\paperw3360 \margr0\margl0\ATXph16380 \plain \fs20 \f1 \fs22 The ancient Greeks, Chinese, Egyptians and Romans all played a form of football. In the early 19th century it became
an organized game in Britain, and was played in most \b \cf4 \ATXht12341000 universities\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 and \b \cf4 \ATXht12311000 public schools\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 . Standard rules were drawn up at \b \cf4 \ATXht12351000 Cambridge University\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 in 1848, and in 1863 the football Association was formed. The first FA Cup was played in 1872. Football, or soccer as it is widely called, grew dramatically as an organized, seasonal spectacle after the Football Association accepted professionalism in
1885. By the 1930s, there was hardly a middling-sized town in the country that did not have its own professional league club.\par
