COLEGIUL NATIONAL "DECEBAL" DEVA

FOOTBALL:THE KING OF SPORTS

Coordinating teacher:Student: Mariana Ruzisca Ban Fintina Ionut Daniel

-2014-COLEGIUL NATIONAL "DECEBAL" DEVA

FOOTBALL:THE KING OF SPORTS

Coordinating teacher:Student: Mariana Ruzisca Ban Fintina Ionut Daniel

-2014-TABLE OF CONTENTS

ARGUMENT....................................................................................................1

SUMMARY......................................................................................................1

WHAT IS FOOTBALL?.................................................................................2

FOOTBALL IN ENGLAND...........................................................................2

REPRESENTATIVE TEAMS............................................................................................3

MANCHESTER UNITED.....................................................................................................3

LIVERPOOL..........................................................................................................................4

CHELSEA..............................................................................................................................4

LIVERPOOL - MANCHESTER UNITED RIVALRY.........................................................5

SOCIAL IMPACT OF FOOTBALL.............................................................6

FIGHTING AGAINST RACISM.......................................................................................6

ENCOURAGNG TEAMWORK........................................................................................7

HOOLIGANISM..................................................................................................................7

THE HEYSEL STADIUM DISASTER................................................................................8

CONCLUSION................................................................................................10

BIBLIOGRAPHY...........................................................................................11

ARGUMENTEven though there are a lot of sports in this world, there is only one that is popular worldwide and played by millions of people. That sport is football, and this is why it is called the king of sports. One of the main reasons I chose this topic is because I am a huge football fan and I think that it creates a passion and an energy that can not be compared to anything else. Football can create great rivalries, but greater friendships. In the infamous words of Bill Shankly: Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. Im very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.

SUMMARYThe first chapter, "What is football?" represents a brief introduction in the world of football and consists of some general facts about football.The second part is a presentation of the football form the country where it was born, England. Apart from the first written evidence of a football match, the first professional football club and the oldest football competition, this chapter also includes short descriptions of the most representative english teams and the greatest rivalry in english football.The last chapter, "Social impact of football", presents the positive and negative influence of football on society.

WHAT IS FOOTBALL?Footballrefers to a number ofsportsthat involve, to varying degrees,kickingaballwith the foot to score agoal. The most popular of these sports worldwide isassociation football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer".Various forms of football can be identified in history, often as popularpeasantgames. Contemporary codes of football can be traced back tothe codification of these games at English public schoolsin the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.The influence and power of theBritish Empireallowed these rules of football to spread to areas of British influence outside of the directly controlled Empire,though by the end of the nineteenth century, distinct regional codes were already developing.In 1888,The Football Leaguewas founded in England, becoming the first of many professionalfootball competitions. During the twentieth century, several of the various kinds of football grew to become among the most popular team sports in the world.

FOOTBALL IN ENGLANDAssociation footballis anational sportinEngland, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modernLaws of the Game. With over 40,000 association football clubs, England has more clubs involved in the code than any other country.England is home to, amongst others, the world's first club (Sheffield F.C.), the world's oldest professional association football club (Notts County F.C), the oldest national governing body (The Football Association), the firstnational team, the oldest national knockout competition (theFA Cup) and the oldest national league (The Football League). Today England's top domestic league, thePremier League, is one of the most popular and richest sports leagues in the world. Due to all these facts, England is considered the home of the game of football.Football was played in England as far back asmedievaltimes. The first written evidence of a football match came in about 1170, whenWilliam Fitzstephenwrote of his visit to London, "After dinner all the youths of the city goes out into the fields for the very popular game of ball." He also went on to mention that each trade had their own team, "The elders, the fathers, and the men of wealth come on horseback to view the contests of their juniors, and in their fashion sport with the young men; and there seems to be aroused in these elders a stirring of natural heat by viewing so much activity and by participation in the joys of unrestrained youth." Kicking ball games are described in England from 1280.England was the first country in the world to develop codified football, coming about from a desire of its variouspublic schoolsto compete against each other. Previously, each school had its own rules, which may have dated back to the 15th or 16th centuries. The first attempts to come up with single codes probably began in the 1840s, with various meetings between school representatives attempting to come up with a set of rules with which all would be happy.REPRESENTATIVE TEAMS:MANCHESTER UNITED

Manchester United Football Clubis an English professionalfootballclub, based inOld Trafford,Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved toOld Traffordin 1910. Manchester United is thethird-richest football clubin the world for 201112 in terms of revenue, and thesecond most valuablesports team in 2013, valued at $3.165 billion.It is one of the most widely supported football teams in the world.LIVERPOOL

Liverpool Football Clubis an EnglishPremier Leaguefootballclub based inLiverpool. Liverpool F.C. is one of the most successful clubs in England and has won more European trophies than any other English team with fiveEuropean Cups, threeUEFA Cupsand threeUEFA Super Cups. The club has also won eighteenLeague titles, sevenFA Cupsand a record eightLeague Cups. Liverpool was founded in 1892 and joined theFootball Leaguethe following year. The club has played atAnfieldsince its formation. The most successful period in Liverpool's history was the 1970s and '80s whenBill ShanklyandBob Paisleyled the club to eleven league titles and seven European trophies.CHELSEA

Chelsea Football Clubis an Englishfootballclub based inFulham, London. Founded in 1905, they play in thePremier Leagueand have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Their home ground is Stamford Bridgestadium, where they have played since their establishment. The club has enjoyed its greatest period of success in the past two decades, winning 15 major trophies since 1997. Chelsea are the only London club to win the UEFA Champions League,[4]and one offour clubs, and the only British club, to have won all three mainUEFAclub competitions.LIVERPOOL - MANCHESTER UNITED RIVALRYTheLiverpool F.C.Manchester United F.C. rivalryis a footballing rivalry between English clubsLiverpoolandManchester United. It is considered to be one of the biggest rivalry matches in Europe.The clubs are also the two most successful teams inEngland; between them they have won 121 honours: 59 for Liverpool and 62 for Manchester United. As well as competing on the football pitch, both teams are also two of the biggest-earning, and widely-supported, football clubs in the world.Both clubs claim the title of 'the greatest English football club', having won over 50 major trophies each. Liverpool dominated English football from 1975 to 1990, winning 11 league championships and four European Cups. Likewise, Manchester United have dominated English football since 1993, winning 13 league championships and two European Cups. During their respective periods of dominance, both teams enjoyed several seasons in which they won multiple trophies in both domestic and European competitions. The two clubs are thus the most successful English sides in European and domestic competitions, with Liverpool having been European champions five times (11 European trophies overall) while Manchester United have been European champions three times (five European trophies overall); Manchester United have also won the Intercontinental Cup/FIFA World Club Cup twice. Manchester United have won 20 English league titles, while Liverpool have won 18. Manchester United currently have 35 domestic honours, while Liverpool have 33.The rivalry can be considered as a manifestation of one which already had existed between the two cities since industrial times. During this time both were competing with each other for supremacy of theNorth West, withManchesterfamous for its manufacturing prowess whileLiverpoolwas famous for the importance of its port.

SOCIAL IMPACT OF FOOTBALLFootball has qualities that bring people together in ways that often defy usual barriers. People engage across geographic boundaries, age spans or even across the street where otherwise they can struggle to say hello to each other. The potential to harness this for the benefit of communities seems immense. Of course arguably football also brings disharmony and conflict when groups come together but perhaps this is not where football is a game of qualities but a medium, where anger and disrespectful behaviour can be unearthed, as well as positive traits such as togetherness and cohesion.FIGHTING AGAINST RACISM

Article 3 of FIFA Statutes states: "Discrimination of any kind against a Country, private person or group of people on account of race, skin, colour, ethnic, national or social origin, gender, language, religion, political opinion or any other opinion, wealth, birth or any status, sexual orientation or any other reason is strictly prohibited and punishable by suspension or expulsion."As the globe's most popular sport, football has a particular role to play in confronting prejudice. Football is honour-bound, by virtue of that very popularity, to promote values which are able to make society more tolerant of diversity. Over recent years,UEFAand its global football counterpart FIFA have increased the severity and number of punishments able to be imposed for racist offences. Among them are fines and ordering matches to be played behind closed doors, while referees have the power, albeit little-used, to halt games marred by racist chanting.The most well known organisations that fight against racism in football are FARE (Football Against Racism in Europe) and "Kick It Out".ENCOURAGING TEAMWORKTeamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishment toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results. In football, nearly every player's success depends on someone else doing his job. For example, a striker may score a lot of goals, but he would not be able to do it if he does not recieve good passes from his team mates.HOOLIGANISMFootballhooliganismrefers to unruly, violent, and destructive behaviour by overzealous supporters offootballclubs, including brawling, vandalism and intimidation. Football hooliganism normally involves conflict between gangs, often known as footballfirms, formed for the specific purpose of intimidating and physically attacking supporters of other teams. Certain clubs have long-standing rivalries with other clubs and hooliganism associated with matches between them, is likely to be more severe. Conflict may take place before, during or after matches. Participants often select locations away fromstadiumsto avoid arrest by the police, but conflict can also erupt spontaneously inside the stadium or in the surrounding streets.Football hooliganism has factors in common with juvenile delinquency and what has been called "ritualized male violence".Involvement in football violence can be explained in relation to a number of factors, relating to interaction, identity, legitimacy and power. Football violence is also thought to reflect expressions of strong emotional ties to a football team, which may help to reinforce a supporters sense of identity.There are records of football hooliganism in the UK from the 1880s, and from no later than the 1960s the UK had a worldwide reputation for it the phenomenon was often dubbed theEnglish Disease.From the 1970s, many organised hooligan firms sprang up. In the 1980s and well into the 1990s the UK government led a major crackdown on football-related violence. While football hooliganism has been a growing concern in some other European countries in recent years, British football fans now tend to have a better reputation abroad. Although reports of British football hooliganism still surface, the instances now tend to occur at pre-arranged locations rather than at the matches themselves.Police and civil authorities in various countries with hooligan problems have taken a number of measures, including: banning items that could be used as weapons or missiles in stadia, and searching suspected hooligans banning identified hooligans from stadia, either formally via judicial orders, or informally by denying them admittance on the day moving to all-seated stadia, which reduces the risk of disorderly crowd movement segregating opposing fans, and fencing enclosures to keep fans away from each other and off the pitch banning opposing fans from matches and/or ordering specific matches to be played behind closed doors compiling registers of known hooligans restricting the ability of known hooligans to travel overseas.THE HEYSEL STADIUM DISASTERThe Heysel Stadium Disaster is probably the worst tragedy caused by hooligans. It occurred on 29 May 1985 when escaping fans were pressed against a wall in theHeysel StadiuminBrussels, Belgium, before the start of the1985 European Cup Final between Juventus of Italy and Liverpool of England. Thirty-nine Juventus fans died and 600 were injured.Approximately one hour before the Juventus-Liverpool final was due to kick off, a large group of Liverpool fans breached a fence separating them from a "neutral area" which contained Juventus fans. The Juventus fans ran back on the terraces and away from the threat into a concrete retaining wall. Fans already seated near the wall were crushed; eventually the wall collapsed. Many people climbed over to safety, but many others died or were badly injured. The game was played despite the disaster in order to prevent further violence.The tragedy resulted in all Englishfootballclubs being placed under an indefinite ban byUEFAfrom all European competitions (lifted in 199091), with Liverpool being excluded for an additional year and fourteen Liverpool fans found guilty of involuntarymanslaughterand each sentenced to three years' imprisonment. The disaster was later described as "The darkest hour in the history of the UEFA competitions".

CONCLUSIONIn my opinion, football in England is almost a religion. Even though it has its negative parts and some people think that it is played and watched by uneducated people, football, due to its huge popularity, is one of the most powerful weapons to fight against racism. Good or bad, football is clearly a language within communities across the UK and internationally, and provides something that very quickly brings people together and engages them. For the 24 national teams, the 55 county football associations, the 125,000 FA affiliated teams in over 2,000 leagues, and over 7 million people playing and countless supporters across England alone, there is undoubtedly a significant social impact of football.In addition, football is also a form of entertainment and, if you play it, a very good way of maintaining body health, as well as learning to work in a team and help others. It can create great friendships and develop your skills.Football brings people together. It is also a source of joy and hope to those affected by conflict. Indeed, governments of countries in which war zones exist or have existed use the sport as a means to unite and inspire their people.I would like to end with FIFA President Joseph Blatter's quote: "Football is the last bridge when society has broken down, but it is also the first bridge when life begins to bloom again. Football is hope. Football is life."

BIBLIOGRAPHY1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_in_England2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_hooliganism3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heysel_Stadium_disaster4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_F.C.%E2%80%93Manchester_United_F.C._rivalry5. http://www.manutd.com/6. http://www.liverpoolfc.com/welcome-to-liverpool-fc7. http://www.chelseafc.com/8. http://www.supporters-direct.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/5.-SD-Social-Value-Working-Paper-Measuring-The-Social-Impact1.pdf9. http://www.fifa.com/1