The History of Soccer

Find out more about how we make soccer balls, from the early days using inflated pig bladders to today’s vulcanized rubber balls.

Discover how colored caps and knickerbockers gave way to today’s traditional numbered jerseys and shorts.

In ancient China, the goal was a hole in a net. In ancient Rome, it was the gates of a fort. Discover how the soccer goal has evolved over the centuries in this brief history of goalposts.

King Henry VIII of England wore the first pair of soccer boots, but the footwear didn’t take off until several centuries later.

Although arenas have existed since ancient Greece and Rome, soccer stadiums were not yet a thing when the sport became popular in the 1880s.