THE HISTORY OF FOOTBALL

Football is undeniably one of the most popular sports played worldwide.

Around 2500 BC, the Greeks, Egyptians, and Chinese played games involving a ball and feet. Most of these games included the use of hands, feet, and even sticks to control a ball.

The most relevant of these ancient games to our modern-day' Association Football' is the Chinese game of Tsu'Chu, meaning kicking the ball. Records of the game began during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), and it may have been a training exercise for the soldiers.

Tsu'Chu involved kicking a small leather ball into a net strung between two bamboo poles, and the use of hands was not permitted. The main difference between Tsu'Chu and football was the height of the goal, which hung about 30 feet from the ground.

Football began to evolve in modern Europe from the medieval period onwards, around the 9th Century. Most towns in England would kick a pig's bladder from one landmark to another. However, it was banned during some periods of Britain's history.