Evolution of Soccer Although the official rules of soccer were founded in England, we do not know exactly where it originated. Yet from what we know of the history of soccer, the earliest forms of soccer were seen in Asia close to over 3,000 years ago.

5000-300 BC There is evidence in China that military forces around 2nd and 3rd century BC (Han Dynasty) played a game, originally named "Tsu Chu", or Cuju, that involved kicking a leather ball stuffed with fur into a small hole. Like Soccer, no hands were permitted during the play of the game.

2500 BC There was possibly a version of a type of ball game played by young women in Egypt during the age of Baqet III, as images of this sport were depicted on his tomb, though there is not much known of this sport except that it was played with a ball.

1000 BC The Japanese version of 'soccer' is was called Kemari, a game much like modern hackysacks, played with two to twelve players, and played a larger ball stuffed with sawdust. There was also a field designated by four trees (cherry, maple, pine and willow).

8th-6th century BC In ancient Greece, they played a game called Episkyros, in which two equally numbered teams would try to throw the ball over the heads of the other team. There was a white line between the teams and another white line behind each team. Teams would change the ball often until one of the team is forced behind the line at their end.

50 BC China's Tsu Chu players and Japan's Kemari players were the first to have an "International" game of their versions of soccer, believed to have occurred roughly 50 B.C.. There is a definite date of such a game occurring in 611 A.D.

600-1600 AD In Mexico & Central America the rubber ball was created, and used in a game on a recessed court 40-50 feet long shaped like a capital "I". In the middle of each wall, was a mounted stone or wooden ring and the object was to project the hard rubber ball through the ring.

700’s The first Football games played in Britain was played by the locals of east of England, starting after a 'legendary' game that involved kicking around the severed head of a Danish prince that they have defeated in a war. These games were violent, where injury and death were not uncommon.

1331 Despite the violence of these games, they were still popular. This led King Edward III of England to pass laws in 1331 to stop the game

1500 In Italy they played a game called "calcio" with teams of 27+ people. The game involved kicking, carrying or passing a ball across a goal line. In 1580, Giovanni Bardi published a set of rules of the game of calcio.

1572 Queen Elizabeth I of England, enacted laws that could sentence a football player to jail for a week followed by penance in a church.

1600 In Alaska and Canada the native Eskimos played a game called aqsaqtuk on ice, using balls stuffed with grass, caribou hair, and moss. One legend tells of two villages playing against each other with goals 10 miles apart.

1620 In North America, native American Indians in the original Jamestown settlement played a game called pasuckuakohowog, meaning "they gather to play ball with the foot." It was a rough game, played the beach, the field a half-mile wide with goals 1 mile apart, with as many as 1000 players at a time.

1681 King Charles II (right) gave the game royal patronage and allowed it to be played again.

1863 October 26 of 1863, the Football Association was formed when eleven London schools and clubs came together at the Freemason's Tavern to establish a single set of rules to administer any football match that were to be played among them. On December 8 1863, Association Football and Rugby Football finally split onto two different organizations. Later in the year, the first ever soccer match was played on Barnes common at Mortlake, London on 19th December 1863 between Barnes Football Club and Richmond Football Club. The game ended in a 0-0 draw.

1883 Though some changes were later made to the rules, this moment in the history of soccer has credited Ebenezer Cobb Morley as the founder of soccer as we know it.

1869 The Football Association rules were further amended to exclude any handling of the ball.

1872 The first official international football match was played, between the national teams of Scotland and England, played in Glasgow Scotland. The game was played on  30 November 1872, and finished with a 0-0 draw.

1883 The four British associations agreed on a uniform code and formed the International Football Association Board.

1888 Introduction of the penalty kick.

1904 Establishment of FIFA by delegates from France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland at a meeting in Paris on the 21st of May.

1900 Soccer played at the Olympic Games for the first time

1930 In 1930, The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) held soccer's first World Cup tournament in Montevideo, Uruguay, with 13 teams.

References http://www.topendsports.com/sport/soccer/history.htm http://www.history-of-soccer.org/a-brief-history-of-soccer.html