Who Invented Soccer?

Some parts of the world call the game soccer while the others will call it football. However you call the game, it still remains as one of the most popular sports in the world today. In the past decades, it has been observed to have been growing steadily as new enthusiasts to the game are reeled in. With the increased popularity of the game comes the question regarding who invented soccer.


Ancient Origins
The origins of the game in response to the question of who invented soccer dig deep into human history. Many cultures have been seen to have created a game quite similar to the game we have today. Even with the many cultures and countries that have soccer-like games, we are still hard pressed to confirm which one exactly is the game’s point of origin.

Looking into the history of ancient China, we can find a game quite similar to soccer. However, those who have played this ancient Chinese soccer-like game won’t easily recognize the one we play today as the one they played anciently known as cuju. The people of ancient China, obviously, were not the ones who invented soccer though they do have a game quite similar to it.

Another game quite similar to soccer was played by ancient Greeks and Romans. The same sport was carried on to the times of medieval Europe. In this version of the game, bladders of pigs were used as balls. The bladders were inflated and kicked around. Later on a stuffed leather ball came into use. The said leather ball was filled with straw and old rags enough to resemble something like a round ball. The idea for the game is quite the same with the ball batted around by foot.


Modern History
You might want to look into a bit more modern source to figure out who invented soccer. The modern day game we play today traces roots from England in the 1860’s. It was once played by aristocrats privately. The game became quite popular even among the common folk due to its simplicity. Many schools then adopted the game and pretty soon they had matches held pitting gaming skills with other schools. This gives us a bit more modern hint as to who invented soccer.


Setting the Rules Straight
The slight difficulty early on came from the fact that there were no uniform rules. Thus the Football Association was established in 1863 along with uniform rules thus establishing fair games. From there the game continued in popularity among various countries around the world. However, the truth is that we may never really figure out who invented soccer.