Who invented football?
- Modern football was founded in the mid-19th century
- Various ancient forms of the sport were played across the globe
- English FA are the sport's founding fathers
It's simple, this game we all love. Football, eh?
Dumb it down and aliens would wonder exactly what it was about this 'sport' that captivates an entire species. It's just a few folks running around within a marked area trying to kick a spherical object into a net, after all.
Break it down like that and, yes, they might wonder where the exhilaration lies and football was once a pastime of distinct primitivity. A game which formerly celebrated vigour and violence has evolved into an art form lauded as 'beautiful'.
Cultural differences have reflected alternate interpretations of this ever-evolving art, from the Dutch's Total Football, Brazil's Joga Bonito, Argentina's La Nuestra, Austria's coffee houses and England's 4-4-effin-2.
There are some who simply couldn't live without it, but who do fans have to thank for the invention of the beautiful game?
Who invented football and when?
There are multiple ancient iterations of the sport, with the Scots also claiming to have been kicking a ball around for hundreds of years before the mid-19th century.
The earliest form of football is believed to have been played in third-century BC China during the Han dynasty. Called 'cuju' ('kickball'), the aim of the game was kicking the ball into a net. Players were not allowed to use their hands, which can't be said about the Ancient Greeks' interpretation: 'episkyros'.
The Greeks' version involved a similar number of players to the sport as we know it, but it was much more violent - even the vintage Estudiantes outfits would have found it a little much.
Football has taken on many forms, but the invention of the sport as it is recognised today has to be credited to the English Football Association, which was founded during a meeting on 26 October 1863 at the Freemasons' Tavern on Great Queen Street in London.
The newly established governing body refined the game's laws, notably outlawing the use of hands to carry the ball. The meeting essentially split rugby and football into two separate sports.
A perpetual adaptation to the rules would follow, but 1863 can be pinpointed as the foundation year for modern football. British public schools played a pivotal role in spreading this refined form of the sport around the globe during the days of the ubiquitous British Empire.
When was the first ever football match?
🏴 The World's First Derby
— Forgotten Football (@_forgottenfooty) January 10, 2024
On 26 December 1860, Sheffield FC met Hallam FC in what was the world's oldest football fixture and first ever derby clash ⚔️
The match was played at Sandygate Road, Hallam's home ground, and became known as the Rules Derby due to it being the first… pic.twitter.com/BWrJblkoZL
The first recognised football fixture took place before the FA's maiden meeting. On Boxing Day 1860, Sheffield FC, the world's oldest football club, took on Hallam FC.
Both clubs played under the Sheffield Rules and didn't officially adopt the FA's newly established laws until 1878. Thus, this game certainly looked a lot different to a 21st-century Steel City Derby. There were no offsides and 16 players on each team, with Hallam's home ground, Sandygate Road, still in use today, playing host.
Sheffield FC prevailed as 2-0 winners. Nathaniel Creswick, a crucial figure in Sheffield's foundation, netted first but the second goalscorer remains unknown over 160 years later.
In 1872, England faced Scotland in the first-ever international. Even from this early date, tactical idiosyncrasies and ideological differences had come to the fore. Scotland's short passing approach contrasted England's 'charging' which emphasised physicality and dribbling. The game finished 0-0.
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