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... seen.

Many fans of English football may point to the fact that Mourinho has spent vast amounts of his Chairman's money to attain this position, but that is not the reason for Chelsea's success. The credit must go to Mourinho, the man they call "The Special One". He continues to make the correct selections, and more importantly, his interventions from the sidelines are rarely innefective. He is the consummate professional.

history of Soccer - An Essay

...of soccer were played on the battlefield. Stories tell of using the enemy's skull as a ball. Another tells of a brave village defeating a Roman team and running them out of town in 217 AD. They took over their whole town including houses, shops, fields and livestock (gives a new meaning to the old saying, "Winner takes all"). Twelfth century soccer was a violent sport with little or no rules. (Origins of the Game)

Native Americans used to play a game called Pasuchuakohowog meaning, "They gather to play ball with the foot." Beaches, a half-mile wide with goals one-mile apart, served as playing fields for as many as 1000 people at a time. Games were often rough, resulting in broken bones. No one could be identified because players disguised themselves with ornaments and warpaint making retaliating close to impossible. It was common for games to be carried over from one day to the next with a feast for all at the conclusion of the match. (Origins of the Game)

It is important to understand that "football" began to be used specifically to describe association football in Europe some time after the Football Association was formed in London in 1863. The Football Association was not set up with the intention of creating a "new" game. The wealthy young Britons who formed the Association had all attended exclusive schools, each fanatically proud of their own traditions and each with their own soccer rules. Now, the Football Association, with their universally acceptable rules for one game only, came into being to provide a game overseen by gentlemen for young gentlemen. It was some years before the world game of today became faintly recognizable. (1000 Years of Football Trivia)

The world's first league was formed in April 1888. The driving force was William McGregor, a Scottish shopkeeper, teetotaler, and deeply religious chairman of the Aston Villa club in Birmingham, which later became the world's first "super club." The league came just in time for soccer, which was struggling to find its true role yet again after the legalization of professional teams in 1885. The forces of amateurism, then represented by the public schools and universities and their powerful position in british society, still saw paid play as an evil. However, strictly organized weekly league competition proved to be the foundation stone of the professional game. The so-called "Baines cards," an amazing series of printed paper cards, were the first brilliant commercial project to spring from popular sports with mass appeal. International matches also helped to revitalize the game. The first international match was played between England and Scotland. A new side of the game was added with these international matches. Players were now playing teams they knew nothing about. They knew nothing about their style of play, their abilities, or their strengths and weaknesses. (1000 Years of Football Trivia)

The evolution of soccer has also meant that rules had to change to keep up with the level of competition. Some of the major alterations over the years include:

1580:A certain Giovanni Bardi published a set of rules of the game of "calcio".
1848:The first Cambridge Rules are drawn up.
1877:The associations in Great Britain formed to gain a uniform code.
1886:June 2, first official meeting of the international Football Association Board.
1891:Introduction of the penalty-kick.
1913:FIFA becomes a member of the international F.A. Board.
1925:Amendment of offside rule from three to two players.
1937-38: The present Laws framed in a new system of codification but based on the Laws previously in force.
1997:The Laws revised.

(http://www.fifa.com/fifa/)

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