Like other sports, regular exercise from playing football has many health benefits. It improves co-ordination and agility. It can also improve your mood and self-esteem, and lower your stress levels. Football can reduce your risk of heart disease, and when you're young it can lower the risk of osteoporosis. It can also help with weight loss and build muscle strength.

All people can play football regardless of their age and fitness level. For safety purposes, people with known heart disease or other conditions that can affect their activity levels (and people who have not exercised regularly for several years) should consult their doctor before starting to play football.

If you would like to get into football and are not sure where to start then let us help. A good way to start for youngsters is to look out for courses which are run during the school holidays. Alternatively you can contact the local league organisations such as the Huddersfield RCD League - who will put you in contact with an appropriate local club.

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Photo from the
Kirklees Image Archive

Kirklees Image Archive

It is believed that ball games were first played in Ancient China, possibly as early as 2500 BCE. There is evidence to show that ball games were played in Egypt as early as 1800 BCE. These were linked to fertility rites and religious ceremonies and involved large numbers of people. History suggests that these games were sometimes used as a method of tilling the soil.

In England a form of football has been played from around the 8th Century. The game was popular with the working classes with regional variations of the game throughout the country. Games were normally violent and disorganised with any number of players, sometimes 1,000 people playing a single game. In the 11th century there are records of games played between rival villages. The 'pitch' was not a defined size, but included streets, fields, and village squares.

Many of these games can be considered the origins or forerunners of the modern game, which was first established in England in the mid 19th century. The first formal set of rules was introduced in 1848 for the game of association football.