Football History

Association football, soccer, or just football, is the most popular sport in the world, played by virtually every nation. England is the home of football, although more than 2000 years ago a forerunner of the modern game was played in China. Games of kicking a ball, often in the form of a pig's bladder appear during English History, but it was not until the 19th century that the first set of rules was drawn at Cambridge University. Modification of these rules has occurred over the years. In 1863 the FA (Football Association) was founded in England, the games' first governing body. Professionals were first allowed to play the game in 1885 by the FA, and in 1888 the English Football League was established. The game has rapidly grown throughout the world and in 1904 FIFA, the Federation Internationale de football Association was formed.

Today men and women play the game at every level from amateur to international standard. The major international competition is the World Cup which is held every 4 years in different countries. European and Latin American countries have dominated the competition in the past but since 1990 African teams have challenged this dominance, although an African team is yet to win the World Cup.

There are major professional leagues throughout the world, the best quality leagues are in England, Spain, Italy and Germany. In Europe, there are two major club competitions organised by UEFA, the Champions League (formally the European Cup) and the Uefa Cup, in which the top placed teams in domestic leagues and cup competitions compete.

In England there are 4 professional divisions from the Premiership to Division 3, with promotion and relegation of the best and worst placed teams in the leagues each year. Each team plays each other twice, home and away, with 3 points awarded for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss.