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The World's Most Beloved Sport - The History of Soccer

...volves a "pitch", or the field, designated by the selection of four trees, the cherry, maple, pine and willow. Many great houses in Japan would grow trees to have a permanent pitch, or field, established.

Kemari was normally played with two to twelve players. Established in roughly 1004 B.C., it vies for position of the oldest game with China's Tsu Chu. In fact, China's Tsu Chu players and Japan's Kemari players were the first to have an "International" game of their versions of Soccer, which is dated to have occurred in roughly 50 B.C., although a definite date of 611 A.D. is known. Regardless, this game stands with China as a sister sport to Soccer, while it never affected the modern version of the game.

Egyptian Soccer History

While not much is known about Egyptian Soccer, or other ball games, it is thought there was a version of a type of ball game played by young women during the age of Baqet iii. On his tomb, images of this sport were depicted, although no one is certain how the game was played or whether or not it truly affected the outcome of modern soccer. Recordings of this game date as far back as 2500 B.C., although not much more is known asides the fact that it was played with a ball. The lack of information on the sport and how it was played has eliminated it from runnings as the first evidence of a game similar to soccer.

Greek/Roman Soccer History

Perhaps the closest relative to modern soccer are the games that were formed by the Greeks during the prime of their culture. They had numerous varieties of football style games, some of which required hands, some of which forbade hands. In the end, after the Roman conquering of Greece, the game Harpastum is what modern soccer would be based from. This game, probably a modified version of the Greek's "Harpaston", which translates roughly to handball. While grossly misnamed, this game is what is considered to be one of the precursors to modern soccer.

british Soccer History

In Britain during the 8th century, soccer was created, not as a recreational sport, but as a war game. One of the stories of the original roots of the sport comes from when a Danish Prince was beheaded, and his head was used as a ball and was...more

League One Betting Review - 5 February 2006

...Southend United returned to the top of League One with a 2-0 win at Yeovil. Available at 13/8 before kick off, a first half goal from Mark Bentley and one from veteran Shaun Goater extended the Shrimpers unbeaten run to 12 games. Steve Tilsons side are 7/2 to win the division outright.

Colchester set a new club record of nine consecutive wins as they came from behind to beat Bradford City. Colchester, 8/11 before kick off, fell behind after 37 minutes but hit back through Richard Garcia (2) and Chris Iwelumo. Second placed Colchester are two points behind leaders Southend with two ...more

Fantasy Football Success: Three basic Rules

...You can search the internet or the newsstands in June and July, and you'll find a wealth of information about fantasy football and fantasy football leagues. Most of it is statistics. Miles and miles of statistics. And most sites and magazines claim to offer more than all the others. What few offer, though, is sound advice on how to be successful every year. So, visit all the sites and magazines for your stats, but search no more for the secret to winning, because here it is.

I have played in extremely competitive fantasy football leagues for 15 years. I've missed the playoffs only twice, and I've been to three fantasy bowls. I won more games and scored more points than any other team in my league's ...more

FA Cup Third Round - Possible Upsets

...Surprisingly, there are no "all Premiership" ties for the third round and has set up more "Championship vs Premiership" matches than usual. Championship sides awarded a home tie against Premiership opposition have a good winning record in recent seasons and here are a few matches where an "upset" could be on the cards:

WBA vs Reading @ 3.40
Reading top the Championship table and are unbeaten away from home this season, winning nine and drawing five so far. Comparatively, the Baggies are hovering just above the Premiership relegation zone.

Sheff Wed @ 4.00 vs Charlton
Alan Curbishleys side have a dismal record in the FA Cup against lower opposition, last season losing to Leicester, 2003/04 losing away at Gilling...more

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