Friday 13 August 2010
Estadio Azteca - A little closer to the gods
Mexico City's fabled Estadio Azteca has been the backdrop for some of history's most unforgettable FIFA World Cup TM moments. Pele's last sparks of invention on the world stage, a final glimpse of the old Jules Rimet Cup and Maradona's famous goals against England in 1986 all took place on the lush grass of the vintage North American gem. Known simply as the Azteca, it is one of the beautiful game's truly great gathering places - and the only one to host two FIFA World Cup Final matches.
Teetering 7,200 feet above sea level, the stadium has earned a reputation for Mexico's national team as a fortress of results. In fact, Mexico only saw their FIFA World Cup TM qualifying unbeaten streak in the stadium end in 2001 when they lost 2-1 to Costa Rica.
The bowl's signature roof traps and amplifies noise from the massive upper level, filling the air with high pitch shrieks and a deafening, cacophonous din to make the Mexico City landmark, and home to domestic giants Club America, one of the loudest stadiums anywhere. Add to that its more notorious conditions, namely altitude and smog, and you have the most inhospitable of venues for visiting teams.
The perfect football stadium lines up the legends
Built in 1966 ahead of the Olympic Games in 1968 and 1970 FIFA World Cup, the cavernous, three-tiered bowl was designed to hold almost 115,000 fans. An over-the-top undertaking for the time, the Azteca is a vivid demonstration of Mexico's mad devotion to the people's game.
The full construction took nearly four years to complete. Architects Pedro Ramirez Vasquez and Rafael Mijares travelled the globe before breaking ground to catch glimpses of the finest football stadiums of the time. Trips to Buenos Aires, Madrid, Rome, Florence, Paris, London, Moscow and Warsaw provided the duo with the inspiration they needed to design what many consider to be a faultless football stadium.
In addition to being an impregnable fortress for the Mexican national team, the Azteca has witnessed some of the most electrifying and immortal FIFA World Cup moments of the last 40 years. Pele said his goodbye to the international game with a peerless performance in the 1970 Final against Italy, inspiring what many call the greatest team of all time to a masterful 4-1 victory over an Italian side infamous for their cohesive defence.
The man many consider the greatest footballer in history scored a perfect low-and-hard header in the 18th minute from Rivelino's swerving cross. Leaving Albertosi with no chance, the celebration that followed involved Pele leaping into Jairzinho's arms and has since become one of the most recognisable snapshots in football history. After a 4-1 result, the Seleção, playing a languid, sultry brand of football never to be seen again, passed the Jules Rimet Cup around the brilliant Azteca grass for what would turn out to be the last time in 24 years.
Italy had a magic moment of their own en route to the ill-fated final. After finishing 90 minutes against West Germany even at one apiece, the semi-final's extra time period will go down in the annals of history as one of the most magnificent half hours of football ever played for a mass audience. A double from 'der Bomber' Gerd Muller and goals from Tarcisio Burgnich, Luigi Riva and Gianni Rivera saw a desperate attacking session fuelled by fatigue and the Azteca's extreme altitude.
Maradona's Mundial
Of all the moments of drama played out on the Azteca's manicured stage down through the years, Maradona's magic act of Mexico 86 stares down all comers. After surviving a massive earthquake one year earlier, the stadium barely withstood the earth-shattering orchestrations of El Diego.
Soon after the Azteca witnessed Manuel Negrete slam a scintillating side-bicycle against Bulgaria home to put El Tri in the quarter-finals, the towering ground got its first glimpse of Argentine genius Diego Armando Maradona at the quarter-final stage. When the Albiceleste locked horns with bitter old enemies England it was to prove a famous day in the folklore of the FIFA World Cup as both sides of the fractured star were on display for the shrieking Azteca to savour.
In the 51st minute, Maradona turned villain in the eyes of purists and moralists everywhere. Pouncing on the end of a horrid looping back pass from Steve Hodge, the diminutive genius rose to head over veteran goalkeeper Peter Shilton. Though the English captain and keeper was getting on in years, the possibility of him being out-leaped by the diminutive Maradona seemed unbelievable - and indeed it was. Replays proved what the England bench had suspected all along: Maradona had punched the ball into the net.
In a post-match press conference, the No10 cheekily attributed the goal to divine intervention, labelling it El Mano de Dios, or the Hand of God.
His second goal of the match settled the score at 2-1 and was voted the Goal of the Century by FIFA.com users in 2002. It will forever be immortalised by a statue of the No10 that stands outside the stadium.
Three minutes after punching home his first, in a moment of profound atonement and irresistible guile, Maradona collected the ball near midfield, spun like a top and began to race at a nervous English defence. Leaving six opponents behind him on a long sprint, Maradona rounded the wrong-footed Shilton to toe-poke home at the last possible moment.
The defiant Argentine heroics did not end there either. The semi-final against Belgium saw the skipper score two more. The first a delicate, almost dainty flick, and the second another defiant dribble through a terrified backline. And, as if there were any doubt, his telepathic through ball to Jose Burruchaga in the Final confirmed Maradona's reputation as the greatest player of the day - and of his generation.
Following the final whistle the Azteca crowd spilled on to the pitch to pay homage to football's gods. As Pele had been in 1970, Maradona was left shirtless and embraced by thousands high in the Mountains that surround Mexico City.
Did You Know? Huge deposits of volcanic rock that remained from the eruption of an ancient volcano had to be blasted away before laying the foundations. <<>>1 2 3 4 5
The approximate weight of the concrete used in the construction of the mighty Azteca stadium is said to be in excess of 100,000 tons. The Azteca is officially known as the Guillermo Caneda Stadium and is also referred to by some locals as the Coloseo de Santa Ursula.Huge deposits of volcanic rock that remained from the eruption of an ancient volcano had to be blasted away before laying the foundations. More than 800 workers and ten architects, led by Pedro Ramirez Vasquez and Rafael Mijares, were engaged in the construction of the Azteca. The pitch is positioned to help prevent the passing of the sun from east to west adversely affecting either team during daytime matches. More on...
Mexico »
Player StatisticsPELÉ (Edson Arantes do Nascimento) »
Diego MARADONA »
Stadiums Location: Mexico City (Mexico)
Club: CF America
Date work began: April 1962
Date of inauguration: 29 May 1966
Original capacity: 114,600
Original architects: Pedro Ramírez Vásquez y Rafael Mijares
Classic Stadiums Stade Velodrome
Wembley Stadium
Rasunda Stadium
Olympiastadion
Maracana
Rose Bowl
Centenario
San Siro
Santiago Bernabeu
Estadio Azteca
RASUNDA STADIUM
Sweden's Rasunda Stadium is one of just two venues in the world - California's Rose Bowl being the other - that can boast of having hosted the final of both the FIFA World Cup TM and the FIFA Women's World Cup.
This football-specific stadium, located in the district of Solna some six kilometres northwest of Stockholm city centre, is famed for putting spectators right on top of the action, and it still generates a fantastic atmosphere for the ever-competitive Sweden national team.
Stockholm's footballing temple provided the launchpad for the international career of one of the world's greatest footballers. At the 1958 FIFA World Cup TM, a certain Edson Arantes do Nascimento caused a sensation when the then 17-year-old Brazilian enchanted fans around the world with his magical footwork. The youngster, better known by his pseudonym Pele, would go on to be recognised as one of the game's all-time legends.
After his goal-scoring quarter-final performance against Wales, the young Pele's finest hour came on 24 June at the Rasunda. The 27,000 fans inside the stadium could scarcely believe their eyes as the 17-year-old's famous hat-trick in a 5-2 victory over France fired his team into the final.
Just five days later on 29 June 1958, the Rasunda was again the canvas for the young prodigy's artistic skills as Brazil came up against hosts Sweden in the final. Once again, the teenager upstaged everyone else on the pitch, scoring twice in another 5-2 triumph as Brazil captured the FIFA World Cup for the very first time. Despite the obvious disappointment for the hosts, the 51,800 spectators in the sold-out stadium rose to celebrate and fervently applaud the exceptional young talent.
The Rasunda next staged a global showpiece in 1995 with the second FIFA Women's World Cup. In a repeat of the men's tournament of 1958, the Stockholm venue was chosen to host the final and Norway came out on top in a rain-soaked all-European affair, defeating Germany 2-0 to lift their first trophy in the home of their Scandinavian neighbours.
The Rasunda's history dates back to 1910 when a 12,000-capacity football ground was built on the site. In 1937 a new arena rose in its place, the Rasunda stadium proper, accommodating 40,000 spectators. Its current capacity is 36,100 but more than 52,000 fans once squeezed into the ground in September 1965 for a decisive FIFA World Cup against West Germany. Unfortunately for the Swedes, their vast support was silenced as the eventual 1966 finalists won 2-1 with goals from Uwe Seeler and Werner Kramer.
The same sides met again at the Rasunda 27 years later when Sweden took on the reigning world champions in the semi-final of the 1992 UEFA European Championship. Yet again fortune favoured the visitors as Germany prevailed 3-2 to reach the final in Gothenburg.
Today the Rasunda is the home ground of Swedish top-flight club AIK Solna and also stages derby matches involving other Stockholm sides. A homely, atmospheric old ground, it will make way in 2011 for a new 50,000-capacity national stadium featuring a retractable roof.
Did You Know? England were Sweden’s first opponents at the Rasunda in May 1937 and the visitors rather spoiled the opening celebrations in a 4-0 win.<<>>1 2 3 4 5
The record attendance for the Rasunda is 52,943 for a football match between Sweden and Germany FR which took place on 26 September 1965.The new Rasunda is due to open in 2011, incorporating a 50,000-capacity football venue, with a hotel, restaurants and conference centre. Brazil bought blue shirts and sewed on badges to avoid a clash with Sweden’s yellow tops at the 1958 FIFA World Cup final at the Rasunda.England were Sweden’s first opponents at the Rasunda in May 1937 and the visitors rather spoiled the opening celebrations in a 4-0 win.Sweden’s 1-0 lead at the start of the 1958 FIFA World Cup Final in the Rasunda was the first time Brazil had been behind in the tournament.Stadiums Location: Solna, Sweden
Club: AIK Solna
Inauguration: 17 May 1937
Original capacity: 40,000
Classic Stadiums Stade Velodrome
Wembley Stadium
Rasunda Stadium
Olympiastadion
Maracana
Rose Bowl
Centenario
San Siro
Santiago Bernabeu
Estadio Azteca
San Siro - Milan's cathedral of football
Befitting a venue of such grandeur, the San Siro has twice hosted football's most-renowned international showpiece. The FIFA World Cups TM of 1934 and 1990 both offered up historic encounters on what is one of the sport's purest stages.
The original structure was built to a typically English model, with four separate stands and room for only 35,000 fans. In the autumn of 1926 the inaugural match was held, a Milanese derby naturally, and to this day Inter hold the bragging rights of winning that first contest 6-3. The national team paid their first visit on 20 February 1927, playing out a 2-2 draw with Czechoslovakia. However, the real international baptism came seven years later with the 1934 FIFA World Cup.
The San Siro staged three matches as the world's leading teams congregated for a second time, beginning with an exciting 3-2 triumph for Switzerland over the Netherlands. The quarter-final contest that followed saw Germany emerge 2-1 winners against Sweden but it was on 3 June 1934, that the stadium earned its place in the hearts of Italian football fans as the tournament hosts took on Austria's outstanding Wunderteam in the semi-final. Amid a stirring atmosphere on a rain-soaked pitch, Italy secured a 1-0 victory through Enrico Guaita's 19 th-minute goal. Vittorio Pozzo's Azzurri went on to win the title against Czechoslovakia in Rome, lifting the Jules Rimet trophy for the first time.
By the time FIFA World Cup football returned to the San Siro in 1990, the old ground had been given a new name - not to mention a complete facelift. In 1980, the San Siro became the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza following the death of the eponymous Italy striker who starred for both Milan clubs and remains Inter's all-time record scorer.
A decade later the Giuseppe Meazza was unrecognisable from the stadium that had hosted those FIFA World Cup matches back in 1934. The stadium had already grown with the addition of a second tier in 1956 but the most significant developments came prior to Italia 90 with the construction of a third tier and the eleven towers that support the roof.
For the opening match of the 1990 FIFA World Cup the stadium offered the world a truly remarkable spectacle: in the city of Il Duomo, here was a space-age cathedral of football. Events on the pitch were equally spectacular. Reigning champions Argentina kicked off the tournament against a Cameroon side many thought were there to merely make up the numbers. Yet sporting logic was turned on its head as, in front of 73,780 spectators, François Omam-Biyik's 67th-minute goal announced the true arrival of African football. The few supporters of the Indomitable Lions who made the long trip to Milan celebrated long into the night their team's humbling of indelible legends such as Maradona, Burruchaga and Sensini.
If the San Siro saw the shock of the tournament, it also saw the best of the eventual winners, West Germany. With three Inter stars in their team - Andreas Brehme, Lothar Matthaus and Jurgen Klinsmann - Franz Beckenbauer's side received notable vocal support from the Milanese crowd gave and featured in all but one of the six matches held in the city. It was here that the Germans saw off Yugoslavia (4-1), United Arab Emirates (5-1), Netherlands (2-1) and Czechoslovakia (1-0). The only stumble from a powerful West Germany side at the San Siro came against Colombia, who managed a creditable 1-1 draw.
Of course, it does not take a FIFA World Cup to draw world stars to the San Siro which has witnessed many memorable triumphs down the decades from both Milan clubs (who between them have won over 30 Serie A titles). If numerous star names have graced the turf in the colours of both Milan and Inter, two local families have made as great a contribution as anybody. Cesare Maldini and his son Paolo are the thread that links Milan's first European Cup win in 1963 with more recent triumphs while in the black-and-blue corner, Massimo Moratti is owner of the club where his father Angelo presided over two European Cup triumphs in the 1960s.
Home to Milan since 1926 and to Inter since 1947, the San Siro is Italian football's finest stage. From Serie A showdowns to FIFA World Cups, it has a history and stature that few stadiums on the planet can match.
In almost a century of rivalry, only one man has ever come close to bridging the chasm. Having devoted the best part of his career to Inter, 1938 FIFA World Cup winner Giuseppe Meazza pulled on the red and black shirt for two seasons as well. After his death, both teams agreed that the stadium they share should be renamed in his honour, and since 3 March 1980, it has been officially called the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium. For the superstitious supporters though, it will always be the San Siro.
THE GLOBAL GROWTH OF FOOTBALL
A change did not come about until the beginning of the 19th century when school football became the custom, particularly in the famous public schools. This was the turning point. In this new environment, it was possible to make innovations and refinements to the game.
The rules were still relatively free and easy, with no standard form of the game. Each school in fact developed its own adaptation and, at times, these varied considerably. The traditional aspects of the game remained but innovations depended for the most part on the playing ground available. If use had to be made of a paved school playground, surrounded by a brick wall, then there was simply not enough space for the old hurly-burly 'mob football'.
Circumstances such as these prompted schools like Charterhouse, Westminster, Eton and Harrow to favour a game more dependent on the players' dribbling virtuosity than the robust energy required in a scrum. On the other hand, schools such as Cheltenham and Rugby were more inclined towards the more rugged game in which the ball could be touched with the hands or even carried.
As the 19 th century progressed, a new attitude developed towards football. The education authorities observed how well the sport served to encourage such fine qualities as loyalty, selflessness, cooperation, subordination and deference to the team spirit. Games became an integral part of the school curriculum and participation in football compulsory. Dr Thomas Arnold, the head of Rugby School, made further advances in this direction, when in 1846 in Rugby the first truly standardised rules for an organised game were laid down.
These were in any event quite rough enough: for example, they permitted kicking an opponent's legs below the knees, with the reserve that he should not be held still while his shins were being worked on. Handling the ball was also allowed - and had been ever since the historic occasion in 1823 when William Webb Ellis, to the amazement of his own team and his opponents, made a run with the ball tucked under his arm. Many schools followed suit and adopted the rules laid down in Rugby; others, such as Eton, Harrow and Winchester, rejected this form of football, and gave preference to kicking the ball. Charterhouse and Westminster were also against handling the ball. However, they did not isolate their style as some schools did - instead they formed a nucleus from which this style of game began to spread.
Finally, in 1863, developments reached a climax. At Cambridge University, where in 1848 attempts had already been made by former pupils from the various schools to find a common denominator for all the different adaptations of the game, a fresh initiative began to establish some uniform standards and rules that would be accepted by everyone.
It was at this point that the majority spoke out against such rough customs as tripping, shin-kicking and so on. As it happened, the majority also expressed disapproval at carrying the ball. It was this that caused the Rugby group to withdraw. They would probably have agreed to refrain from shin-kicking, which was in fact later banned in the Rugby regulations, but they were reluctant to relinquish carrying the ball.
This Cambridge action was an endeavour to sort out the utter confusion surrounding the rules. The decisive meeting, however, came on 26 October 1863, when 11 eleven London clubs and schools sent their representatives to the Freemason's Tavern. These representatives were intent on clarifying the muddle by establishing a set of fundamental rules, acceptable to all parties, to govern the matches played among them. This meeting marked the birth of The Football Association. The eternal dispute concerning shin-kicking, tripping and carrying the ball was discussed thoroughly at this and consecutive meetings until eventually on 8 December the die-hard exponents of the Rugby style - led by Blackheath - took their final leave. A stage had been reached where the ideals were no longer compatible. On 8 December 1863, football and rugby finally split. Their separation became totally irreconcilable six years hence when a provision was included in the football rules forbidding any handling of the ball (not only carrying it).
From there progress was lightning-quick. Only eight years after its foundation, The Football Association already had 50 member clubs. The first football competition in the world, the FA Cup, was established in 1872. By 1888 the first league championship was under way.
International matches were being staged in Great Britain before football had hardly been heard of in Europe. The first was played in 1872 and was contested by England and Scotland. This sudden boom of organised football accompanied by staggering crowds of spectators brought with it certain problems with which other countries did not face until much later on.
Professionalism was one of them. The first moves in this direction came in 1879, when Darwin, a small Lancashire club, twice managed to draw against the supposedly invincible Old Etonians in the FA Cup, before the famous team of London amateurs finally scraped through to win at the third attempt. Two Darwin players, the Scots John Love and Fergus Suter, are reported as being the first players ever to receive remuneration for their football talent. This practice grew rapidly and the FA found itself obliged to legalise professionalism as early as 1885. This development predated the formation of any national association outside of Great Britain (namely, in the Netherlands and Denmark) by exactly four years.
After the English FA, the next oldest are the Scottish FA (1873), the FA of Wales (1875) and the Irish FA (1880). Strictly speaking, at the time of the first international match, England had no other partner association against which to play. When Scotland played England in Glasgow on 30 November 1872, the Scottish FA did not even exist - it was not founded for another three months. The team England played that day was actually the oldest Scottish club team, Queen's Park, but as today the Scottish side wore blue shirts and England white (albeit with shorts and socks in the colours of their public schools). Both teams employed what might today be considered rather attacking formations - Scotland (2-2-6), England (1-1-8) - but back then the game still retained many of the mob-football characteristics of kicking and rushing and, in tactics at least, probably more closely resembled modern-day rugby than football.
The spread of football outside of Great Britain, mainly due to the British influence abroad, started slowly, but it soon gathered momentum and rapidly reached all parts of the world.
The next countries to form football associations after the Netherlands and Denmark in 1889 were New Zealand (1891), Argentina (1893), Chile (1895), Switzerland, Belgium (1895), Italy (1898), Germany, Uruguay (both in 1900), Hungary (1901) and Finland (1907).
When FIFA was founded in Paris in May 1904 it had seven founder members: France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain (represented by Madrid FC), Sweden and Switzerland. The German Football Federation cabled its intention to join on the same day.
This international football community grew steadily, although it sometimes met with obstacles and setbacks. In 1912, 21 national associations were already affiliated to the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). By 1925, the number had increased to 36, while in 1930 - the year of the first World Cup - it was 41.
Between 1937 and 1938, the modern-day Laws of the Game were set out by future FIFA President Stanley Rous. He took the original Laws, written in 1886 and subject subsequently to piecemeal alterations, and drafted them in a rational order. (They would be revised a second time in 1997.)
By the late 1930s there were 51 FIFA members; in 1950, after the interval caused by the Second World War, that number had reached 73. Over the next half-century, football's popularity continued to attract new devotees and at the end of the 2007 FIFA Congress, FIFA had 208 members in every part of the world.
The rules were still relatively free and easy, with no standard form of the game. Each school in fact developed its own adaptation and, at times, these varied considerably. The traditional aspects of the game remained but innovations depended for the most part on the playing ground available. If use had to be made of a paved school playground, surrounded by a brick wall, then there was simply not enough space for the old hurly-burly 'mob football'.
Circumstances such as these prompted schools like Charterhouse, Westminster, Eton and Harrow to favour a game more dependent on the players' dribbling virtuosity than the robust energy required in a scrum. On the other hand, schools such as Cheltenham and Rugby were more inclined towards the more rugged game in which the ball could be touched with the hands or even carried.
As the 19 th century progressed, a new attitude developed towards football. The education authorities observed how well the sport served to encourage such fine qualities as loyalty, selflessness, cooperation, subordination and deference to the team spirit. Games became an integral part of the school curriculum and participation in football compulsory. Dr Thomas Arnold, the head of Rugby School, made further advances in this direction, when in 1846 in Rugby the first truly standardised rules for an organised game were laid down.
These were in any event quite rough enough: for example, they permitted kicking an opponent's legs below the knees, with the reserve that he should not be held still while his shins were being worked on. Handling the ball was also allowed - and had been ever since the historic occasion in 1823 when William Webb Ellis, to the amazement of his own team and his opponents, made a run with the ball tucked under his arm. Many schools followed suit and adopted the rules laid down in Rugby; others, such as Eton, Harrow and Winchester, rejected this form of football, and gave preference to kicking the ball. Charterhouse and Westminster were also against handling the ball. However, they did not isolate their style as some schools did - instead they formed a nucleus from which this style of game began to spread.
Finally, in 1863, developments reached a climax. At Cambridge University, where in 1848 attempts had already been made by former pupils from the various schools to find a common denominator for all the different adaptations of the game, a fresh initiative began to establish some uniform standards and rules that would be accepted by everyone.
It was at this point that the majority spoke out against such rough customs as tripping, shin-kicking and so on. As it happened, the majority also expressed disapproval at carrying the ball. It was this that caused the Rugby group to withdraw. They would probably have agreed to refrain from shin-kicking, which was in fact later banned in the Rugby regulations, but they were reluctant to relinquish carrying the ball.
This Cambridge action was an endeavour to sort out the utter confusion surrounding the rules. The decisive meeting, however, came on 26 October 1863, when 11 eleven London clubs and schools sent their representatives to the Freemason's Tavern. These representatives were intent on clarifying the muddle by establishing a set of fundamental rules, acceptable to all parties, to govern the matches played among them. This meeting marked the birth of The Football Association. The eternal dispute concerning shin-kicking, tripping and carrying the ball was discussed thoroughly at this and consecutive meetings until eventually on 8 December the die-hard exponents of the Rugby style - led by Blackheath - took their final leave. A stage had been reached where the ideals were no longer compatible. On 8 December 1863, football and rugby finally split. Their separation became totally irreconcilable six years hence when a provision was included in the football rules forbidding any handling of the ball (not only carrying it).
From there progress was lightning-quick. Only eight years after its foundation, The Football Association already had 50 member clubs. The first football competition in the world, the FA Cup, was established in 1872. By 1888 the first league championship was under way.
International matches were being staged in Great Britain before football had hardly been heard of in Europe. The first was played in 1872 and was contested by England and Scotland. This sudden boom of organised football accompanied by staggering crowds of spectators brought with it certain problems with which other countries did not face until much later on.
Professionalism was one of them. The first moves in this direction came in 1879, when Darwin, a small Lancashire club, twice managed to draw against the supposedly invincible Old Etonians in the FA Cup, before the famous team of London amateurs finally scraped through to win at the third attempt. Two Darwin players, the Scots John Love and Fergus Suter, are reported as being the first players ever to receive remuneration for their football talent. This practice grew rapidly and the FA found itself obliged to legalise professionalism as early as 1885. This development predated the formation of any national association outside of Great Britain (namely, in the Netherlands and Denmark) by exactly four years.
After the English FA, the next oldest are the Scottish FA (1873), the FA of Wales (1875) and the Irish FA (1880). Strictly speaking, at the time of the first international match, England had no other partner association against which to play. When Scotland played England in Glasgow on 30 November 1872, the Scottish FA did not even exist - it was not founded for another three months. The team England played that day was actually the oldest Scottish club team, Queen's Park, but as today the Scottish side wore blue shirts and England white (albeit with shorts and socks in the colours of their public schools). Both teams employed what might today be considered rather attacking formations - Scotland (2-2-6), England (1-1-8) - but back then the game still retained many of the mob-football characteristics of kicking and rushing and, in tactics at least, probably more closely resembled modern-day rugby than football.
The spread of football outside of Great Britain, mainly due to the British influence abroad, started slowly, but it soon gathered momentum and rapidly reached all parts of the world.
The next countries to form football associations after the Netherlands and Denmark in 1889 were New Zealand (1891), Argentina (1893), Chile (1895), Switzerland, Belgium (1895), Italy (1898), Germany, Uruguay (both in 1900), Hungary (1901) and Finland (1907).
When FIFA was founded in Paris in May 1904 it had seven founder members: France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain (represented by Madrid FC), Sweden and Switzerland. The German Football Federation cabled its intention to join on the same day.
This international football community grew steadily, although it sometimes met with obstacles and setbacks. In 1912, 21 national associations were already affiliated to the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). By 1925, the number had increased to 36, while in 1930 - the year of the first World Cup - it was 41.
Between 1937 and 1938, the modern-day Laws of the Game were set out by future FIFA President Stanley Rous. He took the original Laws, written in 1886 and subject subsequently to piecemeal alterations, and drafted them in a rational order. (They would be revised a second time in 1997.)
By the late 1930s there were 51 FIFA members; in 1950, after the interval caused by the Second World War, that number had reached 73. Over the next half-century, football's popularity continued to attract new devotees and at the end of the 2007 FIFA Congress, FIFA had 208 members in every part of the world.
Britain the Home of Football.
For all the evidence of early ball sports played elsewhere in the world, the evolution of football as we know it today took place in Britain. The game that flourished in the British Isles from the eighth to the 19th centuries featured a considerable variety of local and regional versions - which were subsequently smoothed down and smartened up to create the modern-day sports of association football, rugby football and, in Ireland, Gaelic football.
Primitive football was more disorganised, more violent, more spontaneous and usually played by an indefinite number of players. Frequently, games took the form of a heated contest between whole villages - through streets and squares, across fields, hedges, fences and streams. Kicking was allowed, as in fact was almost everything else. Sometimes kicking the ball was out of the question due to the size and weight of the sphere being used - in such cases, kicking was instead limited to taking out opponents.
Curiously, it was not until nine years after the rules of football had been first established in 1863 that the size and weight of the ball were finally standardised. Up to then, agreement on this point was usually reached by the parties concerned when they were arranging the match, as was the case for a game between London and Sheffield in 1866. This encounter was also the first where the duration was prearranged for 90 minutes.
Shrovetide football, as it was called, belonged in the 'mob football' category, where the number of players was unlimited and the rules were fairly vague. For instance, according to an ancient handbook from Workington in England, any means could be employed to get the ball to its target with the exception of murder and manslaughter.
One theory is that the game is Anglo-Saxon in origin. In both Kingston-on-Thames and Chester, local legend has it the game was played there for the first time with the severed head of a vanquished Danish prince. In Derby, it is said to have originated in the third century during the victory celebrations that followed a battle against the Romans. Yet there is scant evidence of the sport having been played at this time, either in Saxon areas or on the continent. Indeed prior to the Norman conquest, the only trace found of any such ball game comes from a Celtic source.
Another theory regarding its origin is that when 'mob football' was being played in the British Isles in the early centuries AD, a similar game was thriving in France, particularly in the northern regions of Normandy and Brittany. So it is possible that the Normans brought this form of the game to England with them.
Scholars have also suggested that besides the natural impulse to demonstrate strength and skill, in many cases pagan customs, especially fertility rites, provided a source of motivation for these early 'footballers'. The ball symbolised the sun, which had to be conquered in order to secure a bountiful harvest. The ball had to be propelled around, or across, a field so that the crops would flourish and the attacks of the opponents had to be warded off.
A similar significance was attached to contests between married men and bachelors that prevailed for centuries in some parts of England, and, likewise, to the game between married and unmarried women in the Scottish town of Inveresk at the end of the 17th century which, perhaps by design, was regularly won by the married women. Women's football is obviously not as new as some people think.
For all the conflicting views on the origins of the game, one thing is incontestable: football has flourished for over a thousand years in diverse rudimentary forms, in the very region which we describe as its home, Britain.
Primitive football was more disorganised, more violent, more spontaneous and usually played by an indefinite number of players. Frequently, games took the form of a heated contest between whole villages - through streets and squares, across fields, hedges, fences and streams. Kicking was allowed, as in fact was almost everything else. Sometimes kicking the ball was out of the question due to the size and weight of the sphere being used - in such cases, kicking was instead limited to taking out opponents.
Curiously, it was not until nine years after the rules of football had been first established in 1863 that the size and weight of the ball were finally standardised. Up to then, agreement on this point was usually reached by the parties concerned when they were arranging the match, as was the case for a game between London and Sheffield in 1866. This encounter was also the first where the duration was prearranged for 90 minutes.
Shrovetide football, as it was called, belonged in the 'mob football' category, where the number of players was unlimited and the rules were fairly vague. For instance, according to an ancient handbook from Workington in England, any means could be employed to get the ball to its target with the exception of murder and manslaughter.
One theory is that the game is Anglo-Saxon in origin. In both Kingston-on-Thames and Chester, local legend has it the game was played there for the first time with the severed head of a vanquished Danish prince. In Derby, it is said to have originated in the third century during the victory celebrations that followed a battle against the Romans. Yet there is scant evidence of the sport having been played at this time, either in Saxon areas or on the continent. Indeed prior to the Norman conquest, the only trace found of any such ball game comes from a Celtic source.
Another theory regarding its origin is that when 'mob football' was being played in the British Isles in the early centuries AD, a similar game was thriving in France, particularly in the northern regions of Normandy and Brittany. So it is possible that the Normans brought this form of the game to England with them.
Scholars have also suggested that besides the natural impulse to demonstrate strength and skill, in many cases pagan customs, especially fertility rites, provided a source of motivation for these early 'footballers'. The ball symbolised the sun, which had to be conquered in order to secure a bountiful harvest. The ball had to be propelled around, or across, a field so that the crops would flourish and the attacks of the opponents had to be warded off.
A similar significance was attached to contests between married men and bachelors that prevailed for centuries in some parts of England, and, likewise, to the game between married and unmarried women in the Scottish town of Inveresk at the end of the 17th century which, perhaps by design, was regularly won by the married women. Women's football is obviously not as new as some people think.
For all the conflicting views on the origins of the game, one thing is incontestable: football has flourished for over a thousand years in diverse rudimentary forms, in the very region which we describe as its home, Britain.
History of Football - The Origins
The contemporary history of the world's favourite game spans more than 100 years. It all began in 1863 in England, when rugby football and association football branched off on their different courses and the Football Association in England was formed - becoming the sport's first governing body.
Both codes stemmed from a common root and both have a long and intricately branched ancestral tree. A search down the centuries reveals at least half a dozen different games, varying to different degrees, and to which the historical development of football has been traced back. Whether this can be justified in some instances is disputable. Nevertheless, the fact remains that people have enjoyed kicking a ball about for thousands of years and there is absolutely no reason to consider it an aberration of the more 'natural' form of playing a ball with the hands.
On the contrary, apart from the need to employ the legs and feet in tough tussles for the ball, often without any laws for protection, it was recognised right at the outset that the art of controlling the ball with the feet was not easy and, as such, required no small measure of skill. The very earliest form of the game for which there is scientific evidence was an exercise from a military manual dating back to the second and third centuries BC in China.
This Han Dynasty forebear of football was called Tsu' Chu and it consisted of kicking a leather ball filled with feathers and hair through an opening, measuring only 30-40cm in width, into a small net fixed onto long bamboo canes. According to one variation of this exercise, the player was not permitted to aim at his target unimpeded, but had to use his feet, chest, back and shoulders while trying to withstand the attacks of his opponents. Use of the hands was not permitted.
Another form of the game, also originating from the Far East, was the Japanese Kemari, which began some 500-600 years later and is still played today. This is a sport lacking the competitive element of Tsu' Chu with no struggle for possession involved. Standing in a circle, the players had to pass the ball to each other, in a relatively small space, trying not to let it touch the ground.
The Greek 'Episkyros' - of which few concrete details survive - was much livelier, as was the Roman 'Harpastum'. The latter was played out with a smaller ball by two teams on a rectangular field marked by boundary lines and a centre line. The objective was to get the ball over the opposition's boundary lines and as players passed it between themselves, trickery was the order of the day. The game remained popular for 700-800 years, but, although the Romans took it to Britain with them, the use of feet was so small as to scarcely be of consequence.
Both codes stemmed from a common root and both have a long and intricately branched ancestral tree. A search down the centuries reveals at least half a dozen different games, varying to different degrees, and to which the historical development of football has been traced back. Whether this can be justified in some instances is disputable. Nevertheless, the fact remains that people have enjoyed kicking a ball about for thousands of years and there is absolutely no reason to consider it an aberration of the more 'natural' form of playing a ball with the hands.
On the contrary, apart from the need to employ the legs and feet in tough tussles for the ball, often without any laws for protection, it was recognised right at the outset that the art of controlling the ball with the feet was not easy and, as such, required no small measure of skill. The very earliest form of the game for which there is scientific evidence was an exercise from a military manual dating back to the second and third centuries BC in China.
This Han Dynasty forebear of football was called Tsu' Chu and it consisted of kicking a leather ball filled with feathers and hair through an opening, measuring only 30-40cm in width, into a small net fixed onto long bamboo canes. According to one variation of this exercise, the player was not permitted to aim at his target unimpeded, but had to use his feet, chest, back and shoulders while trying to withstand the attacks of his opponents. Use of the hands was not permitted.
Another form of the game, also originating from the Far East, was the Japanese Kemari, which began some 500-600 years later and is still played today. This is a sport lacking the competitive element of Tsu' Chu with no struggle for possession involved. Standing in a circle, the players had to pass the ball to each other, in a relatively small space, trying not to let it touch the ground.
The Greek 'Episkyros' - of which few concrete details survive - was much livelier, as was the Roman 'Harpastum'. The latter was played out with a smaller ball by two teams on a rectangular field marked by boundary lines and a centre line. The objective was to get the ball over the opposition's boundary lines and as players passed it between themselves, trickery was the order of the day. The game remained popular for 700-800 years, but, although the Romans took it to Britain with them, the use of feet was so small as to scarcely be of consequence.
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