Presentation on My Favourite Sport

Prepared by Joseph Saia 

Hi, good morning everyone. Before I continue, let me introduce myself. My name is Joseph. I’m a student at TAFE, Salisbury. 

Today, I am going to tell you my favorite sport. My favorite sport is football. Everyone knows that football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal.

I am going to develop my presentation into five main categories. Firstly, I would like to start with the history of football. Secondly, I am going to talk about football association and how and when they organised. And then, I will move on to the first competition and the five top European Leagues. Finally, I am going to briefly point out international competitions, such as FIFA World Cup. 

My presentation will last about 6 to 8 minutes. I am happy to take any questions at the end of my presentation. 

Now, let’s move on to my first topic of presentation about football history.

History of Football-The Origins:

The Ancient Greeks and Romans are known to have played many ball games, some of which involved the use of the feet. Football is believed to have descended from the ancient Greek game of ‘Harpaston’ and it is often referred to as a “very rough and brutal game”. It was played out with a smaller ball by two teams on a rectangular field marked by boundary lines and a centre line. The problem of the game was there was no specific field length, no side line boundaries, no specified number of players per team. However, the game remained popular for 800 years, but the Romans took it to Britain with them. 

It is said that the form of the football game was exercised in the second and third centuries BC in China during Han Dynasty. It was a military manual exercise and the football was called Tsu' Chu. The game consisted of kicking a leather ball filled with feathers and hair through an opening, measuring only 30-40cm in width, into a small net fixed onto long bamboo canes.

Another form of the game was developed some 500-600 years later in Japan during the Asoka period. The game was called ‘Kemari’ and is still played today. Standing in a circle, the players had to pass the ball to each other, in a relatively small space, trying not to let it touch the ground. 

Now, let’s move on to Football Association. As above mentioned, football didn’t really begin to take on any consistency of rules and boundaries until it was picked up as a sport in the seven major public schools of England. For the very first time, the proper rules for the game were decided at a meeting in Cambridge 1848. The other schools moved ahead refining their rules and eventually their game became officially ‘Football Association’ in October, 1863. This led to a standardization of the size and weight of the ball and the first Football Association Challenge Cup (FA Cup) was run in 1871. 

Now, let’s turn on to the first competition and the five top European Leagues. In 1872, two national teams England and Scotland played for the first time at Hamilton Crescent and the match was ended 0-0. The record showed that there were 4,000 attendees in the game. 

The first international tournament took place in 1883 and included four national teams: England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. 

According to the latest UEFA club ranking, The Premier League (England), La Liga (Spain), Series A (Italy), Bundesliga (Germany), and Ligue 1 (France) are the top five European Leagues. 

There are many factors we can take into account and rank the top leagues around the world. Here are the major factors we can take into account. 

1. Excitement

2. Competitiveness throughout the league

3. Quality of football

4. Star Power

5. Success in continental football

6. Average Attendance

Finally, I would like to briefly highlight the International Competitions. Undoubtedly, the greatest single sporting event of the modern world is FIFA World Cup. It is organised by FIFA and it takes place every four-year. The first tentative competition was held in 1930 and the FIFA named Uruguay as the host country. The FIFA World Cup involves 32 national teams competing over a four-week period. The most recent tournament of the FIFA World Cup 2014 was held in Brazil and the cup was won by Germany, who beat Argentina 1-0 in the final.

According to FIFA World Cup Statistics, teams reaching the top five are: 

1. Brazil- (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)

2. Italy- (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006)

3. Germany- (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014)

4. Uruguay- (1930, 1950)

5. Argentina- (1978, 1986)

Well, that brings me to the end of my presentation. 

To summarize, I will run through what we have looked at so far. We’ve seen what football history and how and when football association was organised. We also have talked about the first football competition and the five top European Leagues. We also have mentioned the international competitions, World Cup. 

And now, I would like to conclude my presentation by recommending you to read football news and watch major league whenever it is possible because football can bring you a healthy mind and increase your general knowledge.  

   

Thank you for coming today and thank you for your attention. Have you got any questions? If you’ve got questions, please feel free to ask me. I’m happy to answer you.  

Research Notes: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football

http://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/who-we-are/the-game/

http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-football-tennis/history-of-football

http://www.footballhistory.org/

http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/country/

http://www.slideshare.net/hasanaalkhoori/history-of-football-15574191

http://www.fifa.com/fifa-tournaments/teams/index.html