Horse racing is known as the Sport of Kings but soccer, or football,, is the King of Sports. The name soccer comes from from the phrase 'association football', and at least assists to differentiate the global sport, from the totally different ballgame played in the United States. Teams of people have joined together to kick a ball, or other spherical object around, for centuries. Regulations for the game, as we now understand it, were decided in the UK, in the middle of the nineteenth century. Before this the sport had a rather tarnished and brutal reputation, to the point that it was forebidden occasionally, by royalty.

Football isn't a complex sport to comprehend, but in a match between two contestant sides of eleven players there has to be regulations. In the playing area the game is officiated over by a referee, whose duty it is to make sure there is fair play, and that the laws of the game are correctly executed. When they are not he has the authority to make various judgements, the most serious of which is sending a player off, often because of violent or deliberately injurious play. The opposing side then has the benefit of eleven players opposing ten, that regularly changes the end result of a game. Other officials are linesmen, who assist in determining when the ball is outside the field of play, when players are offside, and in other issues.

There is a lot more to football than meets the eye, as it has broad financial and cultural interests. Until fairly recently, it was entrance monies that were to the fore in acquiring the funds to sustain the clubs, but in recent times there has been something of an explosion, that has developed football into a global entertainment industry. Large sums of money are involved in TV deals, which has stimulated the rapid increase in armchair viewing. However, millions still pass through the turnstiles to cheer on their favorites. Most sports have become commercial enterprises as well, within which there is nothing bigger than global soccer.

Brilliant players are emerging in various places that include, Asia, Australia, and Africa. Even in the USA, helped by their successful hosting of the world cup in 1994. Surprisingly, the Glazers of Tampa Bay renown, have bought Manchester United, famous as the worlds wealthiest soccer club. We can only begin to wonder on the combined value of the highest paid players, and the clubs they are signed up for.

Until quite recently, boxing was one of the few sports, offering an avenue of opportunity, to escape from being poverty stricken. You may consider that football has created similar opportunities, and even though only a few contenders progress to become well paid footballers, they exceed those who succeed as pugilists. All over the world kids from ordinary circumstances gather to develop their game. Some will be discovered as being extraordinarily gifted, and may be catapulted into rich standards of living, to become icons, of the sporting world.