Both rugby and football have a common root. There were many who instead of kicking believed in running with the ball in their hands. Kicking the ball included tripping the legs without any legislation or rules to govern. On the contrary, many people stood for football with kicking as it involved greater mastery of ball. In football, high level of skill precision was required to control and manoeuvre the ball with foot. The rules of play were subsequently smoothed down and smartened to create organised sports at Britain and Scotland. It was at this point that the people spoke out against rough customs as tripping, shin-kicking and so on. As it happened, the majority also expressed disapproval at carrying the ball with hand. It was in 1863 in England that the Rugby football group withdrew and formed a separate branch. This further led to the development modern-day sports of ‘Association Football’, ‘Rugby Football’ and ‘Gaelic Football’ in Ireland. Later the Football Association in England was formed becoming the sports’ first governing body. In 1904, ‘Federation International de Football Association’ (FIFA) was founded in Paris as an international governing body of football. The game of football in today’s scenario is called ‘Soccer’.
Modern football
Britain is regarded as the home to modern association football. Within Britain and Scotland, the game was popular from eight century and again played with different variations. In medieval times, towns and villages played against the rival towns and villages— and kicking, punching, biting and gouge were allowed. Hundreds of people took part and the games could last all day. It was same until the game started being promoted in schools in England as an integral part of the school curriculum. The need for uniform standards and rules acceptable to everyone was the need of the hour. This led to the role of Cambridge University in unifying the schools and the clubs to a meeting in 1863 for establishing common acceptable rules. Football Association Challenge Cup was started in 1872, which is regarded as the world’s oldest football championship. In the year 1888, ‘Durand Cup’ was started in Shimla (India) and in modern time Durand cup for football is regarded as second oldest football tournament in the world. Later in 1904, FIFA (Federation International de Football Association) was formed with France, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain and Germany as the founder members.
History of Football in India
Football in India has been a popular sport introduced in nineteenth century by the British army, from the capital at Calcutta. Durand Cup started in 1888, founded by the then India’s Foreign Secretary, Mortimer Durand at Shimla. Durand Cup is the third oldest football tournament after Football Association (FA) Cup and Scottish Cup. Clubs like Mohan Bagan, which is the oldest current team, was formed in 1889. Indian Football Association (IFA) Shield is the fourth oldest tournament in the world which was founded in 1893 and is still being played. Durand Cup was shifted to Delhi. Since 1950, every year it is organised under the supervision of Indian Army.
Before the birth of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) in 1937, India was lacking a constituted national organisation for football. Since, football gained immense popularity year after year, a need for the proper administration of the game was considered. The association that governed football in West Bengal, Indian Football Association (IFA), was given the status of the de-facto governing body of football. That time all the foreign tours of Indian football team were organised by IFA. AIFF was affiliated to FIFA (international governing body of football) in 1948 and to Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 1954. AIFF has played a key role in promoting football in India. To serve the purpose, it has taken the responsibility of Indian national football team. National Football League (I-League), Federation Cup and National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy are some of the prominent football tournaments being organised by the AIFF.
A football ground
