Life is full of surprises

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雑記

2010/12/2

Life is full of surprises

denvazh

この記事は1年以上前に書かれたもので、内容が古い可能性がありますのでご注意ください。

Yesterday, I wanted to write about something interesting, however in the evening I learnt greatest news of all time (at least for me).

The great news is Russia will be hosting World Cup 2018!
It will be for the first time in the country’s history, and, moreover, for the first time in the eastern europe.

For those, who are not familiar with this kind of sport, I prepared a historical timeline to show key events in its history, and rough figures to illustrate how many people actually plays it and why it is popular.

Here is a timeline of events, that occurred in football during its history:

1848: The Cambridge Rules were drawn up in Cambridge University.

In the 1850’s many clubs were formed throughout the English-speaking world to play various forms of football.

1857: The Sheffield Football Club was formed.
1862: John Charles Thring of Upping-ham School devised some rules for Football.
1863: The Football Association (The FA) was formed.
1867: Sheffield FA was formed.
1871: The Rugby Football Union was formed.
1872: The first official international football match took place between Scotland and England in Glasgow.
1886: The International Football Association Board (IFAB) was formed.
1888: William McGregor founded the world’s first football league in England.
1904: The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the international football body, was formed in Paris.
1913: The growing popularity of the international game led to the admittance of FIFA representatives to the International Football Association Board.
1930: The First World Cup took place in Uruguay. Uruguay wins it.
1931: The professional football era started in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay.
1934: The World Cup took place in Italy. The host team won it.
1938: The World Cup took place in France. Italy won it’s second World Cup.
1940’s: The World War interrupted the World Cup. The American countries played in local cups.
1940: The Xeneise Club opened it’s stadium.
1943: Professional football started in Mexico.
1948: Amateur football ended.
1950:The World Cup took place in Brazil. Uruguay won it.
1954: The World Cup took place in Switzerland. It was the first one with a sponsor. Germany wins it.
1958: The World Cup took place in Sweden. Brazil wins it with players such as Pele and Garrincha.
1959: The South American Confederation of Football approved a new interclub cup.
1960: The Libertadores Cup was inagaurated. Real Madrid won against the Uruguayan team Penarol in the Intercontinental Club.
1962: The World Club took place in Chile. Fans watched Brazil win in TV for the first time.
1966: The World Cup took place in England. The host team won it. The Mexican goalkeeper Antonio Caravajal set a record for most participations in World Cups.
1970: The World Cup took place in Mexico. Brazil won it and became the country with most championships won.
1974: The World Cup took place in Germany. The fans watched the host team win on color TV.
1975: Independiente de Avellaneda won the Libertadores Cup for the fourth time.
1978: The World Cup took place in Argentina. Holland was the favourite to win. But the host team won it.
1979: Paraguay won a Copa America. Olimpia won the Intercontinental and Libertadores Cups.
1982: The World Cup took place in Spain. Italy won it. Countries from all continents played it. Maximum goals were scored.
1984: The new star Diego Maradona is transferred to the Italian team of Naples.
1986: The World Cup took place in Mexico. Argentina wins it’s second World Cup. Maradona scored the most amazing goal in the history of football.
1990: The World Cup took place in Italy. Germany won it.
1994: The World Cup took place in USA. Brazil won it.
1998: The World Cup took place in France. The host team won it.
1999: Mexico won the Confederations Cup.
2002: The World Cup took place in Japan and Korea. Brazil won it.
2005: Brazil won the Confederations Cup.
2006: The World Cup took place in Germany. Italy won it.
2010: The World Cup took place in South Africa. For the first time in the african continent. Spain became world champion for the first time in its history.

To roughly estimate how big this sport is, I will use reference to the survey taken in the year 2006 by Fifa.

Reference to Fifa

According to figures and conclusions they made, football is a number one sports in the world.
In that year 265 million were playing the game on all levels, starting from youth under 18 and finishing with the most oldest players possible.

This is great number, and I hope that this achievement will help country it establish infrastructure for further development of this sport, especially for amateur players.