Association football, also called simply football, is a competitive team sport usually played between two teams of eleven players each. It is the most popular sport in the world, playing in more than 200 countries and dependencies. Football is one of the oldest sports to have been actively played. The word “football” is derived from the German term “Fengeschlacht”, meaning “play for fun”. The game was originally formed as a way to play with friends or families, and has evolved over time into what we know today as a professional sport.
History The origins of football can be traced back to about 3000 B.C. in England when members of a village group would throw a wooden sphere to each other. The game spread to France and Italy in the early 8th Century, when the players started to use long poles that were attached to posts laid on the ground, called stumps.
The National Football League – commonly referred to as the NFL – was established in January oficker 1920. The first year the N.F.L. held its championship game was in Chicago against the Brooklyn Bulldogs. The championship trophy that year was later presented to football enthusiasts in England and Canada.
International soccer The game of football continues to grow as countries with soccer cultures develop their own football codes and play international football tournaments. This has made football much more accessible to the people in many different countries of the world. The Association Football Europe, or AFA, is the governing body for football in Europe.
International football competition There are two different championships in the United Kingdom, the FA Cup and the Championship Managerial Cup. Both competitions are played between teams from different parts of the United Kingdom and the two nations with the most English based teams competing in the semis and finals. An interesting note about the English footballing community in these two tournaments is that the England team is now playing in the quarter finals of the FA Cup after they lost to eventual winners Chelsea in the semi finals.
American football was actually founded by Europeans following the same pattern as the English football giants who were also born within the United Kingdom. The history of the sport American football can be traced back in the early nineteenth century when footballs with no touchable surface were used for the very first time at a game organized by the United States Army. It was called Association football. Since the twentieth century, American football has been adapted and improved into what we know today as professional football. The game is played in eighteen pitches with each team having five players on each side.