Bowman started off by explaining the growth of soccer in the twentieth century and showing how it is the most popular game in the world today. Bowman stated ‘yet it would be football that would gradually and definitely become the world’s game’ followed by ‘it boast more players, leagues, sponsors, spectators, viewers, gamblers, and global impact than any other sport in the world’ this sentence emphasis the sport as the ‘worlds game’ by people the most popular in all categories relevant to popularity.
The chapter then moved on to discuss kicking games from around the world, and although there are many there are few if any which have a direct connection to the contemporary sport of soccer. Ancient Chinese and Mesoamerican ball games are two early kicking games showing the deep rootedness of kicking games in human history. There are also records of kicking games among humans as far as Patagonia on the southern tip of the continent, native Americans also had their versions of kicking games as did the indigenous people of Australia.
Modern soccer originated in England in the mid nineteenth century although kicking and ball games had been known in Great Britain for centuries although they had wide rules. Places such as Sheffield and Lancashire did the most to spread the popularity of the established rules and commercialise it for the wider public by using professional players.
Soccer burst on to the scene in Europe as England introduced it to some of the countries and others started hearing about the established rules and making their own leagues. Police reports in Europe show that the authorities were not always in control of a game that was spreading like wildfire throughout the continent. The sport had spread to the Americas but yet there was still no control over the sport, which led to the creation of FIFA in Paris in 1904. FIFA helped set clear rules and organized international competitions, the governing body helped the sport come to where it is today and be known as the world game.
In today’s world the organization is under scrutiny and lots of international pressure with recent events sparking controversy about the organizations, although these are mainly to do with the people running them at this time.
Leave a Reply