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I’m not sure how well publicised the tournament is across the pond but Friday saw the start of Euro 2012, one of the largest football (soccer to you Americans) tournaments on the planet. The event takes place every four years halfway in-between World Cup years; this year 16 countries are competing to lift the cup on July 1st. Right now we’re still in the group stages with knock out rounds beginning on June 21st.
Football is a sport with a very long and complex history, and the Kick Off app from Leading Brands teaches us all about it. Taking the form of a virtual magazine or e-book Kick Off features photographs and embedded videos covering the history of football from 2BC-1962AD, from an Ancient Greek carving of a man playing Keepie Uppie to video taken during the 1962 World Cup in Chile. The app progresses in chronological order and is mainly focused on being educational – did you know that football dates back to a game called Tsu’ Chu that was played in China during the Han Dynasty in the second and third century BC? Or that playing football was banned by various royals in England as they believed it a “distraction from military practice”?
The app is really well designed; each scrolling page has the look of an infographic and has been optimised for the iPad’s retina display making it a joy to read (the app will automatically determine which iPad you own and download the correct version). Although it may be dull for those only interested in playing football, it will make for a fascinating read for anyone interested in sports and/or social history and it would make an amazing resource for a school history project. I’m not a football fan by any means, I only really watch when England play in the big tournaments, yet I found it interesting to read about the development of the sport and its ties to important events, people, and times. Conversely my husband isn’t a history buff yet he enthused about how interesting the app was as a fan of the sport instead.
Football has always been the game of the working classes and it has changed with them making the history of football into the history of the people. With Kick Off you can gain an amazing overview of this history in a well presented, easy-to-read format that could easily inspire an interest in history. What more can you ask for from 99 cents?
Kick Off is currently available in the iTunes App Store for $0.99. A copy of this app was provided free for this review.
