The Emergence and Development of Association Football

Football has gradually become significantly more 'civilised' over time. What began as a violent folk game has developed with time, as the tolerance of violence within society has been drastically decreased, and football has eventually become the sport we know today. Football began as an upper-middle class sport and eventually became the sport of the working classes. The Public Schools in particular, and following them the universities were extremely important in the development and characteristics of modern sport, however the Public School system and its values became outgrown when the working classes began to play football competitively. Consequently the character and ethos of the game changed, and increasing spectatorism led to the eventual professionalism of football. Football then developed at a rapid pace and quickly became the most popular sport in England. It can be concluded that the British, or more specifically the English were crucial in the development of football into its modern form, and also in the subsequent diffusion of football around the British Empire and beyond.…