# What are the roots of soccer (football)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 30, 2006, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-roots-of-soccer-football/362767 "2006-06-30T16:21:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![\_Deep\_F\_ied](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/7cd45c/32.png) [@\_Deep\_F\_ied](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Deep_F_ied)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-roots-of-soccer-football/362767/1 "2006-06-30T16:21:29Z")
While enjoying the game between Argentina and Germany today I got to wondering…when and where, exactly, was soccer “invented”? I imagine it is one of those “older than dirt” kind of things, but has there ever been any research done on the roots of why we love to kick a little ball around? ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-roots-of-soccer-football/362767/2 "2006-06-30T16:47:59Z")
[QUOTE=«Ðëëp¤F®ïêd»™] While enjoying the game between Argentina and Germany today I got to wondering…when and where, exactly, was soccer “invented”? I imagine it is one of those “older than dirt” kind of things, but has there ever been any research done on the roots of why we love to kick a little ball around? [/QUOTE] There are loads of sites on t’interweb that’ll tell you about the history of the game… basically it started as a village vs village brawl with a nominal interest in having a ball involved at some stage. However, I regularly play footie at the “real” home of the modern game. 🙂 > [@](#): > > In 1848, a group of representatives and students from Cambridge had the bright idea to draw up a definitive set of rules. Copies of the rules were pinned to the trees surrounding \*\*Parker’s Piece \*\* (the big open park in the centre of Cambridge), which had become the favourite place for matches and kick-abouts. > > The ‘Cambridge Rules’ were soon adopted by many of the teams in the area and further afield… When the country’s leading clubs and schools got together to form the Football Association in 1863, they used the Cambridge Rules as the basis for a new set of FA rules. > > “The Cambridge Rules appear to be the most desirable for the Association to adopt.” > J.F Alcock, FA Committee Member 1863 > > The first game to be played to these rules was in 1863 on Parker’s Piece. Association football allowed no hacking, tripping or handling the ball. As the committee said, it would be the triumph of ‘skill over force’. > **[BBC - Cambridgeshire - Sport - Cambridge... the birthplace of...](https://www.bbc.co.uk/cambridgeshire/content/articles/2006/06/09/cambridge_football_rules_parkers_piece_feature.shtml)** > > Yep, sounds unbelievable, but the origins of the beautiful game really do lie in the heart of Cambridge! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-roots-of-soccer-football/362767/3 "2006-06-30T16:59:47Z")
Check out post 33 and onwards in this thread: [Is America calling soccer “soccer” arrogant?"](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=376279) ---
**Author:** ![\_Deep\_F\_ied](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/7cd45c/32.png) [@\_Deep\_F\_ied](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Deep_F_ied)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2006, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-roots-of-soccer-football/362767/4 "2006-06-30T20:25:41Z")
Cool! Thanks guys.