Why England is the greatest country in the world

[Firestorm]

Its called The FA not the English FA because at the time of naming it was the only one

The same applies to The Open Golf championship

 

[Slipperduke]

Hmm IIRC the belgians recently laid claim to this.....

Hmm, how interesting. How about an extract from a forthcoming book to clear things up? Oh, and if you'd like to buy the book, how about a link to it?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Everything-Wanted-About-Cricket-Afraid/dp/140811495X/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250697733&sr=1-5



"Cricket is old. Really old. It's older than the great-grandparents of the oldest person you've ever met. It's older than both football and rugby put together. It pre-dates the Spanish Armada, William Shakespeare and, in one form or another, it almost certainly pre-dates the discovery of America. A spring chicken, it is not.

As such, even the historians with more time on their hands than myself have struggled to find its origins. One widely held theory is that it was developed in the fields of rural England by workshy shepherds who used their staffs to hit rocks thrown at a target placed behind them. It's a good theory and it makes sense, no least because one olde name for a staff is 'cricce', though that indicates that in a parrallel universe this could be a book about a game called staff-it, or stick-it. I think I'd have preferred stick-it.

The first written mention of cricket came in 1598 during a legal dispute over land in Guildford. A 59 year old, by the name of John Derrick if you're interested, is recorded as telling the court that he played cricket on the land as a child which means, assuming that he wasn't telling porkies, we can date the sport as being at least 460 years old when this book was published. It wasn't competitive, it wasn't organised and it was almost certainly a children's game, but there it was. Stick-it. Sorry, cricket.

In 1611, some fifty years before the Great Fire of London, two men were prosecuted for daring to play cricket on a Sunday instead of going to church. However, unlike the proto-football matches that were repeatedly banned by monarchs of the day, there isn't any evidence to suggest that the game suffered from the wrath of the authorities. Given that village football matches often ended in serious injury and destruction of property, you can see why cricket might even have been encouraged, provided that it was played in the park and not in the garden near the greenhouse."

 

[Aberdeen Shrimper]

How about an extract from a forthcoming book to clear things up? Oh, and if you'd like to buy the book, how about a link to it?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Everything-...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250697534&sr=1-2

"The first records of a football-like game come from an old Chinese military manual thought to date back to the third century BC. Tsu Chu, a catchy little name that roughly translates to 'kickball', was a ludicrously difficult game that, nevertheless, was extremely popular in the Tsin and Han dynasties. The object of the game was to kick a ball stuffed with fur or feathers into a net approximately 30 or 40 centimetres in diameter. The only catch was that the net was suspended on 30ft tall bamboo canes. Apparently, this game was often played as part of the Emperor's birthday celebrations, so the next time you think you're stressed, imagine trying to impress a quick-tempered despot by punting a football through a basketball hoop hanging off the top of your house. You wouldn't want to get that wrong too many times.

Over in Japan, somewhere between 300AD and 600AD, they played Kemari, a simple but addictive game played with a ball made from deerskin and sawdust. The object here was for a small team of players, eight or less, to keep the ball airborne for as long as they could, essentially like a group version of keepy-ups. You can still see this game being played today by eager-to-impress young men on Spanish beaches, usually within the viewpoint of a group of sunbathing girls. Kemari remained popular in Japan for well over a thousand years and pops up regularly in poems and folklore. One legend tells of an emperor who led his team to a mind-boggling 1,000 keepy-ups before retiring the ball and promoting it to a high ranking position within his court. That's the equivalent of Queen Elizabeth II insisting that her tennis racket is appointed Foreign Secretary.

These, however, are all mere variants of the game we know and love today. For the first example of a competitive team game with a clear objective, we must look to 9th century England where the first reference of a group of boys 'playing ball' is made. Though this is the first recorded mention of the game, it is highly unlikely to be the first time it was actually played. The most appealing explanation for English football's origin is the theory that the game was played hundreds of years prior to that.

Apparently it was victorious Anglo-Saxon warriors who started it all by enjoying what can only have been a short-lived and particularly messy kickabout with the severed head of a Danish prince. There are other more boring theories about its origins lying in primitive village festivals with the ball representing the sun and the players attempting to gain supremacy over it to ensure a good harvest, but they're no fun so we'll ignore them entirely.

Medieval football, with actual balls rather than heads, was a violent and chaotic affair. There were no limits on numbers, so the game would be contested by vast mobs across huge swathes of land. Like any game whose only two rules are, "No murder and no manslaughter," it was low on technical skill and high on blood and gore, a lot like today's Scottish Premier League. If the game was ever played in a town, the players would rip through the streets like a sweaty whirlwind, causing untold damage to property. Unsurprisingly, the authorities began to take rather a dim view of this new pastime. "

Thank you for supporting my comments regarding the first forms of football.

Interesting read by the way, history is such a wonderful subject with all its theory's, apparently's and highly unlikely's!

I may well purchase the book.

 

[Aberdeen Shrimper]

Its called The FA not the English FA because at the time of naming it was the only one

The same applies to The Open Golf championship

Even in the 16th century the Italians played a football style game called 'il calcio' which I think means association football.

I think it was around the 1860's that Cambridge University formed the Football association.

 

[Aberdeen Shrimper]

I think that the Greeks and the Romans also played a form of football in the 16th century called episkyros and harpastum respectively. it was actually the Romans game of harpastum that was played on a pitch which was rectangle giving us the first glimps of football as we know it today.

 

[OldBlueLady]

We have a history that we can and should be proud of, and should be able to celebrate.

 

[Aberdeen Shrimper]

We have a history that we can and should be proud of, and should be able to celebrate.

A few to many should's in there Kay!!

 

[OldBlueLady]

A few to many should's in there Kay!!

No there ain't :nope: Blimey, might have been out for lunch but I can count me shoulds

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

Afternoon Tea.

The Lake District.

Shakespeare.

Marmite.

Essex.

brings a tear to the eye :'( [salutes] chin chin.

 

[Firestorm]

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/03/01/1235842248170.html

 

[OldBlueLady]

Afternoon Tea.

The Lake District.

Shakespeare.

Marmite.

Essex.

brings a tear to the eye :'( [salutes] chin chin.

Hear, hear! Love all those things.

 

[Aberdeen Shrimper]

I think that we have a lot of things to be proud of and equally a lot of things to be ashamed of, our history is very chequered indeed, we have not always been saints and maybe are a little bit full of our own self importance.

But I am massively proud to be an Englishman, I would not want be any other nationality for all the money in the world.

What I get cheesed of with is the fact that English people are made to feel like we do not have the right to be patriotic, if we do show any signs of being patriotic then we are labelled as being arrogant and up our own butts.

If a Scotsman, or indeed any other nation are seen to be patriotic then it is a wonderful thing to behold…..Utter Bollox

 

[Aberdeen Shrimper]

No there ain't :nope: Blimey, might have been out for lunch but I can count me shoulds

Replace the Should's with Are!!!

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

The Last Night of the Proms!!!

 

[Smiffy]

We have the easiest women in the world!...

 

[Berrichonne shrimper]

We have a history that we can and should be proud of, and should be able to celebrate.

yep she is right you know,lets all big up the slave trade.

 

[OldBlueLady]

We have the easiest women in the world!...

:stunned: :nope: and the most gullible men? :whistling:

 

[Davros]

some Green fpr sir Slipper i feel

it was low on technical skill and high on blood and gore, a lot like today's Scottish Premier League

 

[canveyshrimper]

Nelson,
Churchill
Elgar
English Beer
English Cheeses
The Beatles
Cricket, yes I know it's been mentioned
Dickens


....and we haven't lost a home game since 1066. :)

 

[Sean 2]

England, the greatest country in the world if you've got children.

Try finding a bloody high chair in a Spanish village restaraunt!

Tons of stuff for the young to do in this country that's not too expensive. Our holidays are taken over here since the twins were born and i tell ya, we've never had such a fun time. Our zoos are fantastic, our woodlands vast and full of adventure and we have loads of activity-filled days out from our huge selection of great beaches to thrill a minute amusement parks dotted around the country.

The English climate makes us a happy nation because it rarely gets too hot and we rarely have it too cold! I don't like extremes, i don't wanna be in a land where temps reach 40c on a constant basis, i like a bit of rain at times, that's what makes the countryside so beautiful. I don't wanna see dry, arid pastures. I love seeing the green of Kent when we descend into Gatwick and i'm looking out of the window feeling like i know where my home is!
England, like a warm comfy pair of slippers.

I like the English people, very approachable in every way. We're much more considerate than we get credit for and if someone is really in need we do our best to help. This is true in most English people and there's no denying it.

Possibly the calmest nation, it's no wonder they invented tea for us!

I love England, i'm not particularly interested in going abroad and i'll be happy to die here. I'm very family-orientated and look forward to the great education and welfare that my children will recieve as they grow up.


So please stop any other bugger coming onto these shores to live 'cos i'm selfish and i love England and my family want it all to ourselves.
That's right,

I LOVE ENGLAND!

(rah -that feels good)