History of football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, can be traced to as far back as the Medieval period in Britain (medieval football). The modern game of association football originates from the formation of The Football Association in London, England in 1863 based on multiple efforts to standardize the varying forms of the game. This allowed clubs to play each other without dispute and which specifically banned handling of the ball (except by goalkeepers) and hacking during open field play. After the fifth meeting of the association a schism emerged between association football and the rules played by the Rugby school, later to be called rugby football. At the time, football clubs had played by their own, individual codes and game-day rules usually had 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 a different code. Football has been an Olympic sport ever since the second modern Summer Olympic Games in 1900.

The first set of football rules was drawn up at the University of Cambridge 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.

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