Did you know…?

  • The first set of rules were developed by the London Football Association in 1863.
  • In 1908, soccer was made an Olympic event.
  • Soccer is the world’s MOST popular team sport.
  • Soccer Balls are black and white, so they could be seen better on television sets!  That’s when TV’s were only Black and White and had no Color!!!
      • A single soccer player runs about 8 miles during an entire game.
      • The soccer ball is measured to be around 28 inches in its circumference.
      • Mexico was the first country to host two World Cups.
      • More than 95% of the world’s soccer balls are produced in Pakistan.
      • The World Cup, held in a different country after every 4 years, is the biggest and the most desired event amongst the game’s fans.
    • Just days before the World Cup of 1966 the trophy was stolen and then later retrieved by a dog!
    • The first ever soccer World Cup was held in the year 1930, which was won by the host country, Uruguay. The number of spectators was 300.
    • Mexico is the only country to host the soccer World Cup event twice.
    • Brazil has won 5 World Cups, whereas Germany has won 3 times.
    • An interesting fact is that European countries have always been in the World Cup finals, except for the years 1930 and 1950.
    • The first soccer ball was made of a pig skin !
    • In the 2003 African Cup of Nations, Cameroon wore an all-in-one kit. FIFA said they must wear separate shirts and shorts, fining them £86,000 and deducting 6 points from their World Cup qualifying campaign (points later handed back though)
    • Most countries call soccer, “Football” or “Fussbol”.[singlepic id=894 w=320 h=240 float=right]
    • German international player, Oliver Kahn became the first goalkeeper to win the most valuable player of the World Cup in 2002.
      Our club president, Udo, is a famous goalkeeper from Germany, too!
    • [singlepic id=895 w=320 h=240 float=right]In the year 1998, April Heinrichs became the first woman to be inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
    • United States has more official soccer players than any other nation in the world – almost 18 million. Of these, 78 percent are under the age of 18. In the 1990s, soccer was recognized as the fastest-growing college and high school sport in the US.
  • The University of North Carolina has won an incredible 16 national championships in women’s soccer since the first US college tournament in 1982.