Watching football, but also watching England

　　Watching games in the UK may be one of the must-dos on every sports fan’s wish list. Although the day of the old empire on which the sun never sets is coming to an end, the glory of the past is still engraved in many sports that you and I are familiar with.
　　The camera zooms in, and an old prosperous era reappears.
grandpa of ball games

　　There are two important team competitions in the badminton world. Although they are not held every year, they both represent the highest-level peak duels in the world. The two competitions are the Uber Cup and the Thomas Cup, both named after British badminton players.
　　The Thomas Cup originated from George Thomas, who won a total of 21 championships in singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles at the All England Badminton Championships, dominating the badminton world. When the International Badminton Federation was established in 1934, he became its first president. Five years later, he decided that men’s team badminton had matured and established the triennial Thomas Cup.
　　The Uber Cup, also known as the Uber Cup, was held in Lancashire, England in 1957, following the Thomas Cup. The name comes from Betty Uber, who donated the beautiful Ginza with a shuttlecock model on the globe in 1956.
　　Now there are three major cups in the world badminton team competition, Thomas Cup and Uber Cup occupy two seats. Although sports powers such as China have won championships many times as rising stars, it is still an established powerhouse like Britain that has the right to name important competitions.
　　On the one hand, the reason is that badminton has been improved and flourished in the UK. In 1873, in the town of Bloomington in Glasgow County, England, a Duke named Beaufort performed a “Puna (Mumbai street name) game” performance. The way to play is that two people stand opposite each other and hit the ball back and forth with wooden boards in their hands. The ball is similar to the Chinese shuttlecock, which is made of a round cardboard with a diameter of about 6 cm and a shuttlecock inserted in the middle. The activity was very interesting and quickly spread throughout the UK, and badminton also got the name of “Badminton”.

In 1956, British badminton player Betty Uber donated the Ginza with a shuttlecock model on the globe as a trophy for the Uber Cup

　　Early on, British badminton used unwritten rules from India.

　　On the other hand, and the most important link, the British participated in the formulation of various rules, which successfully established the subsequent badminton process, making this folk sport standardized and referenced.
　　In its early days, British badminton used unwritten rules from India that were always controversial for their lack of rigor. The British thought that it would be better to do it themselves. In 1887, the “Bath Badminton Club” was established, and the first set of badminton rules was published in the UK. Subsequently, 14 badminton clubs in the UK formed the Badminton Association, which unified the rules of the game, marking the formal formation of badminton. The predecessor of the International Badminton Federation was also established thereafter.
　　It is not difficult to find that although some ball games (such as golf) were created by the Scots, more sports have been “modernized” by the United Kingdom before they became famous. Therefore, even though many countries claim to have the rudiments of various ball games, it is undeniable that if there is no unified organization and planning, and relying on professional civic groups to regulate, no matter how interesting the sport will remain in the niche range.
　　Hockey and badminton have similar development experiences. In Britain in the 17th and 18th centuries, hockey was a rural sport involving 60-100 people, who usually sent the ball to the opposing village. At that time, the rules of hockey were chaotic and prone to violent conflicts. It was not until Eton College that the rules and mechanisms of modern hockey were determined. In 1875, the first hockey association was established, which enriched the rules of the game on the basis of the original.
　　With the expansion of British colonialism, hockey gradually became a worldwide sport.
Elite education complements each other

　　Britain’s elite education system played no small role in the rise of the modern movement.
　　There is a widely circulated saying about the origin of rugby: In 1823, a 16-year-old boy, Webb Ellis, picked up a football in a campus football match at Rugby Middle School, a prestigious private school in England, and ran desperately towards the enemy team’s front line.

Women at hockey practice, October 12, 1930

　　Maybe he was just thinking about it, but the teachers at the school did not reprimand him for his foul behavior. Instead, they praised and praised him, and a new sport was born—rugby.
　　In 1845, Rugby School revised the first rugby rules. By the 1870s, rugby was introduced to North America. A large number of students participated in this exciting and interesting sport. At the same time, they perfected and formulated the rules, and finally formed the prototype of American rugby.
　　Now, there is still a stone plaque in Rugby Public School, which is engraved: “In 1823, William Webb Ellis gave rugby to his school, and the school gave rugby to the world.” The
　　elite education system encourages Creativity and sportsmanship have brought a natural soil for students to “invent” sports. The rules they broke back then, or the sports they created in their spare time, may be the mainstream sports in the future.
　　In 1830, a student at Harrow School felt that the boarding life was boring and invented an indoor game of hitting a ball against the wall. The ball made a sound similar to the English “squash” as it slammed into the wall—and squash was born.
　　In 1864, the first dedicated squash court was built in Harrow, marking the official founding of the sport. Squash spread throughout the Commonwealth of Nations and around the world as students grew up and entered politics, the military and business.
　　As mentioned above, hockey was also regulated and unified because of the transformation of Eton students; in the future, the expansion of British colonies played a natural role in the promotion of various sports.
　　Another interesting reason why the “public schools” in the UK can play such a role is that at that time some schools (including Rugby School) experienced lax discipline, and there were often violent incidents, such as student fights Fights, teachers beating and scolding students, etc.

　　In order to correct this atmosphere, Arnold, the principal of Rugby School, strongly advocated rugby and cricket. He asked students and teachers to participate together, hoping that they would compete in a positive way, and resolve conflicts and build friendship during the game.
　　Sports have always been part of British teaching activities, especially after the rise of middle-class private schools, schools regard sports as an important part of students’ “leisure education”. They believe that competitive activities can train students to abide by the rules, the ability to cooperate with each other, as well as the spirit of teamwork, self-denial and tolerance.

　　There are ten students and one teacher living in each dormitory in the school, so 11 people are determined as the number of football teams.

　　The Duke of Wellington, a famous military strategist who graduated from Eton College, defeated Napoleon I in the Battle of Waterloo. When he talked about his victory, he said: “This war was actually won on the playground of Eton College.”
　　Others commented: “The British generals’ ability to strategize on the battlefield comes from their childhood competitions. The commanding and dispatching skills and fighting spirit learned.”
football modernity

　　Although recorded in history books, the most primitive form of the ball can be traced back to Cuju in ancient China. As early as 2,000 years ago, our ancients knew how to use this round ball to entertain themselves.
　　But now when it comes to men’s football, who else thinks of China? The greatest contribution of the British to football is that they have given the sport “modernity”.
　　The beginning of the development of every sport is primitive and chaotic. When British football was on the rise, it was not regarded as an elegant and formal sport by the public. In the Middle Ages, “muggle football” was popular – no rules, no limit on the number of players, as long as the ball is sent to the opponent’s goal.
　　This sport has attracted a lot of complaints, because the swarms of people pushed each other and ran rampant in the streets and alleys, causing people to be injured, bleeding or even killed, and public facilities, shops and houses in cities and towns were often damaged. In response, football was banned in London during the reigns of Edward II, James II of Scotland, and Elizabeth I.
　　After the Industrial Revolution, people’s pursuit of entertainment has entered a standardized stage. It was the students of British public schools who first promoted the standardization of football, and they gradually improved “muggle football”. The book “Football History” written by Davis described the group civilization of British football at the end of the 19th century:
　　”When this sport first appeared, the participants were still boys from the original public school. Everyone abided by the rules, and violations were purely accidental. phenomenon. It is undoubtedly due to the respectable mutual understanding of that era, and the boys were educated in the first-class schools, so they would not use unfair methods to overcome each other.”
　　In order to form a unified game rules, from different Cambridge students at the public school held a meeting in 1848, and finally formulated the first written rules of football – “Cambridge University Football Club Rules”. At that time, there were 11 people in each team to compete, and there were ten students and one teacher in each dormitory in the school, so 11 people were determined as the number of football teams. This rule continues to this day.

American football

　　Along with the rules, the establishment of the sportsmanship of “fair play” is also deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. For example, in match reports, football players were referred to as “Mr. + initials + surname”, which continued until the 20th century. Football players were also called “sportsmen”.
　　In the concept of modern British sports, the early core concept is to emphasize the spirit of fair competition, which reflects the social values ​​at that time and endows modern football with a positive image.
　　In addition, the sense of legal contract established by the Magna Carta in Britain brought about the enlightenment of civil society. Guilds, associations, parties, leagues and clubs were formed in England. With the competition between clubs and the bottom-up rule-making process, various specifications of football are slowly established and promoted and popularized.
　　The sports atmosphere that everyone can participate in is almost unimaginable in the era of strict hierarchy and the traditional feudal society of acquaintances.