Fun Stuff!

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 7 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 80% 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 Argentina has won 2.
• An interesting fact is that European countries have always been in the World Cup finals, except for the years 1930 and 1950.
• The soccer ball was made of a pig!
• 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”.
• 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!
• 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.