Football today is big business with huge crowds turning up for a game and potentially millions more watching from the comfort of their own home. When you look at the game today it's hard to really understand the humble origins of the world's favourite game and just how the sport has developed in a relatively short space of time.

Nobody really knows exactly when football began and although FIFA claim that the first organized matches took place in China around 200 BC, it's likely that the concept of a game that involved kicking a spherical object has gone on for thousands of years.

It is however widely acknowledged that British public schools were instrumental in increasing the popularity of the game during the 19th century. The only issue came when two sides played each other as many schools played to their own individual set of rules.

The need for a uniform set of regulations was therefore obvious and in 1848, the Cambridge rules were drawn up at Cambridge University.

By now, the game was immensely popular on a wider scale and that led to the formation of the FA in 1863 which included clubs such as Aston Villa and Notts County who are still in existence today. At last, the game was being pieced together and organised leagues were set up in England while the rest of the world was soon to follow.

1872 saw the next major development with the introduction of the world famous FA Cup competition. Once again, the quiet beginnings for this event are a far cry from the major spectacle that the FA Cup is today.

The increase in football`s popularity is perfectly underlined by the progress of the FA Cup and after a handful of spectators turned up to watch those early matches, a huge crowd greeted the first Wembley Cup Final in 1923, between West Ham United and Bolton Wanderers.

Football had begun to grow right across the world during the 1920`s and at the start of the next decade, the first official world cup tournament was held in Uruguay in 1930. Remarkably, many of the major football playing nations, including England, decided not to travel to the tournament and it wasn't until 1950 before the world cup became a truly global event with everyone competing.

From 1950 onwards, the game continued to reach to a wider audience and as television was introduced, there was no stopping the global phenomenon that football had become.

In England where the organization of the game had begun over a hundred years earlier, the Premier League was formed in 1992 using television money to fund an exciting new era. With teams being richly rewarded for their participation, they could now afford to bring some of the best players in the world into their squads.

This revolution continued throughout the world and today's players are global megastars who entertain us every week in the comfort of our own homes while the game itself just gets better with every passing season.

It is really hard to believe just how far football has come from those very humble beginnings but to learn more, it's a good idea to study the game and by obtaining Wembley Stadium tour tickets you can immerse yourself in part of football's rich history.

2020.05

History of Football