The History of Soccer and How It Came to America The history of soccer is very interesting. There is some proof that people enjoyed kicking balls around as far back as 1004 B.C, when people would use animal hide to make their ball. It was played on a very small field and there were not very many rules regarding how to play it. Your sole purpose was to get the ball from here to there. Throughout history, there is some indication that during certain time periods, biting, gouging, and all other rough stuff was allowed during gameplay. There is also proof that it was at one time banned because it became too violent a sport and because it posed a distraction to the military during that time period, which was around the mid-1300s and early 1400s.