Football Program History

Ancient football
The origin of football can be traced back to the ancient Chinese ball game Cuju. Cuju was originally called "Taju". The word Cuju first appeared in "Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Bian Que and Cang Gong", and Cuju was called ancient Chinese football. During the Western Han Dynasty, the literati Liu Xiang and Liu Xin wrote in their personal works "Bie Lu" and "Qi Lue" that "Cuju is said to have been invented by Huangdi." By the Tang and Song dynasties, Cuju was very popular and became an elegant activity in the court. This ball game was later introduced to Europe from China by the Arabs. In 1985, Joao Havelange, the seventh president of FIFA, said in his speech in China: "Football originated here and has a history of more than 2,000 years. This is indisputable." In 2001, Joseph Blatter, the eighth president of FIFA, once again emphasized in the "Report on the History of International Football Development" at the coach training course held by the Asian Football Confederation: "Football originated in China." In 2005, at the closing ceremony of the 100th anniversary celebration of the founding of FIFA, Linzi, Shandong, China was officially declared the birthplace of world football.
Before the Middle Ages in Europe, the Greeks and Romans began to play a football game. On a rectangular field, the Greeks and Romans placed the ball on the white line in the middle and kicked the ball to the opponent's field with their feet. This game was called "Habastom" at the time. [2]
In the early 19th century, football began to become popular in Europe, especially in the United Kingdom and some Latin American countries, but the rules of football at that time were varied. [8] In 1848, Cambridge University and Oxford University in the United Kingdom formulated a series of rules for football matches. The first written rules in the history of football, the "Cambridge Rules", were born. Because the matches between Cambridge University and Oxford University were based on dormitories, and each dormitory in the school at that time had 10 students and 1 teacher, the number of players on each team was 11. Therefore, the number of players on the football field was officially set at 11 in the "Cambridge Rules". In addition, the British created a "nine strikers and one defender" football formation at that time, that is, nine strikers, one defender, and one goalkeeper. Later, the "seven strikers and three defenders" formation was created, which made the offensive and defensive forces relatively balanced.
On October 24, 1857, in Sheffield, England, the amateur football team Sheffield Football Club was established. This was the first football club established in the history of world football. But in the three years after the establishment of the team, because there was no opponent to organize the game, Sheffield Football Club could only hold a football match between married players and unmarried players in the team.
In 1862, Notts County Football Club was established in Nottinghamshire, England. This was the first professional football club in the world.
Modern football
On October 26, 1863, several football enthusiasts gathered at the Fremason Hotel on Queen Street in London, England to discuss and establish the Football Association of England. This was the first football association established in the history of world football. Its establishment marked the birth of modern football. After that, people called October 26, 1863 "Modern Football Day". In addition, the meeting also drafted a relatively unified set of football competition rules, which is the prototype of modern football competition rules. Due to the characteristics of football formations at that time, the competition rules allow the ball to enter or pass through the space between the goal posts. Regardless of the height, as long as it is not thrown, hit or carried in by hand, it is considered a goal. The establishment of the English Football Association has led to the vigorous development of football in some countries in Europe and Latin America, and various countries have successively established football associations.