The modern rules of association football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played at the public schools of England. The history of football in England dates back to at least the eighth century. During the 1850s, many clubs unrelated to schools or universities were formed to play various forms of football. Different codes of rules were come up based on the game and this led to formation of a Sheffield Football Club in 1857. These ongoing efforts contributed to the formation of The Football Association (The FA) in 1863. A meeting conducted at the Freemason’s Travern produced the first comprehensive set of rules that leads to a removal of two draft rules which are running the ball in hand and obstructing a run by kicking an opponent in the shins, tripping and holding. The Sheffield FA played by its own rules until the 1870s with the FA absorbing some of its rules until there was little difference between the games. The International Football Association Board was formed in 1886 after a meeting with four different football associations. FA Cup is the world’s oldest football competition contested by English teams since 1872. The first international football match took place in 1872 between Scotland and England in Glasgow with the founder C.W. Alcock. England is home to the world’s first football league which was founded in Birmingham in 1888. FIFA was formed in Paris in 1904 and declared that they would adhere to Laws of the Game of the Football Association.
Today, football is played at a professional level all over the world. Millions of people regularly go to football stadiums to follow their favourite teams, while billions more watch the game on television or on the internet. According to a survey conducted by FIFA published in 2001, over 240 million people from more than 200 countries regularly play football. Football has the highest global television audience in sport.
