Quick History Lesson: The First Football Game Ever Played

[Chinese game of Cuju. Picture Source]

Quick History Lesson: The First Football Game Ever Played

Cuju, the first sophisticated game of football was invented in China during the Han Dynasty between 3rd and 2nd century BC. The game was a part of military training, so it was the first football game with professional players and set up, written rules.
The competition consisted of two teams, both wearing different types of hats who tried to score the goal by kicking the ball without the use of hands. The goal was made of netting hung between two poles with a hole in the middle. The ball was filled with feathers, and later during Tang Dynasty it was replaced with air-filled version. The team who scored the most goals, won. Both men and women from all social classes played it, including the emperors. According to one story, a seventeen year old girl defeated the whole team of male soldiers. The game was more focused on developing personal skills, team spirit and respect for other players, rather then focused on winning.

[Old Song Dynasty's painting depicting children playing Cuju.Picture Source]

The first known ball game was invented by ancient Greeks already in 4th century BC. They called it "Episkyros" and it allowed the use of hands. This often violent game had exact rules, where two opposing teams passed the ball between each other trying to defeat the opponents by pushing them behind the white line on their side. Episkyros was played during festivities and women were allowed to play it (women were not allowed to take part in ancient Greek Olympic Games except equestrian competitions).

[Ancient Greek vase showing Episkyros player. Picture Source]

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References:

"Did China invent football", BBC article, 2016.

"Cuju", Wikipedia article.

"Episkyros", Wikipedia article.

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