Football, a descendant of Rugby, is believed to have originated from Harpaston; a "brutal and rough" Greek game involving two goals line with points awarded when a ball crossed by carrying, kicking, or throwing. The objective was then simple. Stop the other team at all costs.

In modern day football we can see this still relevant with "Blacklisted." Players and numerous injuries. In fact the sheer amount of injuries in the sport is the very reason why so much protection is provided and why the game is so heavily regulated, to many times no avail. But a note on that later.

Now football as a whole did not become the pastime we cherish today until rules and regulations came into play, forming the sport we know now. In the early 1800's "football" was picked up as a sport in England's seven major public schools and the crossbar was added alongside the rule that a goal could only be scored if a ball was placed over by a drop kick or a place kick.

An "off-sides" rule was even added to keep teams apart. Making passing the ball forward forbidden.

The birth of official football, though, came on November 6, 1869 when teams from Rutgers and Princeton Universities met for the first intercollegiate football game. There were twenty players on each team and the game still more closely resembled rugby than modern football at the time.

In 1873 representatives from Columbia, Rutgers, Princeton, and Yale Universities established the Intercollegiate Football Association (IFA) and set the number of players allowed on each team at 15.

Walter Camp, however; an IFA dissenter, soon changed the number of players to eleven and institutionalised the the size of the playing field to 110 yards.

In 1882, Camp introduced downs.

After first allowing three attempts to advance the ball five yards the distance was changed to ten in 1906.

The fourth was added in 1912.

Within a decade the sport had been banned from several colleges with reported numbers of eighteen deaths and nearly 180 serious injuries from brutal mass plays.

Due to this President Theodore Roosevelt called upon Harvard, Princeton, and Yale for help. After a meeting a reform was started and after a second meeting the group, along with more than sixty other schools, appointed a seven member Rules Committee. They also set up what was later to become the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)

From this committee than came the legalisation of the forward pass, the prohibition of rough mass plays, and the ban of teammates locking arms.

With these also came a shortened game, from seventy to sixty minutes, and the neutral zone; the area between teams before each play.

Just imagine how brutal the petty fights would have been back than without all the regulations and suspensions we have today. I think we all know what I'm talking about, but think about it.

[Information sourced from http://www.hornetfootball.org/documents/football-history.htm as well as previous knowledge and human pools of knowledge.]

On this day of all days. For many a day of momentous occasions between the start of our weekly prayers and the rollover into a new month and a legacy waiting to be forged.

But what exactly makes one a true superfan? Is it the decibels in ones call or the the sheer amount of colour one bears like a crest?

What exactly makes up football culture as a whole when it's history is surprisingly young in comparison to others?

This weeks articles will largely be dedicated to the sport and all it's glory. Feel free to drop a comment, discuss a topic and stay awhile.