Who Invented Soccer?谁发明了足球？

Soccer is by far the world’s most popular sport， and for good reason—beloved by at least 265 million people worldwide， it’s easy to play in a random yard or field and instantly relate to the players racing across stadiums.

But if you’re looking for the earliest ancestor of all that running， kicking， and cooperating， here’s what you need to know about soccer’s ancient origins.

足球是全球最受欢迎的运动。人们随意找个院子或空地就能踢，而且立马能与在球场上飞奔的球员玩在一起。这个说法有充分的依据——全世界至少有2.65亿人深爱足球。

如果你想知道这项集奔跑、踢球、合作于一体的运动源于何处，请阅读以下内容。

Soccer’s ancient origins

足球的古老起源

The Chinese were the first to get their kicks by kicking balls into nets for sport in the third century BC， and the game known globally as football was formalized in England in the 19th century. But the predecessor of most modern ball games can be found in the Americas.

“The idea of the team sport was invented in Mesoamerica，” says Mary Miller， a professor of the history of art at Yale University who has studied extensive evidence of the sport.

In Mesoamerica， the vast historical region spanning from Mexico to Costa Rica， civilizations flourished well before Columbus “discovered” them， and many of these people played a sport that involved a heavy ball made from a substance derived from tree resin.

公元前3世纪，中国人最先以踢球入网为乐。直到19世纪，足球这项全球知名运动的比赛规则才在英格兰正式确立下来。但是，绝大部分现代球类运动的前身都可以在美洲觅得踪迹。

美国耶鲁大学的艺术史教授玛丽·米勒研究过大量同足球有关的证据。她表示：“团队运动的概念起源于中美洲。”

中美洲是从墨西哥到哥斯达黎加的辽阔历史区域。早在哥伦布“发现”美洲前，这里的文明就已十分繁荣。许多当地人都会参与一项球类运动。这种球很重，由树脂提取物制作而成。

It’s unclear exactly where the game was invented， but it was popular across Mesoamerican cultures like the Teotihuacanos， Aztecs， and Maya beginning about 3，000 years ago. Its name varied—ullamaliztli in Aztec， pok-ta-pok or pitz in Maya. So did its rules， which included moves such as keeping the ball in play by bumping it with body parts or using racquets or bats.

Many of these games were played with 16-pound rubber balls， which still exist in the archaeological record. Other evidence of game play ranges from ceramic vessels to more than 1，300 large stone courts that can be found across the region.

Aztec players bounced the ball back and forth between teams using only their hips and buttocks （feet or hands were off limits）. They tried to hit the back wall of their opponents’ courts with just one bounce， often sustaining life-threatening injuries when they were hit with the hard， heavy ball. If a player managed to get it into a high ring on the opposing team’s side， it was an automatic win—and a major honor for the winner.

虽然这项运动的发源地尚不明晰，但从大约3000年前开始，它就风行于中美洲的各个文明，特奥蒂瓦坎人、阿兹特克人与玛雅人都是其爱好者。人们对它的称呼各有不同——阿兹特克人称其为ullamaliztli，玛雅人则称其为pok-ta-pok或pitz。这项运动在各地的规则也不尽相同。比如为了把球控制在界内，有的地方允许利用身体部位撞击球，或使用球拍或球棒击球。

人们进行这项运动时大多使用重达16磅的橡胶球，这种球如今仍可在考古记录中探得踪影。其他同这项运动相关的证据包括陶瓷器皿，以及遍布中美洲的1300多个大型石头球场。

阿兹特克球员仅用髋部和臀部（不准使用脚或手）在队伍间来回传球。他们试图只用一次传接就击中对手场地的后墙，但被又硬又重的球击中时往往会受到致命伤害。如果一名球员成功将球打入对方场地内高悬的圆环，其队伍便自动获胜——这是赢家的一大荣耀。

British schools invent a new incarnation

英国学校发明了新形式

Though other cultures like Native Americans and Indigenous Australians played similar games， the modern sport that some people know as soccer—and many others know as football—was birthed in British schools. Although they had played variations of the game informally for centuries， the sport became formalized in the 19th century.

In the mid-19th century， developments in transportation， labor， and technology gave people the leisure and means to travel to competitive matches on mown lawn fields. By the 1840s， a variety of British schools created their own standards of play， making it possible to hold tournaments among players who all knew the same rules.

Over time， two competing rule sets began dominating the sport. The Sheffield Football Club allowed teams a free kick if their competitor disobeyed the rules of play. Cambridge University forbade players to carry the ball in their hands.

As the sport’s popularity ballooned， players banded together in the London Football Association. In 1877， Sheffield officially adopted the so-called “London Rules”. By then， some teams had begun to recruit widely， secretly paying working-class league members.

尽管美洲原住民与澳大利亚原住民等其他文化中也有类似的运动，但一些人称之为英式足球、其他许多人称之为足球的这项现代运动却诞生于英国的学校。英国人在几百年间一直不拘形式地进行这项运动，但直到19世纪这项运动才正式定型。

19世纪中叶，交通、劳动力与技术得到发展，人们因此既有空闲，也有能力前往修剪平整的草坪参与竞技比赛。到了19世纪40年代，英国的各级学校制定了各自的规则，于是熟知相同规则的球员之间可以举办联赛。

随着时间的推移，两套竞赛规则渐渐成为主流。谢菲尔德足球俱乐部允许球队在对手违反比赛规则的情况下踢任意球，剑桥大学则禁止球员用手触球。

随着这项运动的快速普及，球员们联合起来成立了伦敦足球协会。1877年，谢菲尔德足球俱乐部正式采用所谓的“伦敦规则”。当时，一些球队已经开始广泛招募球员，暗中向参与联赛的工人阶层球员支付报酬。

Upper-class footballers wanted the sport to remain amateur. But in 1885， they finally agreed to allow professional players， enabling a further boom in the sport. By 1904， the sport was so popular that it had gone international， and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association （FIFA） began that same year.

上流社会的球员希望足球保持业余的性质。但在1885年，他们终于松口，允许职业球员参赛，足球这项运动因此得以进一步繁荣发展。到了1904年，足球已经风靡全球，国际足球联合会也于同年成立。

Football today