Football Day: the history of the game and the date of celebration

Football is not just a sport, it's a whole culture, a lifestyle. This is a world in which there are their stars, their traditions and laws. Football has long been recognized as the most popular sport in the world, the number of fans of this game is huge. Nowadays it has become a part of pop culture - titled athletes turn into real idols for millions of fans, and holding a major match in the city is always a bright and significant event.

The day of football is a holiday, celebrated not only by professional football players, fans of driving the ball, but also people who just like to watch what is happening on the field. How did this game appear, and is there a date in the calendar devoted to it?

When do you celebrate World Football Day?

This game is popular in all countries. Officially, Football Day is not celebrated in the world, there are no such dates on the calendar. True, there is a widespread version on the Internet that the United Nations once proposed to declare December 10 the International Day for the celebration of this sport game.

On the official website of the UN, such information is not available. But the fact remains - for several years on this day around the world are friendly matches of various levels. World Football Day is secretly celebrated on December 10. Boys in the yards organize competitions of local teams, and professional football players conduct demonstration performances and open training, allowing everyone to enjoy the spectacle of this exciting game.

The day of football in Russia also does not go unnoticed. Hardly there is a man in the world who in childhood did not like to kick the ball in the yard or at school with friends. Everyone plays football, regardless of physical abilities, interests and character store. This is an incredibly democratic game - unlike many other sports, it does not require a specially equipped hall and expensive equipment or equipment. It's enough just to take the ball and go outside. Perhaps this is why this game is so popular and the Football Day is celebrated all over the world?

Invention of the ball

Since we are talking about the balls, then we suggest to recall the history of the creation of this seemingly simple toy.

Where exactly the first balls appeared, it is not exactly known. But similar in function and appearance, objects were used in military games in Ancient Greece, Egypt, Mexico and Ancient China, and later appeared in Russia. As the material then used animal skins, which were stuffed with figs, sand or feathers. In the Middle Ages for the production of balls began to use the pig bladder, however, it was difficult to give it an ideally round shape.

Finally, in 1836. The Englishman Charles Goodyear patented volcanic rubber, and in 1855, Constructed the first ball from the new material. This year can be considered the birth year of modern sports balls.

By the way, the oldest of the surviving balls is about 450 years old! It was found in 1999. In one of the castles of Scotland.

The emergence of the game of football

This collective game is now popular all over the world, not only in men, but also in women.

The day of football is celebrated not so long ago, and the history of the game is more than one millennium. For a long time it was believed that the first to play football began to play the British. England still retains the status of one of the world's football capitals, and it was in this country that the first football association was created. But football was brought to England by the Spaniards, presumably in the 14th century. And how football was born in Spain is not known for certain.

As mentioned above, ball games were distributed in different parts of the world. But the most ancient written mention of the game is the chronicle of the Han dynasty, the ruling dynasty in ancient China. In the annals, which number more than 2 thousand years, mention is made of the game, the literal translation of the name of which literally means "pushing your foot." Thanks to these records, China was recognized as the birthplace of football. In the year 2004 FIFA issued such a statement, and now we can say that China owes not only the invention of paper or porcelain, but also loved by the millions of games.

About football in numbers

Here are a few interesting figures regarding the popular game.

1. The International Football Association reports that about 250 million people in the world play football, 120 million of them are professional football players.
2. Registered clubs number 300,000, and teams 1.5 million.
3. The longest match in history lasted 65 hours and 1 minute.
4. The score of 149: 0 was recorded between the teams of Madagascar and became the most devastating score in history.

At this match, one of the teams after entering the field began to score incessantly in their own gates in protest against the dishonest, in their opinion, refereeing in the previous match.

Conclusion

Well, the history of football is really interesting and entertaining. And the place he occupies in the world sports culture can not be overestimated. Therefore, the approval of the official status of such a holiday as International Football Day, of course, would be an invaluable gift for thousands and thousands of fans from around the world.