Who Invented Soccer?誰發明了足球？

埃琳·布萊克莫爾/文　黃可玥/譯

The Brits formalized the game known globally as football—but its roots date back to ancient China and Mesoamerica. 足球這項全球知名的運動，其比賽規則是由英國人正式確立下來的，但其根源可追溯至古代中國與中美洲。

Soccer is by far the world’s most popular sport， and for good reason—beloved by at least 265 million people worldwide， it’s easy to play in a random yard or field and instantly relate to the players racing across stadiums.

足球是全球最受歡迎的運動。人們隨意找個院子或空地就能踢，而且立馬能與在球場上飛奔的球員玩在一起。這個說法有充分的依據——全世界至少有2.65億人深愛足球。

But if you’re looking for the earliest ancestor of all that running， kicking， and cooperating， be ready to turn back your watch， spin your globe—and make sure not to literally lose your head. Here’s what you need to know about soccer’s ancient origins and why it’s the world’s favorite sport today.

如果你想知道這項集奔跑、踢球、合作于一體的運動源于何處，準備好回溯過去、跨越山海——但千萬別因暈頭轉向而“身首異處”。若想了解足球的古老起源，探索足球為何是目前全球最受人喜愛的運動，請閱讀以下內容。

Soccer’s ancient origins

足球的古老起源

The Chinese were the first to get their kicks1 by kicking balls into nets for sport2 in the third century B.C.， and the game known globally as football was formalized in England in the 19th century. But the predecessor of most modern ball games can be found in the Americas.

公元前3世紀，中國人最先以踢球入網為樂。直到19世紀，足球這項全球知名運動的比賽規則才在英格蘭正式確立下來。但是，絕大部分現代球類運動的前身都可以在美洲覓得蹤跡。

“The idea of the team sport was invented in Mesoamerica，” says Mary Miller， a professor of the history of art at Yale University who has studied extensive evidence of the sport.

耶魯大學的藝術史教授瑪麗·米勒研究過大量同足球有關的證據。她表示：“團隊運動的概念起源于中美洲。”

In Mesoamerica， the vast historical region spanning from Mexico to Costa Rica， civilizations flourished well before Columbus “discovered” them， and many of these people played a sport that involved a heavy ball made from a substance derived from tree resin.

中美洲是從墨西哥到哥斯達黎加的遼闊歷史區域。早在哥倫布“發現”美洲前，這里的文明就已十分繁榮。許多當地人都會參與一項球類運動。這種球很重，由樹脂提取物制作而成。

It’s unclear exactly where the game was invented， but it was popular across Mesoamerican cultures like the Teotihuacanos3， Aztecs4， and Maya5 beginning about 3，000 years ago. Its name varied—ullamaliztli in Aztec， pok-ta-pok or pitz in Maya. So did its rules， which included moves such as keeping the ball in play6 by bumping it with body parts or using racquets or bats.

雖然這項運動的發源地尚不明晰，但從大約3000年前開始，它就風行于中美洲的各個文明，特奧蒂瓦坎人、阿茲特克人與瑪雅人都是其愛好者。人們對它的稱呼各有不同——阿茲特克人稱其為ullamaliztli，瑪雅人則稱其為pok-ta-pok或pitz。這項運動在各地的規則也不盡相同，比如為了把球控制在界內，有的地方允許利用身體部位撞擊球，或使用球拍或球棒擊球。

Many of these games were played with 16-pound7 rubber balls， which still exist in the archaeological record. Other evidence of game play ranges from cer-amic vessels to more than 1，300 large stone courts that can be found across the region.

人們進行這項運動時大多使用重達16磅的橡膠球，這種球如今仍可在考古記錄中探得蹤影。其他同這項運動相關的證據包括陶瓷器皿，以及遍布中美洲的1300多個大型石頭球場。

Aztec players bounced the ball back and forth between teams using only their hips and buttocks （feet or hands were off limits）. They tried to hit the back wall of their opponents’ courts with just one bounce， often sustaining life-threatening injuries when they were hit with the hard， heavy ball. If a player managed to get it into a high ring on the opposing team’s side， it was an automatic win—and a major honor for the winner.

阿茲特克球員僅用髖部和臀部（不準使用腳或手）在隊伍間來回傳球。他們試圖只用一次傳接就擊中對手場地的后墻，但被又硬又重的球擊中時往往會受到致命傷害。如果一名球員成功將球打入對方場地內高懸的圓環，其隊伍便自動獲勝——這是贏家的一大榮耀。

Making sacrifices

獻祭

Though it was played as an everyday pickup sport， much like soccer or basketball， this ball game also held a sacred place in religion and warfare for Mesoamerican cultures. Aztec kings reportedly played it as a substitute for war， gaining ruling rights or diffusing diplomatic dramas with a game of ball. In Maya and Veracruz cultures8， the stakes were even higher： The losers of some ritual games were sacrificed.

雖然這種球類運動同今日的足球或籃球一樣，是日常臨時組織的休閑活動，但它也曾在中美洲各個文明的宗教與戰爭中享有神圣地位。據說，阿茲特克的國王們曾用它代替戰爭，通過球賽爭得統治權或化解外交爭端。在瑪雅與韋拉克魯斯文明中，球賽的賭注甚至更大：某些儀式性比賽的落敗者會被獻祭。

The specifics are unclear， but some courts are decorated with panels depicting the gory sacrifice of losing players. Sacrifice and sport are closely related in a Maya creation myth， too： It shows a pair of ball-playing twins defeating the lords of the underworld on the court. They go on to become the sun and the moon.

獻祭的具體細節暫且不明，但某些球場的裝飾板上繪有敗方球員遭血腥獻祭的場景。在瑪雅創世神話中，獻祭也和運動緊密相關：一對球技出眾的雙生子在球場上打敗了冥界的諸位領主。他們后來成為太陽與月亮。

Despite evidence that the losers sometimes got the literal axe9， says Miller， some 20th-century archaeologists refused to believe that anyone except the winners were killed. “They couldn’t believe that the Maya committed human sacrifice，” she said. “We now know that’s absolute hooey10， and so is the notion that any victorious player would be sacrificed.” In Maya mythology， the loser of the ball game is decapitated， and today’s scholars widely accept that losers， not winners， got the chop11.

米勒表示，盡管有證據表明敗方有時確實被砍掉了腦袋，但20世紀的某些考古學家拒絕相信除了贏家外的所有人都要被獻祭。“他們無法相信瑪雅人會進行人祭。”米勒說，“我們現在清楚那肯定是無稽之談。此外，連贏家都會被獻祭的說法也站不住腳。”瑪雅神話中的球賽落敗者會被斬首。現在的學者普遍認為丟掉腦袋的是輸家而非贏家。

British schools invent a new incarnation

英國學校發明了新形式

Though other cultures like Native Americans and Indigenous Australians played similar games， the modern sport that some people know as soccer—and many others know as football—was birthed in British schools. Although they had played variations of the game informally for centuries， the sport became formalized in the 19th century.

盡管美洲原住民與澳大利亞原住民等其他文化中也有類似的運動，但有人稱之為英式足球、其他許多人稱之為足球的這項現代運動卻誕生于英國的學校。英國人在幾百年間一直不拘形式地進行這項運動，但直到19世紀這項運動才正式定型。

In the mid-19th century， developments in transportation， labor， and technology gave people the leisure and means to travel to competitive matches on mown lawn fields. By the 1840s， a variety of British schools created their own standards of play， making it possible to hold tournaments among players who all knew the same rules.

19世紀中葉，交通、勞動力與技術得到發展，人們因此既有空閑，也有能力前往修剪平整的草坪參與競技比賽。到了19世紀40年代，英國的各種學校制定了各自的規則，于是熟知相同規則的球員之間可以舉辦聯賽。

Over time， two competing rule sets began dominating the sport. The Sheffield Football Club12 allowed teams a free kick13 if their competitor disobeyed the rules of play. Cambridge University forbade players to carry the ball in their hands.

隨著時間推移，兩套競賽規則漸漸成為主流。謝菲爾德足球俱樂部允許球隊在對手違反比賽規則的情況下踢任意球，劍橋大學則禁止球員用手觸球。

As the sport’s popularity ballooned14， players banded together in the London Football Association. In 1877， Sheffield officially adopted the so-called “London Rules.” By then， some teams had begun to recruit widely， secretly paying working-class league members.

隨著這項運動的快速普及，球員們聯合起來成立了倫敦足球協會。1877年，謝菲爾德足球俱樂部正式采用所謂的“倫敦規則”。當時，一些球隊已經開始廣泛招募球員，暗中向參與聯賽的工人階層球員支付報酬。

Upper-class footballers wanted the sport to remain amateur. But in 1885， they finally agreed to allow professional players， enabling a further boom in the sport. By 1904， the sport was so popular it had gone international， and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association （FIFA） began that same year.

上流社會的球員希望足球保持業余的性質。1885年，他們終于松口，允許職業球員參賽，足球這項運動因此得以進一步繁榮發展。到了1904年，足球已經風靡全球，國際足球聯合會也于同年成立。

Football today

當今的足球

Soccer’s success skyrocketed from there. After the sport debuted in the 1908 Olympic Games and the first FIFA World Cup in 1930， professional soccer flourished. Today， FIFA remains the sport’s governing body， raking in15 $755.5 million in 2021 alone.

足球自此一飛沖天。1908年足球首次被列為奧運會項目，1930年國際足聯世界杯首次舉行，職業足球由此開始蓬勃發展。目前，國際足聯仍然是足球運動的管理機構，僅2021年一年就輕松收入7.555億美元。

But the heart of the sport has always been on the field， where everyone from small children to seasoned16 pro athletes can enjoy the action. Soccer’s spirit， which Miller calls one of “intricate team thinking，” is alive and well17 both in modern incarnations of the ball game and the millions of amateur and pro players who run， weave， and kick their way down an official or makeshift soccer pitch every day.

但足球的核心永遠在綠茵場上，不論是稚齡兒童，還是老道的職業球員，所有人都能在場上盡情享受足球的樂趣。米勒將足球精神稱作一種“錯綜復雜的團隊思維”，這種精神不僅在各種現代足球形式中長盛不衰，也在數百萬業余或職業球員中彰顯傳遞——在正式或臨時的足球場上，他們日復一日地奔跑、過人，向目標奮進。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）

1 kick極大的樂趣。? 2 sport樂趣；消遣。

3 Teotihuacano特奧蒂瓦坎人。特奧蒂瓦坎（Teotihuacan）是阿茲特克人到達今墨西哥中部之前，當地規模最大、地位最高的城市。1987年，聯合國教科文組織將特奧蒂瓦坎古城（Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan）列入《世界遺產名錄》。? 4 Aztec阿茲特克人。15世紀到16世紀初，阿茲特克印第安人在今墨西哥的中部和南部建立帝國。? 5 Maya瑪雅人。瑪雅文明是約公元前2500年至15世紀中美洲的古代印第安人文明。? 6 be in play（球類運動）在非死球的區域；在可繼續比賽的區域。? 7 約7.26千克。

8 韋拉克魯斯文明，也叫墨西哥灣古典文明，是位于今墨西哥東部韋拉克魯斯州一帶的前哥倫布時期印第安人文明。

9 get the axe被斬首。? 10 hooey胡說八道；廢話。? 11 get the chop被殺死。

12 謝菲爾德足球俱樂部是世界上最早成立并參與現代足球賽事的球隊，也是英國有記錄證明的最古老的足球俱樂部。? 13 free kick任意球。? 14 balloon（突然）膨脹；漲大。

15 rake in〈習語〉賺大錢（尤指輕易地）。? 16 seasoned富有經驗的；老道的。? 17 alive and well生機勃勃；長盛不衰。