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*History*

From the past to the present day

The earliest written reference to a game called “football” dates from the 15th century, although the game itself has been around a lot longer.In its oldest versions, any part of the body could be used to control the ball or tackle opponents. The name it acquired refers not to the fact that only the feet could be used to propel the ball, but that the game was played on foot. This marked it out as a game played by ordinary people, as distinct from the team games of the nobility which were played on horseback. Before this it was generally known simply as “ball” or “gameball”

Early days

Engraving after R. Cruikshank
© The Art Archive/Parker Gallery London/Harper Collins Publishers

Virtually nothing about the early game would look familiar to us today. It was a rural affair, played in villages and across open country, with the “goals” sometimes fixed a couple of miles apart. There was no set number of people in each team  – 500 a side was not unusual – and there were hardly any rules. You were more or less entitled to do anything to get the ball, including grappling with, kicking and punching the opposition.

Launch of the FA

 It was the adoption of football as a sporting activity in public schools that led to the gradual attempt to both regulate and refine it. The first clubs were formed in the 1820s. An initial (failed) attempt to codify the rules was made at Cambridge University in 1848.
The second attempt,  summarised in Ten Rules, was drawn up by one JC Thring, also at Cambridge. A meeting at the Freemason’s Tavern in London in October 1863 set up the Football Association, and established once and for all the unified system of rules we recognise today.
A match between London and Sheffield in 1866 is recognised as the first where the two teams agreed on the weight and size of the ball, and that the game should last 90 minutes.Read below how the game became the biggest sport in the world the date and the most supported with great videos.

The 1870s saw several changes to Football Association rules. In 1870 eleven-a-side games were introduced with the addition of a goalkeeper. In 1872 the FA published an updated set of laws. This made it clear that “a goal shall be won when the ball passes between the goal posts under the tape, not being thrown, knocked on, or carried.” The new rules clearly distinguished between goalkeepers and other players: “A player shall not throw the ball nor pass it to another except in the case of the goalkeeper, who shall be allowed to use his hands for the protection of his goal… No player shall carry or knock on the ball; nor shall any player handle the ball under any pretence whatever.”

FIFA
The first football club was formed in Sheffield, England in 1857. The Football Association was founded on 26 October 1863 by 11 clubs meeting in London. (The word association was abbreviated to assoc., which became “soccer.”)

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was founded in the rear of the headquarters of the Union Française de Sports Athlétiques at the rue Saint Honoré 229 in Paris on 21 May 1904. The first World Cup was held in 1930 in Uruguay.

And as the game got bigger and bigger over the years so stars of football where born from past to present these memorys will always stay with us forever let the video below do the talking.Great names and great goals and we lead the glory of football into the future game.Watch some great moments from the sport we all love and as we grew so did the football

FOOTBALL LEGENDS -Past to present

 
Here we have listed just listed a few of the past and present great footballers who made the game what it is today of course there is so many to list but some names you just cant forget and will always go down in worldwide football as true football legends some still even play to date others have retired but never to be forgotten.

George Best

Born in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, Best made his Football League debut for United and won the first of 37 international caps before he was eighteen.  He is regarded by many as the most talented player in the history of the game.Best made 446 League appearances for United between 1963 and 1973, scoring 178 goals. Dubbed the ‘Fifth Beatle’ he was a dazzling presence in the United teams that won the championship in 1965 and 1967 and the European Cup in 1968 when he scored a superb solo goal in the Final.  A brilliant showman, he thrilled crowds with his mastery of the ball, tormenting defenders with a dazzling display of dribbling.Best found a very public battle against alcoholism.  He died in November 2005 from a lung infection and multiple organ failure.  His funeral route in Belfast was lined with 100,000 mourners.United’s Northern Ireland scout Bob Bishop famously sent a telegram  to Busby that read: “I believe I’ve found you a genius.” …he was not wrong.

Pele

“I was born for soccer, just as Beethoven was born for music.” Arrogant, pompous words. Except when they are spoken by Edson Arantes do Nascimento, the Brazilian genius known throughout the football world as Pele.
A veteran of four World Cups, scorer of 1,283 first-class goals - 12 of them in World Cup final tournaments - a member of those magical Brazilian squads that won soccer’s greatest prize in 1958, 1962 and 1970.

But just as a collection of notes do not make a Beethoven symphony, statistics cannot capture the majesty of those glorious Brazilian sides. This was football played to a samba beat. Beautiful skills, astonishing speed and ball control - and of all those great players in the yellow and green shirts, Pele was the greatest of them all.

He was lithe, agile, strong and seemed to be able to make the ball do as he pleased. Blessed with a stunning shot and an ability to soar above defences, he was expected to perform some astonishing feat of trickery every time he was in possession.

Maradona

Diego Armando Maradona (born October 30, 1960) is an Argentine ex-football player. In 2000 Maradona shared the FIFA Player of the Century award with Pelé after finishing first in a FIFA internet poll on the best player of the 20th century. [1][2][3]
Maradona won many trophies with Boca Juniors, FC Barcelona and SSC Napoli over the course of his career. During an international career that included 91 caps and 34 goals, he played in four FIFA World Cup tournaments, leading the Argentina national team to its victory over West Germany in 1986 World Cup, in which he collected the Golden Ball award as the tournament’s best player. He scored both goals in the 2-1 victory over England in the quarter-final of the ‘86 tournament. The first goal was an unpenalized handball known as the “Hand of God”, while the second goal was a spectacular 60-metre weave through six England players, commonly referred to as “The Goal of the Century”

Zidane

Nickednamed zizou or el mestro FIFA Player of the Year in 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006 .Zinedine Zidane won the Golden Ball as the most valuable player in the World Cups of 1998 and 2006. Zidane played his first professional First Division game for Cannes in 1991 and quickly rose through the professional ranks. He sealed his reputation by scoring two goals in the World Cup finals of 1998, helping France defeat Brazil to claim its first-ever World Cup championship. Zidane played for professional powerhouse Juventus from 1996 until 2001, when he was acquired by Real Madrid for 46 million pounds, a record fee.He became one of the best greatest living footballers to date a midfield player who had it all skill class and could score goals out of this world as well as make them.In the 2006 World Cup final (which France lost), Zidane was ejected for head-butting Italy’s Marco Materazzi, who had made a personally insulting remark, but he was again awarded the Golden Ball. Now retired he will always be rememberd as the masterclass player watch this great video that really shows what a talent he was.

Ronaldo (brazil)

Name at birth: Ronaldo Luis Nazário de Lima

A brilliant and fluid forward, Ronaldo became one of international soccer’s great stars of the 1990s and Brazil’s biggest soccer hero since Pele. At age 17 he was a member of Brazil’s 1994 World Cup-winning squad, though he did not play. The same year he joined the Dutch professional team PSV Eindhoven. His professional contract was purchased by Barcelona in 1996; the next year he moved again to Italy’s F.C. Internazionale Milano, remaining until 2002 when he transferred to Real Madrid. He was named FIFA’s World Footballer of the Year in 1996 and 1997, becoming both the youngest player to win the award and the only player to win the award in consecutive years. He also starred in the 1998 World Cup, scoring four goals in leading Brazil to the Cup finals, but he was criticized for their 3-0 loss to France in the championship game. Slowed by injuries in the 21st century, Ronaldo nonetheless made a triumphant return by leading Brazil to the World Cup championship in 2002. He won the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer (with eight goals) and scored both goals in Brazil’s 2-0 final game win over Germany. Despite accusations that he had become overweight and less than energetic, Ronaldo scored three goals in the 2006 World Cup, giving him a total of 15 in World Cup play — a new record. He transferred from Barcelona to A.C. Milan in January of 2007, signing an 18-month contract.Now back in brazil getting back into shape there is word he might move to manchester city in the january transfer window to try get back to how the legend he was before.

Ronaldino

Ronaldinho was born into a family of football addicts, living in a wooden house in the heart of a favela. His father, Joao da Silva Moreira who played for an amateur club made ends meet by by working as a car park attendant at Gremio Football Club. His brother Roberto was a great hope for the club but then his career was unfortunately ended by a terrible knee injury. At the age of 8, tregedy struck as Ronaldinho’s father drowned in a swiming pool at a villa provided by Gremio for Roberto. Following in the footsteps of his brother Ronnie then joined the Gremio’s footballing school and wowed everyone there. He made it into the first team in 1997 and was being heralded as one of the best young hopes in Brazilan football. Meanwhile, he was already making the breakthrough with the national squad, and his six goals were fundamental in Brazil’s Copa America triumph in 1999.The goal Ronaldinho scored against Venezuela is remembered to this day as one of the most spectacular ever scored by a player wearing the famous Canarinha jersey.
In 2001, Ronaldinho moved on to PSG where he became a fan’s favourite with his tremendous flair and excting style of football - also contributing tremendous amounts of goals. However his employer’s still weren’t happy with his atitude and looked ot get rid of him. Of course, he continued to shine in the international arena. His finest hour came at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea, where he was a key member of the side that won Brazil’s record fifth world title - scoring in the quarter final and playing an integral role in midfield in the final. Ronaldinho then moved to Barcelona - arguably the biggest club in the world - for what now seems a bargain at £21,000,000. When he arrived, he said that his desire was to bring as much success to the club as so many Brazilians had done before him, such as Evaristo, Ronaldo, Romario and Rivaldo. Having won the World Footballer of the Year title it seems he has now fulfilled that desire.Since becoming without any doubt the best player in the world for many years he has moved on for one last challenge to join Ac milan in italy good luck to him