Projekt Kořeny
The first records concerning a game with a ball come from ancient Egypt (a frieze in a temple in Carnac from 4000 BC). More specific pieces of information about ball games then come from China (3000 BC). Games, including ball ones, started to spread in the period of ancient Greece nad Rome. One of the first mentions on "kicking the ball" comes from the English town, Dervetio (today Little Chester), from 217 AD. The match was played in order to celebrate a victory over the Romans. After the fall of the Roman empire in the 5th century there was a period of regression and the development of games wouldn´t return until after 1000 AD.
The British Isles are considered the cradle of football. The first matches, however, took place without any rules, were played in the streets and were often prohibited. There are records of prohibitions e.g. from the years 1314 or 1349, when King Edward II. forbade the game. Even though King Henry VIII. took part in a match in 1526, it was eventually outlawed during his reign, too. Despite prohibitions, football remained popular. The first report on a real football match comes from Wales, 1720 AD. Modern football has been developing since the 18th century.
In Great Britain, football became a recognized sport at the end of the 19th century. It spread throughout society and was not only a matter of students any more. Important milestones in its development were the foundation of the English Cup in 1871, the first internatonal match, England vs. Scotland, in 1870, and the establishment of the English league in 1888. Professional playing was introduced in 1885, Britain provided football with its necessary basis. And, in decades to come, the game swiftly stated to develop also in Italy, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Czech lands.
The basis of the game is shooting the ball into the opponent´s goal - the moment in which the ball crosses the goal line between the goalposts with its full volume. The rules exactly state when a goal is or is not vallid. They create space for fascinating moments which decide about victories and faitures.
A modern form of fotball originated in England in the second half of the 19th century. At first, it was merely a gam e of colleges and universities (Oxford, Harrow, Rugby, Eton Cambridge), later it got in wider awareness. The first football club Sheffield FC was founded on October 24. 1857. The first football rules were written down by J.C. Thring in 1862. In 1863, "The football Association", the first organization of its kind, was founded, and published the association rules. Due to a diference between Rugbyand other colleges (concerning using hands), an association for a new sport - rugby - was established in 1871.
The bench was initially above all a technical and service zone of each team. It has since become an essential part of the teams´play mostly because of the coach, sophisticated game tactics, substitution, and also the need to great players in contempotary form of football. The smallest detail can decide between success and fallure, and the bench is a place of outstanding importance.
The basic space for a football match is the pitch. It has changed a lot throughout history - the description of the field is now very precise, the area and function of each part exactly started in the rules.
Like the rules, the look of players - their equipment - has been changing. Originally, people played in clothes that they normally wore for school or work. Then special outfit for footballers, goalkeepers and referees started to develop. The equipment doesn´t only help the referee and audience identify the players. The club´s or national colours often become an inseparable part of the fans´ life.
Like every game and competition, it is impossible to play football without a referee - a person who observes the rules and controls the match. In history, the role of referees has increased, and today their authority is much greater than in the beginnings of football. It´s understood that they often arouse indignation of the fans. In Czech football this happened to the Italian referee Collina at the 2000 European Championship as he signalled a penalty shooting against the Czech team.
It was Pierre de Coubertain who came up with the idea of modern Olympic Games in 1892. The first Olympics took place as early as 1896. The role of dr. Guth-Jarkovský, a Czech official and Coubertain´s friend, was also important. The original ideals were peace, healthy competition and amateurism. Football was listed in the program early, but it´s role in the Olympic history has always been humbler than at world or European championships - mostly because of the demand for amateurism. The current Olympics are gargantuan anterprises whose economic success, fortunately, returns to sport and the youth.
In the 15th-17th century, a forerunner of football succesfully developed in Italy, mostly in Florence, Bologna, Padova and Venice. Nevertheless, the game "calcio", which was popular And already had some basic rules, remained harsh and cruel. The first books about ball games come from Italy - for example Florentine "I Raggva gli di Parnasso" from the 16th century, which describes "calcio". Even the leading House of Medici approved of the game. In 1497, the team of Florence played a match in Lyon, France. It was watched by French King Henry II.
The first great international triumph of Czechoslovakian team came at an amateur European championship in Roubaix, 1911. After an expulsion from FIFA which demanded by austrian and German officials, a competition of amateur union-including the teams of England, France and Bohemia- took place in 1911. After fantastic exploits, the Czech team won the golden trophy. This victory had a strong national meaning, because it increased the self-confidence of Czech sport which was in a problematic position inside the Austrian environment. The bestplayers of the victorious team were the forwards Košek and Pilát.
The first great Olympic success of Czech football players came at the so called Pershing´s Olympiad which was held in Paris in 1919 as a homage to the victorious armies of the World War I. It was the first great chance to represent a new Czechoslovakian state, and the footballers made the most of it. They beat host France 2:1 in the final and returned home with the most valuable trophy.
The World Cup 1934 in Italy brought the first great success of Czechoslovakian football in the international field. After a hard fight, Czechoslovakia lost 2:1 in the final with host Italy. The Championship was not only a sports event, but also a presentation of Mussolini´s fascist regime.
The entire world considered Czechoslovakian team moral winners, and the welcome they were given at home was even more enthusiastic and incredibly warm. Although they won silver only, people named them "the golden boys". Crowds were cheering along the whole railroad from the border to Prague. Celebrations took place at nearly every station. In the capital the players were awaited by streets full of people and a crowded Václav square. Czechoslovakian football went down in history in an excellent way. Let´s therefore introduce those who contributed to this outstanding success and took an active part in the game in Italy.
In 1960, the first big European competition took place, which soon tuned into one of the world biggest competitions - the EURO. Since 1959 the team of Czechoslovakia was lead by coach Rudolf Vytlačil who stopped its decline. The team left for France with quite good chances and the fans at home expected them to achieve victory. After a defeat 0:3 with the USSR, the team had to play France to reach the third place. They finally won 2:0 - that was the first great success of Czechoslovakia after World War II. It was also a birth of a fantastic generation of footballers (Novák, Pluskal, Masopust and others), which shone on the World Cup two years later when they won silver.
The next success of Czech Olympic football came in 1964, after long fruitless years. The problem with Olympic football competitions was that there didn´t play the best teams, but special elevens. In Tokyo, the Czechoslovakian team proceeded to the final under the leadership of coach Vytlačil, where they were finally beatem 1:2 by Hungary. However, the silver medal is one of the great achievements of Czech football.
Czechoslovakiam team achieved one of the greatest successes in its history in 1976, as they won the golden medals at European Championship in Beograd. They had to beat the teams of England, USSR and Holland to get to the final with Germany. The team, in which the stars were Viktor, Ondruš, Dobiáš, Panenka and Nehoda, managed to reach the peak under the leadership of coach Ježek. The exciting final was decided by penalty shoot-out, after the West-German team equalized to 2:2 in the last minute. That was a chance for Antonin Panenka, whose ingenious curved shot to the middle of the goal brought the golden medals of European champions for Czechoslovakia.
The 1980 Olympics in Moscow were unfortunately affected by politics, because 49 states, led by the USA, refused to participate in it protest against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Since the Olympic football competitions were regularly won by East-block teams, the football contest can be held not to be much afflicted with that. Although their initial results were quite dull, the Czechoslovakian team got in the final, where they edged the strong East-German team 1:0. It was the first time (and last so far) when the football team of Czechoslovakia returned home with Olympic gold medals.
Although the generation of European champions of 1976 did not succeed in qualification for 1978 World Cup, they managed the bronze in 1980 and thus resume the successful era. There were many new players in the team, who did not play in Beograd, yet they proved that Czchechoslovakian football still belonged to the European top classe. After hard fights with Germany, Greece and the Netherlands, Czechoslovakian team played host Italy to win the third place. The team´s play was not much amusing and once again the match had to be decided by penalty shoot-out. Just like four years before, that brought medals for Czechoslovakia.
The first international achievement of Czechoslovakian team after the unsuccessful 1980s came at 1990 World Cup as they got to the quarter-final. However, the fans had to wait for a medal until 1996. Although the team didn´t leave for the European Championship in England as favourites, they manager to advance to further fights. After beating Portugal and France, the Czech Republic played Germany in the final. Troughout the competition, Czech players were especially good defence and subsequent counter-attacks. At first the Czech republic led 1:0, but Germany striker Bierhoff scored a goal which meant gold for Germany and silver for the Czech republic.This Czech achievement gained acceptance by both fans and foreign clubs which soon after engaged many Czech footbalers.
Michaela Mlejnková, Čeněk Hadrávek, Jana Průšová