Introduction
The origin of the game ‘Football’ predates the recorded history. Documented evidence, a manual of Chinese military during the Han Dynasty in about 2nd century BC, describes an organized activity resembling football. It was known as ‘Cuju’ (Tsu Chu), which involved kicking a leather ball through a hole in a piece of silk cloth strung between two 30 foot poles.
The game was re-invented, after over a thousand years by the English. But the name ‘Football’ was used by number of different related team sports, such as Rugby football, American football, Australian rules football, Gelic football and Canadian football. Association football goes by the name ‘Soccer.’ However, many believe that Walter Camp adapted rugby into the sport of football. He contributed many changes from Rugby and Soccer to American football.
History
The game of football generally flourished in England from around the 8th Century onwards. The game was incredibly popular with the working classes and there were considerable regional variations of the game throughout the country. Games were normally violent and disorganised affairs with any number of players - it was not uncommon for 1000 people to play in a single game. By the 11th Century, games were often played between rival villages and the 'pitch' could be an incredibly large area. The 'pitch' was not a defined size with a parameter, but included streets, fields, village squares and anything else that got in the way!
The level of violence within the game was astonishing. Players were kicked and punched regularly by opponents. In addition to any personal injury that occurred, countless property items were destroyed in the course of a match. Fields were often ruined, as were fences and hedges. Damage also occurred to people's houses and businesses within the main streets of the village (or wherever the game travelled in its course).
Earlier cricket used to thrive greatly as a gambling game. People used to place huge amounts of bets in matches and thus the game started to get recognition. Cricket was in fact a major gambling sport towards the end of the 17th century. It is recorded that in the year 1679, a 11-a-side match was played with stakes as high as 50 guineas per side.
During the 18th century cricket survived and thrived due to the huge amounts of money via monetary backing and gambling. The first instance of a match to be played between counties in England is recorded to be on 29th June in the year 1709. This match was played between Surrey and Kent at Dartford Brent.
The 18th century also witnessed the emergence of two types of cricket players. They were known as the retained player and the individual player. Generally the retained player was the servant of the lord and a cricketer as well. On the other hand the individual player was free to play anywhere with his skills. Basically it was something like the player could play anywhere with the amount of skill he possesses.
In the year 1787, the Marylebone Cricket Club also known MCC was created. The MCC has since then gone on to become one of the most prominent bodies in world cricket. Cricket in its initial days were restricted to the aristocratic class of England. Cricket gradually went on to become the national game of England.
The late 18th century was a very crucial phase for the development of the game, both within and outside Britain. The game was spread far and wide mainly due to England’s imperialism. Wherever they went, the game went with them and thus spread outside England. The first official match was held between Canada and United States was held in the year 1844.