Football:The World's Most Popular Game

Football or Association Football is a game which two 11-member teams try to propel usually a black and white round ball into the opposing team's netted goal, using any part of the body except the hands and arms. Only the goalkeeper, who must remain near the goal, may use there hands and arms.


The first uniform set of football rules was put into place in 1863 by the UK's Football Association.


Football Professional leagues began appearing in the late 1800's.


The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), was founded in 1904 and has hosted the World Cup every four years since 1930.


Football is now played in over 150 countries, with over 40 million registered players and is considered the most popular ball game in the world.


Personally, I have enjoyed football since my youth playing with all girl teams for a time; during school athletic class. Football takes an overwhelming amount skill, which I learned when I use to play the game and it is not an easy game.

A view of a scored goal by Israel, during a match against Brazil at Copacabana beach on 23 September 2010 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

What the US calls football, is a game that consists of two 11-member teams with a brown and white oblong ball and an open goal, evolving from football in the latter part of the 1900's. The US erroneously calls International Football, "Soccer."

 US idea of Football

As to what the US calls football, it has always reminded me of Roman gladiators running with an egg-shaped ball and the gladiators, always seems to be getting injured; with the "Mob" in attendance.-HRM Deborah

American Football Tailgate Party

The Boy with Little Arms

5 October 2007 (Updated 25 May 2009)

by HRM Deborah

I am thinking I was maybe ten years old at the time, when I use to still go to my grandfather’s home and in those days children sometimes played American baseball in the street. All the children that wished to in the neighborhood would come and we would split into teams to play this game.

One day a boy that was living with his grandparents just a little down the street from mine, came one day and asked to join in on the game.

What was different about this boy is he had no hands and maybe three quarter’s of his arms. He happened to been born this way.

All of us children got together and decided if this meant so much to him, we would let him join into our fun.

To our surprise he actually could play very well, he even could bat and to this day I still am not sure how he was able to do this.

Because I was the one that had asked the other children if it was a good idea for him to play, this boy with little arms came upon himself to be my friend. We actually became very good friends, especially when he found that playing with all of us made him so happy.

One day, (my grandfather's wife) after my grandfather had died, decided she not wish for me to play anymore or be friends with the boy. I became very sad about this and it became so unbearable that I asked my parents if it would be a good idea, to go to the boys grandparents and explain why I couldn’t not only play anymore, but allowed to be friends with their grand son.

One of the few time’s my father agreed and my mother thought it was a wonderful idea, except for one problem, how to go to the grandparent’s home without my grandfather's wife getting upset.

Well I stayed in the yard for a little time until the coast was clear and my parents had gone inside the house. I hurried down the street to boy’s grandparents and set out to explain that I was sorry for what I was not able to do anymore. While the grandfather understood, I still felt bad because if I was not going to play the game no one else was either and this meant the boy with little arms could not either.

What was even worse, are the parents of the boy since he had little arms was why he came to live with his grand parents to begin with.

Also, I was the boy’s first friend ( he use to call me his 'best friend') and he had to be close to about my age, so this seemed worse to me because I couldn’t understand especially at the time why he had not had friends before.

While everyone even the boy understood my dilemma, the boy told me everything would turn out good. So from that time, until my parents and I moved, me and the boy would stand on the curb and in a manner of speaking waved as well as smile at each other so we knew we was still friends. This lasted for almost two years.