, James I approved the activity again. From 65438 to 0840, football was introduced into the campus, but different colleges and universities adopted different ways of playing. From 65438 to 0848, Cambridge University published ten "Cambridge University Football Regulations". Since then, football has flourished in different classes.

1835, the world's first football club was established in Sheffield, England. 1863, 10 year1October 26th, the British established the world's first football organization in London, and unified the rules of football. People call this day the birth day of modern football. At that time, 14 football rules were formulated. Although these rules are far from today's rules, they are the basis of today's football rules. Since then, football leagues have begun to appear, and football has also turned to professionalism. Under the organization and constraint of certain rules, football began to spread from Britain to Europe and the world.

Since then, the rules of football have been constantly improved in the game. We can compare how much the rules of football have changed since 1863. At that time, it was stipulated that each team should have a goalkeeper, a defender, a frontcourt player and eight forwards. Later, it became a goalkeeper, two defenders, three avant-garde and five forwards. At first, only one hand was used to throw the foul ball, but some players can skillfully throw the ball into the goal 40 to 50 yards away, so they have to throw the ball with both hands instead. Until 1883, there was still a rope on the goal crossbar, so it was difficult to judge whether some balls passed above or below the rope. 1890 finally found a net. The scale of the stadium is also different from today. At that time, the referees were also designated as "law enforcement officers" by two teams, and it was not until 189 1 that a neutral referee and two linesmen appeared in the present sense.