Notwithstanding that people have joined one another to knock a ball about for hundreds of years, football or international soccer was subjected to rules in England in the middle of the 19th century. At the present time, the Federation Internationale de Football Association, commonly abbreviated to FIFA, governs the sport.



From its ordinary roots, soccer has grown in popularity, to become a sporting collosus. International soccer is now a huge sporting business. The most famous of the many players, sign on to soccer clubs which are household names, and function as large businesses. The game has many successful entrepreneurs as owners, and the best players and managers get payments comparable with pop icons.

Soccer is an activity that developed into a commercial conglomerate. Extremely rich groups, from around the globe, have come to appreciate that soccer can be a tremendous investment. They know it produces generous returns from entrance money, media contracts, and selling branded material connected with football club activity, such as football jerseys and other items. Broadsheets and tabloids seem to have growing sections related to sport, and soccer information, including game reports and results, league positions, and other issues that are obviously good for sales.

Football's global appeal is epitomized by the competion highly regarded as the FIFA World Cup. The contest changes location to various countries and continents, and there are group matches to pass, before thirty two teams from countries all over the world compete for the trophy, every four years, over a 4-week period. Apparently, the FIFA World Cup pulls in an audience reckoned to be about twice as many, as those that view the Olympic Games.

It is hard to work out why international soccer has grown into the entertainment enterprise it now is. It is amazing that twenty two men, kicking a ball about for 90 minutes, with a fifteen-minute break part way through, attract such fervent attention. It may be because there are young men, and sometimes young women, in great physical shape, who through their fitness, present ball skills in a game with which so many people can identify. It offers a chance to reminisce, and think - if only!