{"id":36,"date":"2016-01-05T22:33:06","date_gmt":"2016-01-05T22:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hellopunter.com\/?page_id=36"},"modified":"2017-04-09T11:21:15","modified_gmt":"2017-04-09T10:21:15","slug":"association-football","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/hellopunter.com\/wiki\/sport\/association-football\/","title":{"rendered":"Association Football"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kicking around a ball has been a popular entertainment from Medieval times, though the games were, to say the least, anarchic. There are even suggestions that the early balls were human heads of executed traitors thrown to the crowds for sport.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"Old

Old Etonians v Blackburn Rovers<\/p><\/div>\n

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History of Football<\/h2>\n

Over the years, football has been variously promoted and banned, the latter because of the general disorder associated with playing it, but little could be done to dent its popularity. By the mid nineteenth century is was played at most English public schools, though each school has its own set of rules. Various attempts were made to develop unified rules; but it wasn\u2019t until 1863 and the formation of the Football Association (FA) that the rules were generally adopted.<\/p>\n

In 1862 a London solicitor called Ebenezer Morley formed the Barnes Football Club. Popular with players who had attended various public schools, there were frequent disputes about how the game should be played. Morley suggested that Football should have official rules in a similar to how the MCC had rules for cricket, and the eventual outcome was the formation of the FA in October 1863 at the Freemasons’ Tavern in Great Queen Street, London. The clubs involved included Barnes FC, Crystal Palace, Charterhouse, Forest, Blackheath, Surbiton and War Office (now Civil Service FC).<\/p>\n

The rules agreed were somewhat different from those of today. Handling the ball was permitted, though there was a dispute regarding kicking an opponent on the leg which some wanted to allow.<\/p>\n

In 1871, at the instigation of Charles Alcock, the FA launched the FA Challenge Cup competition, and a little later Alcock was also behind the first England Scotland International, which England won 1-0. In 1888 the Football League was launched. Consisting of 12 clubs, it did much to increase the popularity of the sport.<\/p>\n

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FIFA<\/h3>\n

FIFA, the F\u00e9d\u00e9ration Internationale de Football Association is now the sport\u2019s governing body. Founded in 1904 to oversee international matches, its first competition was for the 1908 London Olympic Games. The original members were France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain (Madrid Football Club), Sweden, and Switzerland; the English FA did not participate, though they subsequently joined in 1905.<\/p>\n

Fast forwarding to the present era, Association Football is played in over 200 nations and the laws of the game are governed International Football Association Board (IFAB) which was established by FIFA in 1904. The game has countless fans and manages to evoke huge passions worldwide. The most popular football club in the world is Manchester United which is said to have 659 million fans. Other popular clubs include Barcelona with 260 million fans, Real Madrid with 180 million fans, and Chelsea with 140 million.<\/p>\n

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Major Association Football Competitions and Leagues<\/h2>\n

FIFA World Cup<\/h4>\n

The FIFA World Cup is without doubt the most important football competition in the world, and the World Cup Final is the second most watched sporting event in the world; the Super Bowl is the most watched.<\/p>\n

The completion is held every four years, with the host being chosen by ballot following hotly contested bids from the various nations hoping to host the event. The first tournament was in 1939, and apart from interruptions in 1942 and 1946, it has been held every fourth year since then.<\/p>\n

The competition includes qualifications which are held in six FIFA continental zones and which commence three years before the main event, with the final 32 national teams taking part in a month long final knock-out tournament. The current champion is Germany, and the last time it was won by England was in 1966 when England was also the host nation. The most successful nation is Brazil, who have won it five times.<\/p>\n

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UEFA European Championship<\/h4>\n

The UEFA European Championship. Mostly referred to as the Euros, is held every four years out of phase with the World Cup. Euro 2016 will be held in France between 10 June to 10 July and will we the first time that a full complement of 24 teams take part. While the host nation qualifies automatically, other teams compete in qualifying rounds for which all national teams that are UEFA members are eligible. This is played in a group format with the groups decided by a draw which includes seeded teams. The groups play in a league format including play-offs. For Euro 2016 there were 53 national sides which played in nine groups. The winners and runners-up of each group qualify along with the team in third place. The other teams finishing in third place compete in play-offs to select the other four qualifiers.
\nThe finals will consist of six groups of four teams selected by a seeded ballot and the games will be played over 10 stadia with a total of 51 games being played. The groups are:<\/p>\n