The origins of football. A history that perhaps not everyone knows
A story that perhaps not everyone knows.
A story that maybe not everyone knows.
In 1863, England was plagued by riots by the working class, who were rightly demanding better working conditions in the factories.
Strikes and protests were spreading dangerously across the country, and a “solution” was needed to a problem that was growing larger by the day.
On October 26, 1863, thirteen Freemasons (ten English and three Scottish) met in a tavern (Freemason’s Tavern, Great Queen Street, Holborn, still exists today at the same address under the name of Freemasons Arms Pub) with the aim of standardizing the rules of the game of football throughout the country and founded the “Football Association”, the first football league in the world, initially comprising 11 clubs from the London area.
Actually, the idea was not new, as it dated back (albeit with many modifications) to the time of the Medici in Florence, where a game that is considered the forerunner of modern football was played during Carnival.
The new game of football was immediately popular, especially in the suburbs of the large industrial cities, where teams were formed that soon caused rivalry and friction, not so much among the participants, but above all among the spectators.
And it soon became the most popular sport in the world.
In this way, the power of the protests began to fragment and then gradually diminish, demonstrating once again the strength of the “Divide and Rule” policy.
