to as far back as the Medieval period in Britain (the patriots).
standardize the varying forms of the game. This allowed clubs to play each other
(hence the division between association football and rugby football).
At the time, football clubs had played by their own, individual codes and game-day
rules had usually to be agreed upon before a match could commence. For example,
the Sheffield Rules that applied to most matches played in the Sheffield area were
The first set of football rules was drawn up at Cambridge University in 1848 and
became particularly influential in the development of subsequent codes, including
Association Football. Known as the Cambridge Rules, they were written at Trinity
College, Cambridge, at a meeting attended by representatives from Eton, Harrow,
Shrewsbury, Rugby and Winchester schools, though they were not universally adopted.
During the 1850s, many clubs unconnected to schools or universities were formed
throughout the English-speaking world, to play various forms of football. Some
came up with their own distinct codes of rules, most notably the Sheffield Football Club,
formed by former public school pupils in 1857, which led to formation of a Sheffield
Football Association in 1867.
During the early 1860s, there were increasing attempts in England to unify and
reconcile the various football games that were played in the public schools as well
in the industrial north under the Sheffield Rules. In 1862, J. C. Thring, who had
been one of the driving forces behind the original Cambridge Rules, was a master at
Uppingham School and he issued his own rules of what he called "The Simplest Game
"(aka the Uppingham Rules). In early October 1863, a revised version of the
Cambridge Rules was drawn up by a seven member committee representing former
pupils of Eton, Harrow, Shrewsbury, Rugby, Marlborough and Westminster.
Ebenezer Cobb Morley, who is regarded as the "father of football".
Ebenezer Cobb Morley, a solicitor from Hull, wrote to Bell's Life newspaper in 1863,
proposing a governing body for football. Morley was to become the FA's first
secretary (1863–66) and its second president (1867–74), but is particularly remembered
as it was he who drafted the first Laws of the Game at his home in Barnes, London,
that are today played the world over. For this, he is considered not just the father
of the Football Association, but of Association Football itself.
Charterhouse has an historic joint claim to having founded Association Football,
which remains the main Winter sport at the school. During the 1840s at both
Charterhouse and Westminster School pupils' surroundings meant they were confined
to playing their football in the cloisters, making the rough and tumble of the
handling game that was developing at other schools such as Rugby impossible, and
necessitating a new code of rules. During the formulation of the rules of the
Association Football in the 1860s representatives of Charterhouse and Westminster
School pushed for a passing game, in particular rules that allowed forward passing
("passing on"). Other schools (in particular Eton College, Shrewsbury School and Harrow)
favoured a dribbling game with a tight off-side rule. It is claimed that Stoke
Ramblers was formed in 1863 when former pupils of Charterhouse School formed a
football club while apprentices at the North Staffordshire Railway works in
Stoke-on-Trent. By 1867 the Football Association had chosen in favour of the
Charterhouse and Westminster game and adopted a "loose" off-side rule that permitted forward passing. The modern forward-passing game was a direct consequence of Charterhouse and Westminster Football.On the evening of 26 October 1863, representatives of several football clubs in the Greater London area met at the Freemasons' Tavern on Long Acre in Covent Garden. This was the first meeting of The Football Association (FA). It was the world's first official football body and for this reason is not preceded with the word English. Charterhouse was the only school which accepted invitations to attend. The first meeting resulted in the issuing of a request for representatives of the public schools to join the association. With the exception of Thring at Uppingham,most schools declined.In total, six meetings of the FA were held between October and December 1863. Committee member J. F. Alcock, said: "The Cambridge Rules appear to be the most desirable for the Association to adopt."After the third meeting, a draft set of rules were published by the FA. However, at the beginning of the fourth meeting, attention was drawn to the recently-published Cambridge Rules of 1863. The Cambridge rules differed from the draft FA rules in two significant areas; namely running with (carrying) the ball and hacking (kicking opposing players in the shins). The two contentious FA rules were as follows:
IX. A player shall be entitled to run with the ball towards his adversaries' goal if he makes a fair catch, or
catches the ball on the first bound; but in case of a fair catch, if he makes his mark he shall not run. X. If
any player shall run with the ball towards his adversaries' goal, any player on the opposite side shall be at
liberty to charge, hold, trip or hack him, or to wrest the ball from him, but no player shall be held and hacked at the same time.At the fifth meeting a motion was proposed that these two rules be removed from the FA rules. Most of the delegates supported this suggestion but F. W. Campbell, the representative from Blackheath and the first FA treasurer,objected strongly. He said, "hacking is the true football". The motion was carried nonetheless and — at the final meeting — Campbell withdrew his club from the FA. After the final meeting on 8 December the FA published the "Laws of Football", the first comprehensive set of rules for the game later known as association football.
The game also came to be called "soccer" as a shortening of "Association" around the same time as Rugby football,colloquially referred to as "rugger", was developing as the main carrying of the ball version of English football,and "soccer" remains a common descriptor in countries with other prominent football codes today.[citation needed]These first FA rules still contained elements that are no longer part of association football, but which are still recognisable in other games (Rugby Union, Australian rules football): for instance, a player could make a fair catch and claim a mark, which entitled him to a free kick, and; if a player touched the ball behind the opponents'goal line, his side was entitled to a free kick at goal, from 15 yards in front of the goal line.
The laws of the game agreed on by the FA members stipulated a maximum length and breadth for the pitch, the procedurefor kicking off, and definition of terms, including goal, throw in, offside. Passing the ball by hand was still permitted provided the ball was caught "fairly or on the first bounce". Despite the specifications of footwear having no"tough nails, iron plates and gutta percha" there were no specific rule on number of players, penalties, foul play or theshape of the ball; captains of the participating teams were expected to agree on these things prior to the match.
Ebenezer Cobb Morley
Foundations of a competition
The laws laid down by the FA had an immediate effect, with Sheffield F.C. and Nottingham (now Notts County) playing an annual fixture on the FA code, among others. As more teams joined the code in the 1860s,the sport veered away from its origins in public schools, came to be played with round balls and by teams that had settled on 11 players each. The rule eliminating passing of the ball forwards by making all players in front of the ball 'offside' (much like in rugby today) was dropped. A Sheffield against London game in 1866 had allowed the FA to observe how the rules were affecting the game; subsequently handling of the ball was abolished except for one player on each team, the goalkeeper. A red tape was added between the two goalposts to indicate the top of the goal, and a national competition was proposed. 1867 saw the introduction of the first competition and oldest existing trophy in soccer.
First FA Cup
On 20 July 1871, C. W. Alcock, a gentleman from Sunderland and a former pupil of Harrow School proposed that "a Challenge Cup should be established in connection with the [Football] Association", the idea that gave birth to the competition. At the first FA Cup in 1872, Wanderers and Royal Engineers met in the final in front of 2,000 paying spectators. Despite the Royal Engineers being the heavy favorites, one of their players sustained a broken collar bone early on and since substitutions had not yet been introduced, the Engineers played a man down for the rest of the match which they eventually lost 1-0.
The FA Cup was a success and within a few years all of the clubs in England wanted to take part. To do so they had to accept the FA code, which led to the quick spread of a universal set of rules. These rules are the basis of which all association football rules today stem from.
Later competitions saw the 'Gentleman' or Southerners dominate with Old Etonians, Wanderers, Royal Engineers and Oxford University who amongst them took 19 titles. Queens Park withdrew in the semi-finals of the 1873 cup (which due to the format being played that year meant that all the challengers to Wanderers' trophy played a competition for the right to throw down the gauntlet and play the holders, hence the full name FA Challenge Cup)because they had trouble raising travel expenses to pay for the constant trips to England, this directly led to the formation of the Scottish FA. However despite this, Queens Park continued to participate in the FA Cup, reaching the final twice, before the Scottish FA banned Scottish clubs from entering in 1887.Nowadays the FA cup is heavily celebrated. In 1872, Alcock purchased the Football Association Cup for £20. That year, fifteen clubs entered the competition.
Queen's Park reached the semi finals without playing due to withdrawals, but then after a goalless draw with Wanderers,were forced to withdraw as before the advent of penalties and extra time, they could not afford to come back to London for the replay. Wanderers won the cup outright in 1878 after what remains to this day one of only two hat tricks of wins ever. However they returned the cup to the FA in order for the competition to continue, on the condition that no other club could win the cup outright ever again.
FIFA
The FIFA Women's World Cup was inaugurated with the FIFA Women's World Cup 1991, hosted in China, with 12 teams sent to represent their countries.
Over 90,185 spectators attended the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup and nearly 1 billion viewers from 70 countries tuned in.
By the FIFA Women's World Cup 2003, 16 teams competed in the championship finals. Of the four tournaments held to date(2006), the USA has won the championship twice, Norway once and Germany most recently. Women's confederations are the same as men's: Oceania (OFC), European (UEFA), North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF), South American (CONMEBOL), Asian (AFC) and African (CAF).
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