Re: Which country does world football owe the most to?

On Tue, 13 May 2008 16:51:30 -0700 (PDT), alkamista@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

Which country has positively influenced the game to the greatest
degree?
The English claim they invented the modern game, but the game had been
played in one form or another for centuries, and formalization of the
rules was an inevitability, the English just got to it first. But they
do deserve credit for exporting the game, particularly to South
America.
Then of course you have Brazil who has romanticized the game to no end
and has won over millions of new converts to the game.
Then there's the Holland, the Brazil of Europe, who brought us Total
Football and an infinite assembly line of amazing players to watch,
and great coaches to educate others.
Finally no big tournament is complete without Germany, the great
engineers who brought great efficiency to the game.

IMO the great influencers, in order, are:

1) Brazil
2) England
3) Holland
4) Germany

Other contenders: Argentina, Italy, and possibly Scotland? (I'm sure
Paul C has a history lesson waiting here)


Oh well, I'm just back from my hols.

Yes world football owes a massive debt to the Scots.

Although the rules of association football were formulated in England
it was the Scots who should be thanked for its development as a world
game. (in fact current research suggests that the laws of modern
football owe as much to traditional Scottish football than they do to
the original FA laws - see:)
http://hyperbear.blogspot.com/2006/06/scots-invented-soccer.html

In addition the world's first football club has now been traced to
Scotland, with Edinburgh Foot Ball club being founded in 1824.

At its inception association football in England was a game for upper
class ex-public schoolboys - on a par with rugby football. Scots were
behind its development as a game for the masses.

The first professional footballers were Scots who plied their trade in
England. Nearly every successful English club employed its 'Scots
Professor' who taught the English teams how to play the Scottish
passing style of play (rather than the English 'kick and run').

Glasgow's Queens Park FC were the instigators of international
football when Queens Park playing as Scotland invited the cream of
England to participate in the first international match in Glasgow in
1872.

The supremacy of Scottish football can be seen in the results of
England-Scotland matches in the first 2 decades - W11 D5 L4

Scots were at the forefront in the game's development in England. The
first league in the world - the Football League was the creation of
William McGregor - England's first (unbeaten) champions Preston North
End, who alse did the double by winning the FA Cup was made up almost
entirely of Scots. Arthur Kinnaird was at the helm of the Football
Association during the late 19th century when association football
really took off in England.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_McGregor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Fitzgerald_Kinnaird,_11th_Lord_Kinnaird

The development of football grounds for the masses was also largely
down to the Scot, Archibald Leitch. As well as designing the biggest
stadia in the world at the time - Hampden and Ibrox, he also
built/redeveloped many of England's largest stadia (eg Anfield, Old
Trafford, Highbury, Goodison Park, Stamford Bridge) as England
eventually caught up with Scottish developments
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Leitch

Scots were also major exporters of the game. In the historical records
Scots are often described as 'English' since there is considerable
confusion between the terms 'English' and 'British'. Many of the
histories of Spanish football attribute the creation of the country's
first club (Recreativo Huelva) to 'el ingles, Alejandro Mackay'.
Mackay was Scottish.

Scots introduced football to Argentina (Alexander Hutton) and to
Uruguay (William Poole) and were integral in the development of
Brazilian football. The Lipton Trophy played for annually between
Argentina and Uruguay was donated by Scottish tea magnate Thomas
Lipton who also donated a Trophy for one of the first international
club tournaments (won in 1911 by West Auckland Town who defeated
Juventus 6-1 in the final held in Turin!)


And as someone once said "If an English dribbler had got there first,
the country would change to the Scottish Game once it had been
explained to them".
.

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