Dr. Rebecca Tortello, Contributor
In this March 1998 photograph, the Reggae Boyz and Technical Director Rene Simoes strike a camaraderie pose with Lola Chin Sang (far left) and Courts Director Hayden Singh, (second right) at the sponsorship ceremony held at Le Meridien. This was the highlight of all sponsors coming together to plan and support the Jamaica team on their last lap to France. - File
FOOTBALL IS truly the world's sport. It is played in every nation on Earth by more than 300 million people. It is the number one sport in the majority of countries and it also attracts the largest number of spectators. According to FIFA, in 2002, a cumulative in-home audience of 28.8 billion viewers watched the World Cup. This record will most likely be
shattered by the viewership of the Germany 2006 matches. Football is also a major global industry complete with multimillion-dollar player contracts, lucrative merchandising and high-earning teams.
Football began in Jamaica over 100 years ago in the 1880s. As in most English colonies, it is likely that the sport was introduced by English servicemen, merchants and colonists in general. It is not certain where exactly it started on the island or who first played it here, but it is certain that today it ranks as the country's most popular spectator sport.
FOOTBALL THE BEGINNINGS
It is difficult to say exactly when and where football started, but it is clear that a game involving the kicking of a ball into a net dates back some 3,000 years. Members of the Chinese military during the Han Dynasty around the second and third centuries BC, are credited with being the first to play such a game. Other evidence points to a similar game being played in Japan around 1004 BC. Interestingly, third-century Chinese frescoes show women playing a game involving kicking a ball. The women's game, today, although not nearly as popular as the men's, continues to grow each year, increasing
its number of supporters and players.
The Greeks and ancient Romans are also said to have played a type of game involving kicking a ball (athleticscholarships.net/history-of-soccer.htm, www.sportsknowhow.com/soccer/history/soccer-history.shtml). Similarly, the North American Indians are said to have played a game called pasuckuakohowog (National Geographic, June 2006).
Yet, regardless of where football began, Britain is where modern association football/
soccer is said to have truly been born. Scotland and England are credited with being co-founders of the organised game and it is there that the game assumed its present form with a set of strict rules including the length of time, number of players, size of pitch, and disciplinary sanctions.
FOOTBALL MATURES
In the United Kingdom, football most likely started as a game of war played to celebrate victories. It has been a popular sport of the British masses since the eighth century. One story states that the first football game was played in the east of England and the ball was the severed head of a Danish Prince who had been defeated in battle.
In the Middle Ages, villages and towns played against each other. Hundreds of spectators turned out to watch games which could last all day. The game itself involved unlimited numbers of players moving the ball (an inflated pig's bladder) to a predetermined spot. Considering that the games were played without many rules or regulations, they were aptly described as mob football. Both exciting and unpredictable, they were punctuated by punching, biting, kicking and gouging. The level of violence rose to such a degree
that the authorities banned the game entirely five times. (http://www.sportsknowhow.com/soccer/history/soccer-history-2.shtml, http://worldsoccer.about.com/ cs/historyandstats/a/sochistart.htm).
Yet the game did not die. For the next 500 years it was kept alive mainly by the working class who played on Sundays when they were supposed to be resting from work in the factories or fields. In the 1820s, football somehow became as popular in English colleges and universities as it was on the streets. A ball that was flat on both the top and bottom was introduced and each school developed its own rules and defined its own field of play. In 1815, the prestigious Eton College established a set of rules which other schools, colleges and universities began to use. These gave the game structure and put an end to the roughhousing. In 1846, Dr. Thomas Arnold of Rugby (the school where
the game of the same name originated) recorded some of the first standardised rules which allowed both kicking and handling of the ball as well as intentional kicks to opponents in the shin or ankles provided the opponent was not held while he was being kicked. Soon after, a version, known as the Cambridge Rules, was adopted by most of England's universities and
colleges. They stipulated that the ball could only be handled in the air to stop it and place it back on the ground. At this stage, football followers were divided as some colleges and schools preferred to follow the Rugby football rules.
On October 26, 1863, representatives from 11 London clubs and schools attended a meeting in London's Freemason's Tavern to establish a single set of fundamental rules to govern the matches played among them. Rugby School supporters walked out. The result? The creation of The Football Association, the publication of the original 14 Laws of the Game and the emergence of the term 'soccer' a shortened version of the word association and a British slang term for football.
A few months later, on December 8, 1863, Association Football and Rugby Football finally split. A few years later, in 1869, the Football Association dealt with the issue of ball handling and included in their rules a provision which forbade any handling of the ball except by the goalkeeper or at throw-ins. (http://www.sportsknowhow.com/soccer/history/soccer-history-2.shtml, http://www.sportsknowhow.com/soccer/history/soccer-history-3.shtml).
The first Football Association League Cup was awarded in 1872, the same year the first international match was played between Scotland and England in front of 2,000 supporters. The game ended in a scoreless draw.
By the 1880s, teams of
professional players began
to appear throughout Europe, especially in industrial cities. Ultimately, British colonists took the game to all corners of the globe. In 1888, Scot William McGregor, director of Aston Villa Club, effectively created the English Football League when he persuaded 12 clubs to agree to a regular home-and-away fixture list.
In the 1890s, the referee took his place on the field of play and what were previously called umpires became linesmen today known as assistant referees.
In 1904, football associations from seven countries met to create the Fédération Internationale de Football Association or FIFA as it is better known. The original members were Belgium, Denmark, France, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Germany also joined, but England refused on the grounds that the game was English and should be governed by the English Football Association. England changed her mind in 1906 and an Englishman became FIFA president. Today, FIFA counts some 205 members. Also today, the 14 Laws have been increased to 17 comprehensive ones that note everything ranging from the length of the game to the size
of the pitch to proper play
attire. They are subject to modification by the International Football Association Board (http://www.sportsknowhow.com/soccer/history/soccer-history.shtml)
FOOTBALL IN JAMAICA
Jamaica's first football club is said to have been formed in 1893 and it remained largely a club sport for half a century before evolving into a community-based sport. According to the Jamaica Football Federation, the Kingston Cricket Club was one of the first to introduce football although many members quickly became jealous of the new game's popularity. The first recorded organised competition took place in 1906 when former Governor Sir Sydney Oliver and Sir William Manning donated trophies to be won by schoolboy teams.
The Football Federation notes that by 1910, the Football Association had been formed and it controlled all of the games, the majority of which were played mainly in the Corporate Area. Jamaica's first international appearance occurred in 1925, when a national team was selected from the Corporate Area teams and they played against Haiti. Jamaica won all three games
1-0, 2-1 and 3-0. The following year, Jamaica hosted their Haitian counterparts at Sabina Park and won 6-0. Between
1925 and 1962, Jamaica played regularly with teams from
Haiti, Cuba and Trinidad and
Tobago, as well as the Argentinian Tigers and the British Corinthians. Many of the games were played at Sabina Park and many clubs began to be established, including Melbourne, Kingston, Kensington, Lucas and St. George's Old Boys.
Many schools clubs were also formed, beginning with the more traditional, elite schools. Rural schools began to compete vigorously for the DaCosta Cup and Corporate Area schools for the Manning Cup. The winner of each cup went on to compete in two matches for the Olivier Shield. The national players were all former schoolboy footballers who had gone on to play in clubs and been recruited to represent Jamaica. According to Dr. Gerry Alexander, one such player, "Football was a sport, and sport was a pastime. We were all amateurs." They did not receive a salary, but instead, as Alexander stated, "played for the love of the sport and the honour of representing Jamaica".
CRICKET MAIN SPORT
These games were mainly friendlies with teams that were trained by a part-time coach. Football was young on the island and although the games drew large crowds and spectator interest was growing steadily, cricket was the main sport at the time.
These clubs produced players for not only national teams but also regional teams. A Caribbean All Stars team was formed in 1952 with players from Trinidad, Cuba, Haiti and Surinam, as well as noted Jamaican footballers, Lindy Delapenha (who went on to be the first black player in the English Premier League where he played for over 20 years) and Gillie Heron (who played in Scotland). This was the beginning of professional football and organised publicity for the game and the interest it generated, reflected in an increased number of spectators attending club games. Popular players during this period included Arthur McKenzie, Claude McMorris, Lester Alcock and Bobby Williams.
The 1960s were a turning point for much on the island and football was no exception. In 1962, the year of the island's independence, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) was formed and accepted by FIFA, and a new national stadium was built. This signalled a complete reorganisation of the game. Each parish was to form its own association under the auspices of the JFF and the national team was to be taken seriously. Prior to this, players were required to furnish their own shorts and boots (JFF Pamphlet). Clubs such as Santos were formed (1964) aiming to be, as founder Winston Chung Fah stated in a recent interview, "The tent under which all classes could meet uptown, downtown and cross-town." One of Santos' famed players, Alan 'Skill' Cole would go onto play in Brazil.
COMPETITION INCREASED
In addition, newer schools such as Charlie Smith Comprehensive, Tivoli Gardens Comprehensive, Excelsior, Camperdown and Trench Town Comprehensive began to play, and the level of schoolboy and national competition increased dramatically as many of the players from these schools went on to represent the island at the national level (Senior, 2003, p.195).
The 1960s also saw increasing numbers of professionals, another shift in the level of the game as attention was focused on qualifying for the World Cup. 1965 marks the island's first attempt under a Brazilian coach. The second part of this piece (appearing the first Monday in August) will focus on the history of Jamaica's World Cup attempts and the state of the game today.
Sources: Carnegie, J. Henry, M and Lawrence, H. (1998). The Reggae Road to Soccer Glory Jamaica's Dream Team. Kingston: Kingston Publishers, Hutchison, B. 'The Essential History of Soccer' retrieved at http://worldsoccer.about.com/ cs/historyandstats/a/sochistart.htm, Jamaica Football Federation pamphlet, 'The History of Football in Jamaica', unpublished, Lowrie-Chin, J. (2006, June 21). 'Football is like love' http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_opinion?id=160970215, Senior, O. (2003). The Encyclopedia of Jamaican Heritage. Kingston: Twin Guinep Publishers, National Geographic, June 2006. Interviews with Peter Moses, Howard Bell.
