The oldest soccer-like sport was played over 2,000 years
ago in ancient Chinese, Greek, and Roman cultures.While it had originally been played largely by public school teams, workplace-based teams began to emerge in the 1900s.Talented players were paid, and as a result of workplace- team matches, soccer became a revenue-generating spectator sport.The association established rules which continued to evolve.One of those rules, that the ball could not be carried by hand, resulted in the official separation between the sports of soccer and rugby.