HISTORY+OF+SOCCER

HISTORY OF SOCCER
The answer to the question "when was soccer invented" isn't as easy to answer as you might think. Sure, the modern version of the game was standardized by the English in the 19th century, as they created the first rules for the game of soccer (the Laws of the Game in 1863), the first national team and the first Football Association, a governing body for English soccer that will soon be copied by many other nations.

However, early versions of the game can be traced back to ancient times, with the Chinese playing a rather blunt kicking game back in the second century BC, or with Mezoamerican cultures practicing a game that was a combination of soccer and basketball. You can read all about the complex history of soccer in this article.

HISTORY OF WOMEN'S SOCCER
Although we think of women's soccer as a rather recent phenomenon, since it only gained popularity in the 90s, it has actually been around for quite a while, but social and political factors always held it back. Women started playing soccer around the same time as men did in England. With the English being considered the nation who invented soccer (or the modern version of it anyway), there are records of matches between women as early as the 19th century.

In one account, a women's soccer match in England brought close to 20,000 people in the stands, which caused a form of "jealousy" from the Football Association, who excluded women from the game until recently.