If football (soccer) was introduced to England by the Norman conquerors from the...

[sid]

...continent, why do the English? claim to have invented it?

 

[Law Guru]

The type of football (soccer) that is currently played, along with the rules and such was invented by the English. There were different variations that have been played over the centuries, but it wasn't the sport that is currently played today.

It's a fact that the variations of the game played today started over 3,000 years ago, and no one can say for certain who started the original "idea" of what is now known as soccer.

The 11 v 11 sport known as football, with the basic rules that is played world wide was in fact engineered and founded in England.

 

[Stu147]

You say this as if it's fact but actually it isn't. There are numerous examples of games that could have been an early form of football that were played all over the world. Football being introduce by the Norman conquest is just one of many possible beginnings of the game. Being as there is evidence of so many possible variants of early football then it would come down to who actually shaped the game and made it what it is today. Just because there were 50 different games that involved kicking something doesn't mean that all 50 of those developed into anything like the football that is played today.

 

[Bazspur6]

did the normans set up a football league then?

the chinese played a game with a ball over 3000 years ago as did many cultures but i dont think i would pay to see someone kick a ball up through a hoop.

 

[Tosh]

The modern game of Association Football was invented in England, the Normans didn't play Association Football. The first international game was played between England and Scotland not Normandy and Anglo-Saxony.