The Greeks were playing football 2,000 years ago

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AS and A Level Physical Education (Sport & Coaching)

The History of the Game of Football

One of the first examples of the game, played in a similar fashion to football was in ancient china. It has been discovered a game called Tsu chu was played in 200 BC where two 30 ft bamboo poles acted as goals. This game was a simplified game of kick ball.

The Greeks, for whom ball games were an essential part of life, played a form of football as early as 4 BC. The game was known as pheninda and involved kicking the ball, running with it and handling it. The Romans followed the Greeks and called their version of the game hapastum, this was played on a rectangular field, between two teams who each defend a line at the end of their pitch. The object of the game was to throw the ball from player to player, in a forward motion eventually looking to play it beyond their opponent’s goal line.

There are many other versions of the game evolving all over the world such as Italy where they developed a game in the fifteenth and sixteenth century which was played in Florence town square on the feast day of St John the Baptist. It was called calico and involved two sides playing by kicking a ball to one another.

For the evolution of the game football in England it was not introduced until the twelfth century. The game first found its roots in holy days where it was played on every Shrove Tuesday in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. The whole town would get involved on occasions and would last for days. The purpose of the game would be to gain possession of the ball and deliver it back to the parish. Shrovetide football lasted up until the later of the nineteenth century. 

Throughout the years many English monarchs have tried to ban the version of the game including Edward II, III, Richard II, Henry V and Elizabeth I were all unsuccessful in preventing the continued interest. In the eighteenth century the game started to be played in public schools, where the importance of the team sport was realised. By 1848 Cambridge University made the first serious attempt to set up common laws of the game. Fifteen years later, the football association was founded and the game of football taken as both a social able and competitive sport today was born.

Birth of F.A

The real starting point of football began when the expansion of public schools in the middle of the nineteenth century. At schools like Harrow, Eton, Charterhouse, Winchester. Organised games became a vital part of the curriculum with a major influence on order, discipline and team spirit.

The football played by these schools, while similar in form, was different in a number of different ways. Each having its own certain variations of the game, some played in the school cloisters, some on pitches and some even allowed handling of the ball. In years to come the boys who played it would become founders and leaders of the football association.

Formation of F.A

Undergraduates at Cambridge University, where many of these boys went after school, made an attempt to unify a provincial code and two years in 1846. After this they spread to rest of the world with graduates trying to convince clubs to move away from their own rules of the game and adopt a common code.  

On 26 October 1863 captains and representatives of several London teams and suburban clubs met at the Freemason’s Tavern in Lincoln’s Inn Fields to codify the rules "for the regulation of the game of football". The teams represented were: No Names of Kilburn, Barnes, the War Office, Crusaders, Forest (Leytonstone), Percival House (Blackheath), Crystal Palace, Blackheath, Kensington School, Surbiton, Blackheath Proprietary School and Charterhouse.

Developing

The drawing up and publication of the rules was the initial priority of The F.A. and, after the withdrawal of Blackheath over the issue of ’hacking’, these were published in November 1863.

The F.A.’s early influence on the game at large was not dramatic or even widespread and was mainly confined to organising inter-county friendlies. This all changed on 20 July 1871 when Charles Alcock (Secretary of The F.A. between 1870-95) proposed that "a Challenge Cup should be established in connection with the Association, for which all clubs belonging to the Association should be invited to compete". The F.A. Cup, football’s first national tournament, was born. Fifteen clubs competed in the first F.A. Cup in 1871-72 and the notion of competition in football spread rapidly. Wanderers beat the Royal Engineers 1-0 at the Oval in front of 2,000 spectators. Then, on November 30 1872, again thanks to C.W Alcock, the first formal international between England and Scotland took place in Glasgow.

Football even today is changing in dramatic ways rules such as golden goal and in the euro 2004 tournament in Portugal the silver goal rule was introduced.

The silver goal rule was when after the usual 90 minutes, extra time is played which is a period of 30 minutes split up into two half’s of 15 minutes a piece. If a team scores in the first fifteen minutes they must keep their lead up until the end of this fifteen minutes and they are declared the winners

Over the years technology has improved and brought dramatic differences to the game of football. Football boots are now designed to enhance a player’s performance, giving more grip, more sturdiness, swerve, dip and power. In comparison today’s boots that are worn are much lighter and in understanding of a players needs. Even the balls have be radically redesigned adding more cushioning, lighter so they travel through the air better and are even brightly coloured for extreme conditions such as snow.

Sponsorship of clubs and players to enhance player’s performance and sell memorabilia has spiralled in later years as the game increases in popularity and role models such as David Beckham are encouraged to set a good example to young children who bear that same dream he once had. To be England’s captain and play for Manchester united David Beckham has endorsed many a product such as Addidas where he got £150,000,000 to wear their product. Police sunglasses, Pepsi, Gillette, and Brylcream to name but a few.

Week 1

The first week we got a clear introduction into the week’s activities ahead and how they would help us in our football abilities.

Warming up

This week we was shown the correct way in which to warm and why it was necessary to warm up. We was also shown correct techniques for warming up and how to get a class to warm up. 

A group warm-up before a game or any strenuous physical activity is vital. It only takes a few minutes to perform an effective warm-up. By warming up all the muscles needed for your performance you will help to prevent serious injury. Warming up and then stretching also promotes good agility and flexibility. If you pull muscles such as your hamstring it is very painful and could prevent you from physical exercise for months. A warm up helps you warm up all your muscles and gets your heart rate and respiratory system working so that you can perform at your maximum from the off.

To perform an effective warm up you should:

  • Get all your players together and get them running around at a suitable pace
  • Start with jogging and then maybe skipping. The aim of this is to increase a players heart rate  to about 120 bpm
  • Gather you players around in a circle so that you can observe them, take them through a stretching program starting from the top working you way down. Each stretch should be held for 10-15 seconds
  • After each stretch get the players to lightly shake off

More examples for getting your players warm and practising movements they may need to use in a game are:

  • Knees up to the front
  • Heel kicks
  • Kick through and then kick back
  • Maybe introduce a ball and get the players communicating with one another as well.
  • Maybe get the players use one touch or juggling their ball to get them concentrating and their first touch good.

I feel the way the warm up was demonstrated was very helpful and if I was to coach or take a team for warm up I could demonstrate good knowledge and make certain to reduce the risks of injury towards players.

Passing

There are many different types of passing which are used within football, each having their own special attributes:

  • Side footed pass
  • Driven pass
  • Lofted pass
  • Swerving pass

The Push Pass

The side footed pass is most commonly used to pass possession around a team. It is usually performed along the ground. By using the middle of the side of your foot and pushing through the ball you can perform and accurate and easily read pass.

This pass is usually brought into a child’s game at the first instance as it easy to make contact with the ball correctly

Attributes of a side foot pass:

  • Approach the ball with a swerved/ angled run
  • Place your standing foot along side the ball, but not to close to interrupt your natural swing of the striking leg
  • Keeping your foot at right angle to your leg, then draw you kicking foot back
  • Strike the ball with the inside of your kicking foot through the mid line of the ball
  • You should watch the ball as it approaches your foot
  • Then push your striking foot through the ball in the direction in which you want it to travel.

My Performance:

I feel very comfortable in performing this technique. I have played football at a reasonable level and see this as simple. I can get the correct aim and technique, which is required. It was very good to do this technique first as it runs you through the simple footwork of a pass and it the most basic pass you can perform.

The Driven Pass

The driven pass is a lot harder than the push pass as you have to use the laces to contact the ball. By contact the ball with the roof of your foot you have less area for error as it has a smaller surface area. This pass also requires a straighter leg technique and for your body to be slightly positioned over the ball.

Join now!

This pass is used for switching the ball from one side of the pitch to the other, or to score a goal from a long range. This pass is mainly used for power and its directness.

Attributes Of The Driven Pass:

  • Approach the ball at a slight angle to assist the swing needed for the kicking leg.
  • Keep your head steady and keep your eye on the ball.
  • Place the non-kicking foot along side and slightly in front of the ball.
  • Contact the ball through the horizontal mid-line of the ball.
  • Extend the kicking foot fully ...

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The Greeks were playing football 2,000 years ago
Document Details
  • Word Count
    9011
  • Page Count
    24
  • Level
    AS and A Level
  • Subject
    Physical Education (Sport & Coaching)
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