1 Answer

There are many forms of football the oldest of which Episkyros or Phaininda was played 2000 BC (4000 years ago) in Ancient Greece. However, as the question is specifically talking about Soccer then I can state with absolute certainty that the man who drafted the 'Laws of the game' for Soccer or 'Association football' was a man called Ebenezer Cobb Morley. Ebenezer, along with other co-authors, agreed the rules at a public house called the Freemasons Tavern in London on 26th October 1863. The main object of the FA was to standardize the many forms of football that were played in England at the time. Morley became the Football Associations first secretary. He has also founded the Barnes Football Club a year earlier in 1862 which he captained against Richmond football club in the first ever soccer match 0n 19th December 1863. The game ended 0-0. He died in 1924 and is buried at a Cemetery on Barnes Common not far from where he drafted the Laws of the game at 26 The Terrace, Barnes, London. A blue plaque commemorating his life's work was placed on the wall of this address by English Heritage in 2009. The word soccer is a phonetic abbreviation of the word 'Association' coined by English public school students who took the 'soc' from 'Association' and put an 'er' on the end. That is why prior to 1863 the word soccer did not exist. It is probably worth noting the same students called Rugby football 'Rugger' but this word fell out of use.

Answer

The origin of football / soccer can be found in every corner of geography and history. The Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Ancient Greek, Persian, Viking, and many more played a ball game long before our era. The Chinese played "football" games date as far back as 3000 years ago. The ancient Greeks and the Roman used football games to sharpen warriors for battle. In south and central America a game called "Tlatchi" once flourished.
But it was in England that soccer / football really begin to take shape. It all started in 1863 in England, when two fooball association (association football and rugby football) split off on their different course. Therefore, the first Football Association was founded in England.