Welcome to Football A-Z

Football A-Z is a football blog that covers a wide range of subjects related to international football. You can find news about transfers, football gossip, results and rankings, football history articles, nice football videos and many more.

Monday, December 31, 2007

Happy New Year


Football A-Z wishes you a Happy New Year! May all your wishes come true in 2008!

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Ferguson warns players over discipline


Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has warned that he will not hesitate to sell any player who breaches club discipline. Ferguson has taken a hard line with his players throughout his career and has not been afraid to sell some of the club's biggest stars. And his latest warning comes after the club's Christmas party ended in rape claims.

The United boss has reportedly fined the players involved in the party a total of one million pounds (1.9 million dollars) - the biggest penalty ever dished out by a Premiership team for a breach of discipline. And he has also banned any more parties and told his millionaire players there will never be a repeat performance.

The Scot said: "Football has changed but you cannot lose your control. That is why we make changes here at Manchester United when we see anyone interfering with this sense of control. When we see this, then it's time for them to go because this club is based on everyone being together. When we start going off at tangents you have to assess it - definitely."

Ferguson also expressed his dislike of the celebrity lifestyle now enjoyed by many high-profile players. "What annoys me about some players today is this personal glory thing," he said. "They score a goal and then knock players out of the road so they can have their own private, personal gratification and praise from the fans. It's ugly seeing these kind of celebrations. These present-day footballers need to be noticed, with their earrings and tattoos. They no longer go to the small Italian restaurants but to the big and bright places."

Source: newsnow.co.uk

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Matthaus among candidates for Bosnia job


SARAJEVO (AFP) - German football legend Lothar Matthaus is among the candidates to coach the Bosnian national side, the country's football association said Friday. Apart from the German World Cup-winning captain the association is talking with two more candidates - former Croatia coach Zlatko Kranjcar and former Bosnian football star Meho Kodro - a spokeswoman said.

The new coach will be announced on January 5, spokeswoman Slavica Pecikoza told AFP. He is to replace Fuad Muzurovic who had been sacked on December 17 after his team failed to qualify for Euro 2008.

Source: soccernews.com

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Chelsea confirms Lampard blow


Chelsea have confirmed that Frank Lampard faces 'a few weeks' on the sidelines after the midfielder sustained a thigh injury in the first half of the amazing Boxing Day draw with Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge. The England international had to be replaced by Michael Ballack in the 26th minute of the clash against Martin O'Neill's side that eventually ended 4-4.

Chelsea have confirmed that Frank Lampard faces 'a few weeks' on the sidelines after the midfielder sustained a thigh injury in the first half of the amazing Boxing Day draw with Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge. A brief statement on the Blues' official website read: "Scans today have revealed a tear in Frank Lampard's right thigh. The tear is not in the same leg that Frank injured earlier this season. He will begin his rehabilitation immediately and we hope to have him back playing within a few weeks."

Chelsea boss Avram Grant had said after the eight-goal thriller: "We can't give a diagnosis on Frank Lampard yet, we'll wait and see. Frank was not happy about coming off because he likes playing, even in training games. We need to wait for an update."

Lampard's absence is a further blow to Grant who will be without several players next month when the African Cup of Nations starts. In addition, Ashley Cole and Ricardo Carvalho will be suspended after they were dismissed against Villa while John Terry's metatarsal injury means he continues to be unavailable.

Source: football.co.uk

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Carvalho sorry for tackle


Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho has apologised for his vicious two-footed challenge on Gabriel Agbonlahor in Boxing Day's 4-4 Barclays Premier League draw with Aston Villa. Carvalho was shown a straight red card by referee Phil Dowd for the 80th minute horror-tackle that could have inflicted serious injury on Agbonlahor.

The Portuguese defender said: "It was never my intention to hurt Gabriel Agbonlahor with the tackle. I was going for the ball and I don't want people to think that I tried to hurt another player. I didn't see him after the game to apologise but I asked for a message to be passed on to him." Chelsea boss Avram Grant backed Carvalho's claim there was no malice involved in the incident. He said: "For me what's important is that Carvalho did not intend to hurt the player - I didn't see any intention. The red card was the decision of the referee and I respect it. I will look at the incident again."

Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill maintained the sending off was fully justified. He said: "It was straightforward red card and Gabriel was the last man, even though he had 40-odd yards to go."

Carvalho will now miss matches against Newcastle and Fulham and an FA Cup third-round tie against Queens Park Rangers. His dismissal was one of three in a controversial clash at Stamford Bridge with team-mate Ashley Cole and Villa centre back Zat Knight also receiving their marching orders. The absence of Carvalho and Cole leaves Chelsea without virtually their entire first-choice defence with skipper John Terry also in the treatment room.

Source: football365.com

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Wenger not interested in new transfers


The absence of Ivory Coast players Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue could be a severe blow for the Gunners as the current Premier League leaders seek their first title since 2004.

But Wenger admits he may have to "suffer" during January rather than buy players who will end up being surplus to requirements. "Kolo Toure goes off to the African Nations Cup shortly and we may lose Alex Song for it as well," said the Frenchman. "Even with Johan Djourou returning from Birmingham we would then be left with three specialist centre-backs. "If I signed another one we'd have too many after the African Nations. Sometimes you just have to suffer during the tournament and let your players play."

Philippe Senderos is determined to seize his chance when Toure goes on international duty with Ivory Coast. "It could be a big opportunity for me to go in there and show what I can do," said the Switzerland defender. "I believe I've already shown what I'm capable of but this could be a big chance to come into the team for a while. "It would be a good time to come in as well - we are playing great football, winning games, and I'm ready for the challenge." Senderos would probably partner skipper William Gallas.

Source: teamtalk.com

Monday, December 24, 2007

Angolan striker Manucho signs with Manchester United


Manchester United have agreed to sign Petro Atletico Luanda's striker Manucho on a three-year deal. The Angolan international will join next month provided that he receives a work permit.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson told his club's official website: "We have had Manucho here for a 3-week trial and have been impressed enough to offer him a 3-year contract. He is a tall, agile and quick forward and through contacts that [assistant-manager] Carlos [Queiroz] has was brought to our attention around six months ago."

Sunday, December 23, 2007

2007 Player of the Year goes to Brazil: Kaka and Marta!


The FIFA World Player of the Year title goes to Brazil, for both men and women! Kaka (AC Milan) and Marta (Umea IK) were the winners. Runners up were Lionel Messi (Barcelona) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester) for men, Birgit Prinz (FFC Frankfurt) and Cristiane (VfL Wolfsburg) for women. Five out of six are of Latin origin.

Kaka goals and tricks



Marta goals and tricks



The history of football (12)

Chapter 10: World Cup

FIFA Men's World Cup

The first football world cup was played in Uruguay in 1930. In the first championship match between Argentina and Uruguay, both teams couldn't decide on a ball so they used Argentina's ball the first half and Uruguay's in the second. Many countries did not enter, with most of them coming from the Americas. By 1950 however, European teams took interest, and the competition blossomed into the worlds biggest footballing event. From this, other championships emerged - The European Championship, South America's Copa América, Oceania's OFC Nations Cup, Asian Cup, African Cup Of Nations and North America's Gold Cup are the main competitions of each continent. The Brazilian team, known as "Seleção", is the biggest title holder in the World Cup, having won five times. The runner-up is Italy, with four titles, having won the latest edition in 2006.

FIFA Women's World Cup

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 650,000 spectators attended the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup and nearly 1 billion viewers from 70 countries tuned in. Of the five tournaments held to date (2007), the USA and Germany have won the championship twice and Norway once. 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). The U.S.'s most famous womens goal was that of Brandi Chastain in 1999.

Source: Wikipedia

Saturday, December 22, 2007

The history of football (11)

Chapter 9: Founding of F.I.F.A.

The need for a single body to oversee the worldwide game became apparent at the beginning of the 20th century with the increasing popularity of international fixtures. The English Football Association had chaired many discussions on setting up an international body, but was perceived as making no progress. It fell to seven other European countries to band together to form this association. FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) was founded in Paris on May 21, 1904 - the French name and acronym persist to this day, even outside French-speaking countries. Its first president was Robert Guérin.

FIFA presided over its first international competition in 1906, however it met with little approval or success. This, in combination with economic factors, led to the swift replacement of Guérin with Daniel Burley Woolfall from England, by now a member association. The next tournament staged the football competition for the 1908 Olympics in London was more successful, despite the presence of professional footballers, contrary to the founding principles of FIFA.

Membership of FIFA expanded beyond Europe with the application of South Africa in 1909, Argentina in 1912 and the United States in 1913. FIFA however floundered during World War I with many players sent off to war and the possibility of travel for international fixtures severely limited. Post-war, following the death of Woolfall, the organisation fell into the hands of Alexander Bartholomew. The organization had a new leader though after Bartholomew's death in 1919. It was saved from extinction, but at the cost of the withdrawal of the Home Nations, who cited an unwillingness to participate in international competitions with their recent World War enemies.

In 1946 the four British nations returned. On 10 May 1947 a 'Match of the Century' between Great Britain and 'Rest of Europe XI' was played at Hampden Park in Glasgow before 135,000 spectators - Britain won 6-1. The proceeds from the match, coming to £35,000, were given to FIFA, to help re-launch it after World War Two. This was followed by FIFA's first post-war World Cup in 1950, held in Brazil. FIFA, meanwhile, continued to expand so that by the time of its fiftieth anniversary it had 84 members.

Source: Wikipedia

Friday, December 21, 2007

The history of football (10)

Chapter 8: Football spreads around the world

United States

The first soccer club in the United States was the Oneida Football Club of Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1862. It is often said that this was the first club to play association football outside Britain. However, the Oneidas were formed before the English Football Association (FA); it is not known what rules they used and the club wound up within the space of a few years. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the club is often credited with inventing the "Boston Game", which both allowed players to kick a round ball along the ground, and to pick it up and run with it.

The first U.S. match known to have been inspired by FA rules was a game between Princeton and Rutgers in 1869, although the game included features such as extremely physical tackling and teams of 20 each. Other colleges emulated this development, but all of these were converted to rugby-oriented rules from soccer-oriented rules by the mid-1870s on, and they would soon become famous as early bastions of American football. (For more details see: History of American football.)

Early soccer leagues in the U.S. mostly used the name football leagues: for example, the American Football Association (founded in 1884), the American Amateur Football Association (1893), the American League of Professional Football (1894), the National Association Foot Ball League (1895), and the Southern New England Football League (1914). However, the word "soccer" was beginning to catch on, and the St Louis Soccer League was a significant regional competition between 1907 and 1939. What is now the United States Soccer Federation was originally the U.S. Football Association, formed in 1913 by the merger of the American Football Association and the American Amateur Football Association. The governing body of the sport in the U.S. did not have the word soccer in its name until 1945, when it became the U.S. Soccer Football Association. It did not drop the word football from its name until 1974, when it became the U.S. Soccer Federation.

Two further soccer leagues were started in the 1967, the United Soccer Association and the National Professional Soccer League. These merged to form the North American Soccer League in 1968, which survived until 1984. The NASL also ran an indoor league in the later years.

Indoor soccer was a great success in the 1980's to the 90's, in part due to the input of the North American Soccer League. When the NASL folded, other leagues, including the Major Indoor Soccer League filled in to meet the demand. A new MISL exists today with eight teams slated for the 2007-2008 season. However, it is unrelated to the original MISL. The highest level of soccer in the United States is Major League Soccer.

Source: Wikipedia

The history of football (9)

Chapter 8: Football spreads around the world

South America

The first recorded football match in Argentina was played already in 1867 by English railway workers. The first football team in South America, Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata (now in professionalism) was created in Argentina, in 1887. The Argentine professional leagues (previously, football was an amateur sport) were founded in 1931 by the Argentine Football Association, which itself was founded by a Scottish schoolteacher Alexander Watson Hutton in 1893. The first ever championship to take place in Argentina was the AAF Championship of 1891 making Argentina's the oldest football league outside mainland Britain.

In the 1870s an expatriate named John Miller who worked on the railway construction project in São Paulo together with some 3000 other immigrant families from the British Isles in the last decades of the 19th century. Mr. Miller decided to send his young boy Charles William Miller to England for his education. In 1884 Charles aged 10 was sent to Bannisters school in Southampton. Charles was a natural footballer who quickly picked up the arts of the game. The football association was being formed at the time. Eton, Rugby, Charterhouse and other colleges all had developed their own rules to the game. As an accomplished winger and striker Charles held school honours that were to gain him entry first into the Southampton Club team and then into the County team of Hampshire.

In 1892 a couple of years before his return to Brazil, Charles was invited to play a game for the Corinthians, a team formed of players invited from public schools and universities.

On his return Charles brought some football equipment and a rules book with him. He then went on to develop the new rules of the game amongst the community in São Paulo. In 1888, six years before his return, the first sports club was founded in the city, São Paulo Athletic Club. São Paulo Athletic Club won the first three years championships. Miller's skills were far and above his colleagues at this stage. He was given the honour of contributing his name to a move involving a deft flick of the ball with the heel "Chaleira".

Charles Miller kept a strong bond with English football throughout his life. Teams from Southampton and Corinthians Club came over to Brazil and played against São Paulo Athletic Club and other teams in São Paulo. One on occasion in 1910 a new local team was about to be formed after a tour of the Corinthians team to Brazil and Charles was asked to suggest a name for the team. He suggested they should call themselves after Corinthians.

In 1988 when São Paulo Athletic Club celebrated its centenary and the English Corinthians Team came across again to play them at Morumbi Stadium. The end of the tour was against the local professional Corinthians Paulista team with Sócrates and Rivelino amongst its players. This game was played at Paecambu Stadium in São Paulo and true to Corinthian principles of good clean football the score was 1 to 0 in favour of the locals when as agreed Socrates changed shirts to play alongside the English amateurs. This did not affect the score unfortunately although a largely packed stadium was cheering on for a drawn result.

The Brazilian Football Confederation was founded in 1914, and the current format for the Campeonato Brasileiro was established in 1971.

Source: Wikipedia

The history of football (8)

Chapter 8: Football spreads around the world

Continental Europe

The oldest club in continental Europe could be the Swiss club Lausanne Football and Cricket Club, founded 1860.

Football was introduced by English residents in the Danish club Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (KB) and in the Swiss club FC St. Gallen in 1879. This makes KB and St. Gallen the oldest still existing football clubs on Continental Europe. The Danish Football Association was founded in 1889. Italian football was played in regional groups from its foundation in 1898 until 1929 when the Serie A was organized into a national league by the Italian Football Federation. The first italian clubs are Genoa, Juventus and AC Milan (1901 photo of AC Milan, Serie A champions, can be seen). La Liga, Spain's national league, had its first season in 1928, with its participants based off of the previous winners of the Copa del Rey, which began in 1902. The modern German national league, the Bundesliga was late in foundation, especially for European countries, given it wasn't founded until 1963. The German Football Association was founded as early as 1900 with the first German football champions being Leipzig in 1903. However, prior to the formation of the Bundesliga, German football was played at an amateur level in a large number of regional leagues.

Source: Wikipedia

The history of football (7)

Chapter 7: From amateurism to professionalism

When football was gaining popularity during the 1870s and 1880s professionals were banned in England and Scotland. Then in the 1880s, soon after Wanderers disbanded, in the north of England, teams started hiring players known as 'professors of football', who were often professionals from Scotland. This was the first time professionalism got into football. The clubs in working class areas, especially in Northern England and Scotland wanted professional football in order to afford playing football besides working. Several clubs were accused of employing professionals. In 1885 the FA legalized professional football, but with a national wage limit. The northern clubs made of lower class paid players started to gain momentum over the amateur 'Gentleman Southerners'. The first northern club to reach the FA Cup final was Blackburn Rovers in 1882, where they lost to Old Etonians, who were the last amateur team to win the trophy.

Early English women's teams, such as the Dick, Kerr's Ladies from Preston, were so popular that their matches raised money for charities. The first recorded women's football match, on 23 March 1895, was held in England between a northern and southern team. The fundraising matches continued, in spite of objections. A maximum wage was placed on players, players challenged this and came close to strike action in 1909, but it was not to be for another fifty years before the maximum wage was abolished. In 1921, women were banned from playing on FA league grounds. FA history states that this ban "effectively destroyed the game" in England for the next 40 years. Hakoah Vienna was probably the first non-British club to pay their players during the 1920s.

In 1934 the Swedish club Malmö FF was relegated from the top division after it had been discovered that they paid their players, something that was not allowed in Swedish football at the time.

Source: Wikipedia

Thursday, December 20, 2007

The history of football (6)

Chapter 6: The first international

Charles Alcock, who was elected to secretary of the FA at the age of 28, devised the Idea of an international competition, inaugurating an annual England-Scotland. His put advertisements in papers in Glasgow, informing people of an international between the two countries at Kennington Oval, that the home of Surrey Cricket Club. After the appeal, a team of Scottish players was put together and captained by Robert Smith, one of the three brothers who helped found Queens Park FC. His team which lost the match 1-0 was composed entirely of Scots, living in England. Other the next three annual fixtures at Kennington, the best the Scots could manage was a 1-1 draw, the fourth fixture was played at the home of the West of Scotland Cricket Club in Partick. It was a goalless draw, and so one of the most bitterly disputed fixtures in footballing history was born. The first non-European international was contested on the 28 November 1885, at Newark, New Jersey, between the USA and Canada, the Canadians winning 1-0.

Source: Wikipedia

The history of football (5)

Chapter 5: The first League

In 1888, William McGregor a gentleman from Perthshire and a director of Aston Villa F.C was the main force between meetings held in London and Manchester involving 12 football clubs, with an eye to a league competition. These 12 clubs would later become the Football League's 12 founder members. The meetings were held in London on 22 March 1888, the main concern was that an early exit in the knockout format of the FA cup could leave clubs with no matches for almost a year, not only could they suffer heavy financial losses, but fans didn't often stick around for that long without a game, when other teams were playing. Matters were finalised on the 17 April in Manchester.

McGregor had voted against the name The Football League, as he was concerned that it would be associated with the Irish Land League. But this name still won by a majority vote and was selected. The competition guaranteed fixtures and members for all of its member clubs. The clubs were split equally among North and Midlands teams and Southern teams, who were still strictly amateur.

A rival English league called the Football Alliance operated from 1889 to 1892. In 1892 it was decided to formally merge the two leagues, and so the Football League Second Division was formed, consisting mostly of Football Alliance clubs. The existing League clubs, plus three of the strongest Alliance clubs, comprised the Football League First Division.

Source: Wikipedia

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

The history of football (4)

Chapter 4: The first FA Cup

On July 20, 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",[1] 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 favourites, 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.

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.

Source: Wikipedia

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

The history of football (3)

Chapter 3: Foundations of a competition

The laws laid down by the FA had an immediate effect, with Sheffield and Nottingham (now Notts County) joining playing an annual fixture on the FA code among others. In 1865 Nottingham Forest was founded, and the first derby game took place. Over the next two years Chesterfield and Stoke joined the code. This finally meant that football was no longer an exclusive sport of public schools. However, it was by no means a working class pass time. By this time teams had settled into 11 players each, and the game was played with round balls. It previously stated that all players in front of the ball were offside, eliminating passing of the ball forwards, much like in rugby today. The rule was relaxed. 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.


Source: Wikipedia

The history of football (2)

Chapter 2: The Football Association

During the early 1860s, there were increasing attempts in England to unify and reconcile the various football games that were played in the public school of England. 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" (these are also known as the Uppingham Rules). In early October 1863, another new revised version of the Cambridge Rules was drawn up by a seven member committee representing former pupils from Harrow, Shrewsbury, Eton, Rugby, Marlborough and Westminster.

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 (1863-6) 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 (soccer) itself.

On the evening of October 26, 1863, representatives of several football clubs in the Greater London area met at the Freemason's 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.

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 procedure for 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 the shape of the ball, captains of the participating teams were expected to agree on these things prior to the match.


Source: Wikipedia

The history of football (1)

Chapter 1: The beginning

The history of association football, which is usually known simply as football, can be traced to traditional football games played in Europe in ancient times. However, the modern game has its roots in the formation of the The Football Association (FA) in England in 1863. Several clubs met in London, to create a universal code, that would allow clubs to play each other without dispute. At the time, football clubs all played by their own, individual codes of rules, and game-day rules had to be agreed upon before they could play one another.

The impact of the FA code was not immediate, as sport was still very much an amateur activity. The first professional clubs were formed after working class people took up the sport, and entrepreneurs saw an opportunity to make money from spectators coming to see star players. Once professionalism took hold, the popularity of the game became immense and was soon spread throughout the world by British expatriates.


Source: Wikipedia