The History Of Soccer - 4

Even though games that involved kicking a ball were played in other parts of the world, England is without doubt the birthplace of the game now known as soccer, or association football. You can even visit the actual birthplace of modern soccer—the Freemasons Tavern in London.

Ancient England had its own form of a soccer-type game. The earliest English games may have been played to celebrate military victories. The real roots of soccer came not from the battlefields, but from the streets of England and Scotland. According to an early handbook, any means short of murder and manslaughter could be used to get the ball across the goal.

In spite of such rules these violent street games often did involve the injury and even death of both players and spectators. This led to the game being banned by the King. Even when it was illegal to play, people couldn’t help themselves, they just had to kick the ball. Despite laws and edicts, soccer-type games continued to be played for the next 500 years.