World Soccer Origins

World Soccer Origins

The following is brief synopsis of the world origins of the sport of soccer.

Egypt and the Near East
Historians have suggested that fertility rites in ancient Egypt and religious ceremonies in the ancient Near East may have been linked to the development of the game.

Alaska and Canada
The Eskimos played aqsaqtuk or soccer on ice. Balls were stuffed with grass, caribou hair, and moss. One legend tells of two villages playing against each other with goals ten miles apart. There is no known date of origin.

Mexico and Central America
The creation of the rubber ball occurred in Mexico and Central America. These people played games on a recessed court shaped like a capital "I". The court was 40-50 feet long with vertical walls several feet high. In the middle of each wall was a mounted stone or wooden ring and the object was to project the hard rubber ball through the ring.

United States of America
In the early 1600s, the American Indians played a game called pasuckuakohowog, meaning "they gather to play ball with the foot." Beaches, a half mile wide with goals 1 mile apart, served as playing fields for as many as 1000 people at a time. Games were rough and often resulted in broken bones, but no one could be identified because players disguised themselves with ornaments and war paint making retaliation close to impossible. It was common for games to be carried over from one day to the next, with a celebratory feast following the conclusion of the match.

China and the Far East
The earliest mention researchers have found of a soccer-like game states that balls made of animal skin were kicked through a gap in a net stretched between poles 30 feet high. Records indicate that tsu chu was played as a part of the Emperor's birthday celebration. The Chinese also played some form of the game to train soldiers during the Ts'in Dynasty (255 BC-206 BC). According to records, tsu chu was also played extensively during the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD).

Pacific Islands
Pacific Island inhabitants were early to develop games using hands and feet. They used coconuts, oranges and pig bladders as balls.

England
One story speaks of using an enemy's skull as a ball; another tells of a village defeating a Roman team and running them out of town in 217 AD. Nonetheless, the history of the game in England during the 5th-11th centuries is vague. By the 12th century, the game had become a violent mob sport with no rules and any sort of behavior condoned, which later earned a succession of royal bans. Regardless of the bans, the sport grew in popularity. Formal rules of today's game were adopted in England in 1863.