Day 62 - Is England really the Home of Football?

This week there are a series of football matches between European countries that came second in their World Cup qualifying groups. England came first in their group, so are now qualified to go to Russia next year. Canada failed to qualify in their region as did, surprisingly, the Americans. Germany qualified by going undefeated in their qualifying group. So the second place finishers, such as Northern Ireland and Ireland, are playing this week. The modern version of the game is said to have been started here in England. But does that make England the home of the game?

As today Angela and I were busy catching up on our work, I thought I would take a break and look into what has been deemed "the beautiful game." Well the locals are right: English football had its origin in the mid-19th century, but versions of it had been around for hundreds of years before that. Some versions of the game pre-date to 3000 B.C. in China. In medieval England, it has been said that villages would compete against each other by chasing a ball to see who could get the ball first to a certain location, usually next to an ale house. This kind of activity was frowned upon by general society because it often ended in violence. So it is not surprising that we have issues about violence in the game today.

In the 1800s, the game emerged from common roots with rugby. It was called football not because you used your feet to move the ball, but rather because it was a game played "on foot" and not on horseback. In 1863, the Football Association, more commonly referred to as the FA, was constituted from among a number of local football associations, and common rules were put in place. Around 1885, the first paid-to-play or professional footballers entered the scene. In those days, a player might have received 1 pound a week, which in today's money is equal to about 88 pounds. Cristiano Ronaldo makes 388,000 pounds per week by Real Madrid to play football and to roll around on the ground when anyone comes close to him...

Before the early 20th century, the barging over of players and the use of hands were all part of the game. It was only by 1912 that the goalie became the only player who could handle the ball and only within the crease area. There is a historic moment during the First World War when the Germans and English took a break from fighting to play a game of football during Christmas 1914. This week, the English and Germans will play a football friendly now that they have both qualified for the World Cup and both teams will wear armbands with a poppy on it.

English football now has five divisions of professional football in order of quality: the Premiership, Championship, League One. League Two and the National League. What I like about the system is that teams that finish in the last few positions are relegated downward and must play the next season in the lower league and then hope to finish in the top positions in order to earn promotion back up. I have witnessed teams slide right down to League Two from the Premiership in a matter of 3 years.  Portsmouth comes to mind. They just recently earned promotion into League One. Aside from these professional leagues, there are over 480 leagues with approximately 7,000 teams playing competitive football. So while there may be doubts about the origins of the game, it is safe to say that England certainly embraces it. Maybe next year will be the year they add a World Cup win to their one and only win in 1967 against who else ... the Germans.

Ale of the Day: Oxford Gold, Brakspear Brewery, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire