Football – or soccer – has officially been around since the 1860s. However, did players only start to get carded in the 1970s?
VERDICT:
TRUE
Officially, football was introduced to the world in 1863 when a series of meetings involving clubs from metropolitan London and surrounding counties produced the printed rules of the sport. By 1870, all handling of the ball except by the goalkeeper was prohibited by the then newly-formed Football Association (FA).
It was only in the 1970 World Cup that the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (Fifa) adopted the colour-coded yellow and red penalty card system.
Prior to that, players were sent off verbally by match referees. In 1962, referee Ken Aston, who was officiating a World Cup match between Chile and Italy, had sent off Italy's Giorgio Ferrini but couldn’t communicate precisely due to the language barrier. The player refused to leave the field of play and local police had to intervene.
Aston later headed Fifa's Referees' Committee in 1966. He then approached Fifa with his idea of a penalty card system that would negate the language barrier entirely.
According to an interview, Aston got the idea when he was stopped at a traffic light junction, and thought that the yellow and red cards would clearly let players and officials know that they had been cautioned or sent off.
The first time the system was implemented was during the 1970 World Cup. It proved to be a success and was gradually introduced all over the world.
The first ever official red card was given during the 1974 World Cup in West Germany. Chilean forward Carlos Caszely was sent off after receiving a second yellow card.
The most cards ever presented in a professional game was deemed the "Battle of Nuremberg", where Russian referee Valentin Ivanov – in a match between Portugal and Netherlands during Euro 2006 – had administered four red cards and 16 yellow cards.
The player who holds the most red cards in the history of football is former Colombian international Gerardo Bedoya, who received a staggering 46 red cards throughout his career.
Sources:
https://theathletic.com/3914522/2022/11/25/world-cup-red-card-history/?amp=1
https://www.football-stadiums.co.uk/articles/yellow-and-red-cards/
https://olympics.com/en/news/football-yellow-card-rules-history
https://www.thehealthyjournal.com/faq/what-is-the-quickest-ever-red-card-in-football
