Post: Football/Soccer
10-03-2010, 10:21 PM #1
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Association Football

Association football, commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is the world's most popular sport.
The game is played on a rectangular field of grass or green artificial turf, with a goal in the middle of each of the short ends. The object of the game is to score by driving the ball into the opposing goal. In general play, the goalkeepers are the only players allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms, while the field players typically use their feet to kick the ball into position, occasionally using their torso or head to intercept a ball in midair. The team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is tied at the end of the game, either a draw is declared or the game goes into extra time and/or a penalty shootout, depending on the format of the competition.
The Laws of the Game published in England by the Football Association in 1863 remain the basis for the way the sport is played today. Football is governed internationally by FIFA which organises the World Cup every four years.


Etymology

The rules of football were codified in England by the Football Association in 1863 and the name association football was coined to distinguish the game from the other forms of football played at the time, specifically rugby football. The term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford "-er" abbreviation of the word "association".
Today the sport is known as football in English-speaking countries in which it is the most popular football code; where other codes are more popular, the sport is more commonly referred to as soccer. Non-English-speaking countries predominantly use a variation of football, such as Spanish fútbol, Portuguese futebol or German Fußball. In Italian, conversely, it is known as Calcio, after a 16th Century version of Football.


Gameplay

Football is played in accordance with a set of rules known as the Laws of the Game. The game is played using a single spherical ball, known as the football. Two teams of eleven players each compete to get the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts and under the bar), thereby scoring a goal. The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner; if both teams have scored an equal number of goals then the game is a draw. Each team is led by a captain.
The primary law is that players other than goalkeepers may not deliberately handle the ball with their hands or arms during play, though they do use their hands during a throw-in restart. Although players usually use their feet to move the ball around, they may use any part of their bodies other than their hands or arms. Within normal play, all players are free to play the ball in any direction and move throughout the pitch, though the ball cannot be received in an offside position.
In typical game play, players attempt to create goal-scoring opportunities through individual control of the ball, such as by dribbling, passing the ball to a team-mate, and by taking shots at the goal, which is guarded by the opposing goalkeeper. Opposing players may try to regain control of the ball by intercepting a pass or through tackling the opponent in possession of the ball; however, physical contact between opponents is restricted. Football is generally a free-flowing game, with play stopping only when the ball has left the field of play or when play is stopped by the referee for an infringement of the rules. After a stoppage, play recommences with a specified restart.


A goalkeeper dives to stop the ball from entering his goal
At a professional level, most matches produce only a few goals. For example, the 2005–06 season of the English Premier League produced an average of 2.48 goals per match. The Laws of the Game do not specify any player positions other than goalkeeper, but a number of specialised roles have evolved. Broadly, these include three main categories: strikers, or forwards, whose main task is to score goals; defenders, who specialise in preventing their opponents from scoring; and midfielders, who dispossess the opposition and keep possession of the ball in order to pass it to the forwards on their team. Players in these positions are referred to as outfield players, in order to distinguish them from the single goalkeeper. These positions are further subdivided according to the area of the field in which the player spends most time. For example, there are central defenders, and left and right midfielders. The ten outfield players may be arranged in any combination. The number of players in each position determines the style of the team's play; more forwards and fewer defenders creates a more aggressive and offensive-minded game, while the reverse creates a slower, more defensive style of play. While players typically spend most of the game in a specific position, there are few restrictions on player movement, and players can switch positions at any time. The layout of a team's players is known as a formation. Defining the team's formation and tactics is usually the prerogative of the team's manager.


History

The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played at the public schools of England.
The Cambridge Rules, first drawn up at Cambridge University in 1848, were particularly influential in the development of subsequent codes, including association football. The Cambridge Rules were written at Trinity College, Cambridge, at a meeting attended by representatives from Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Winchester and Shrewsbury schools. They were not universally adopted. During the 1850s, many clubs unconnected to schools or universities were formed throughout the English-speaking world, to play various forms of football. Some came up with their own distinct codes of rules, most notably the Sheffield Football Club, formed by former public school pupils in 1857,
which led to formation of a Sheffield FA in 1867. In 1862, John Charles Thring of Uppingham School also devised an influential set of rules.
These ongoing efforts contributed to the formation of The Football Association (The FA) in 1863, which first met on the morning of 26 October 1863 at the Freemasons' Tavern in Great Queen Street, London. The only school to be represented on this occasion was Charterhouse. The Freemason's Tavern was the setting for five more meetings between October and December, which eventually produced the first comprehensive set of rules. At the final meeting, the first FA treasurer, the representative from Blackheath, withdrew his club from the FA over the removal of two draft rules at the previous meeting: the first allowed for running with the ball in hand; the second for obstructing such a run by hacking (kicking an opponent in the shins), tripping and holding. Other English rugby football clubs followed this lead and did not join the FA, or subsequently left the FA and instead in 1871 formed the Rugby Football Union. The eleven remaining clubs, under the charge of Ebenezer Cobb Morley, went on to ratify the original thirteen laws of the game. These rules included handling of the ball by "marks" and the lack of a crossbar, rules which made it remarkably similar to Victorian rules football being developed at that time in Australia. The Sheffield FA played by its own rules until the 1870s with the FA absorbing some of its rules until there was little difference between the games.
The laws of the game are currently determined by the International Football Association Board (IFAB). The Board was formed in 1886 after a meeting in Manchester of The Football Association, the Scottish Football Association, the Football Association of Wales, and the Irish Football Association. The world's oldest football competition is the FA Cup, which was founded by C. W. Alcock and has been contested by English teams since 1872. The first official international football match took place in 1872 between Scotland and England in Glasgow, again at the instigation of C. W. Alcock. England is home to the world's first football league, which was founded in Birmingham in 1888 by Aston Villa director William McGregor. The original format contained 12 clubs from the Midlands and the North of England. FIFA, the international football body, was formed in Paris in 1904 and declared that they would adhere to Laws of the Game of the Football Association. The growing popularity of the international game led to the admittance of FIFA representatives to the International Football Association Board in 1913. The board currently consists of four representatives from FIFA and one representative from each of the four British associations.
Today, football is played at a professional level all over the world. Millions of people regularly go to football stadiums to follow their favourite teams, while billions more watch the game on television or on the internet. A very large number of people also play football at an amateur level. According to a survey conducted by FIFA published in 2001, over 240 million people from more than 200 countries regularly play football. While football has the highest global television audience in sport, its simple rules and minimal equipment requirements at amateur level, have no doubt aided its growth in terms of participation.
In many parts of the world football evokes great passions and plays an important role in the life of individual fans, local communities, and even nations. The Côte d'Ivoire national football team helped secure a truce to the nation's civil war in 2006 and it helped further reduce tensions between government and rebel forces in 2007 by playing a match in the rebel capital of Bouaké, an occasion that brought both armies together peacefully for the first time. By contrast, football is widely considered to be the final proximate cause in the Football War in June 1969 between El Salvador and Honduras. The sport also exacerbated tensions at the beginning of the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, when a match between Dinamo Zagreb and Red Star Belgrade devolved into rioting in March 1990.


Ball in and out of play

Under the Laws, the two basic states of play during a game are ball in play and ball out of play. From the beginning of each playing period with a kick-off until the end of the playing period, the ball is in play at all times, except when either the ball leaves the field of play, or play is stopped by the referee. When the ball becomes out of play, play is restarted by one of eight restart methods depending on how it went out of play:


A player takes a free kick, while the opposition form a "wall" in order to try to deflect the ball
Kick-off: following a goal by the opposing team, or to begin each period of play.
Throw-in: when the ball has wholly crossed the touchline; awarded to opposing team to that which last touched the ball.
Goal kick: when the ball has wholly crossed the goal line without a goal having been scored and having last been touched by a player of the attacking team; awarded to defending team.
Corner kick: when the ball has wholly crossed the goal line without a goal having been scored and having last been touched by a player of the defending team; awarded to attacking team.
Indirect free kick: awarded to the opposing team following "non-penal" fouls, certain technical infringements, or when play is stopped to caution or send-off an opponent without a specific foul having occurred. A goal may not be scored directly from an indirect free kick.
Direct free kick: awarded to fouled team following certain listed "penal" fouls. A goal may be scored directly from a direct free kick.
Penalty kick: awarded to the fouled team following a foul usually punishable by a direct free kick but that has occurred within their opponent's penalty area.
Dropped-ball: occurs when the referee has stopped play for any other reason, such as a serious injury to a player, interference by an external party, or a ball becoming defective. This restart is uncommon in adult games.


International Competitions

The major international competition in football is the World Cup, organised by FIFA. This competition takes place over a four-year period. More than 190 national teams compete in qualifying tournaments within the scope of continental confederations for a place in the finals. The finals tournament, which is held every four years, involves 32 national teams competing over a four-week period. The most recent tournament, the 2010 FIFA World Cup, was held in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July.
There has been a football tournament at every Summer Olympic Games since 1900, except at the 1932 games in Los Angeles. Before the inception of the World Cup, the Olympics (especially during the 1920s) had the same status as the World Cup. Originally, the event was for amateurs only, however, since the 1984 Summer Olympics professional players have been permitted, albeit with certain restrictions which prevent countries from fielding their strongest sides. Currently, the Olympic men's tournament is played at Under-23 level. In the past the Olympics have allowed a restricted number of over-age players per team; but that practice ceased in the 2008 Olympics. The Olympic competition is not generally considered to carry the same international significance and prestige as the World Cup. A women's tournament was added in 1996; in contrast to the men's event, full international sides without age restrictions play the women’s Olympic tournament. It thus carries international prestige considered comparable to that of the FIFA Women's World Cup.
After the World Cup, the most important international football competitions are the continental championships, which are organised by each continental confederation and contested between national teams. These are the European Championship (UEFA), the Copa América (CONMEBOL), African Cup of Nations (CAF), the Asian Cup (AFC), the CONCACAF Gold Cup (CONCACAF) and the OFC Nations Cup (OFC). The FIFA Confederations Cup is contested by the winners of all 6 continental championships, the current FIFA World Cup champions and the country which is hosting the Confederations Cup. This is generally regarded as a warm up tournament for the upcoming FIFA World Cup and does not carry the same prestige as the World Cup itself. The most prestigious competitions in club football are the respective continental championships, which are generally contested between national champions, for example the UEFA Champions League in Europe and the Copa Libertadores de América in South America. The winners of each continental competition contest the FIFA Club World Cup.


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The following 2 users say thank you to Inferno_Ace for this useful post:

Tomahawk, x-slippyslugg
10-04-2010, 11:37 AM #11
Originally posted by D3SI View Post
Good Thread, Keep it up Happy

Thanks. Smile
Originally posted by PaaatcHz
Rugby is better Cool Man (aka Tustin)

We have our opinions.
Originally posted by b View Post
Lol i doubt anyone read all that.

I can bet if you love football, you will probably know 99% of that, the 1% being some of the history. It's a good read if you dont know anything about the sport.

To be honest, i thought it was going to be some sort of discussion on how football has become a growing sport in the US or something along them lines lol.

I still think it's pretty cool to read, even if you know most of it.
Originally posted by Dan0692 View Post
It's annoying that people in the US call a game where you mainly use your hands, football, and then give a stupid name to OUR football. It's stupid. Also we invented it so we should have the say on the name? Was invented before american football anyway

Yea, wish it could be changed. :(
10-04-2010, 11:52 AM #12
D3SI
Gym leader
Originally posted by Dan0692 View Post
It's annoying that people in the US call a game where you mainly use your hands, football, and then give a stupid name to OUR football. It's stupid. Also we invented it so we should have the say on the name? Was invented before american football anyway


should b called american handball or throwball LooL
10-04-2010, 12:09 PM #13
Dan0692
Molestation Enthusiast
Originally posted by D3SI View Post
should b called american handball or throwball LooL


Totally agree. We have the courtesy to call their football, by their name but ad the name of the country to avoid confusion. They gave our sport a stupid name. Soccer is a stupid word haha, if you said it in a pub or something you'd get trampled
10-04-2010, 12:19 PM #14
Marvin
I'm The Man!
Cool Info How Long Did It Take You?



=D
10-04-2010, 12:24 PM #15
D3SI
Gym leader
Originally posted by Dan0692 View Post
Totally agree. We have the courtesy to call their football, by their name but ad the name of the country to avoid confusion. They gave our sport a stupid name. Soccer is a stupid word haha, if you said it in a pub or something you'd get trampled


hahaha you would get trampled
10-04-2010, 01:59 PM #16
Originally posted by b View Post
Lol i doubt anyone read all that.

I can bet if you love football, you will probably know 99% of that, the 1% being some of the history. It's a good read if you dont know anything about the sport.

To be honest, i thought it was going to be some sort of discussion on how football has become a growing sport in the US or something along them lines lol.


football "soccer" is the most played sport in america

probbaly because its the cheapest all you need in 2 jumpers and a ball where as 95% of american sports need hundreds of $$ to even play


also football was invented in scotland :mudkip: (we stole a chinese ball and added some rules)

as it became popular in scotland the english adopted this sport and changed the rules

scotland and england had there own versions of football

english football eventualy morphed into rugby where as scottish football is the game we know now

the upper classes used to play both versions of football a half being 20-30 mins each football and rugby the assumed reson why is: football was a "pesants game" but it was extremely fun and to equal it out and bring some "respect" to the game the second half was made into the gentlemans game of rugby
10-04-2010, 02:07 PM #17
B u X
BITCHES LOVE CAKE
Originally posted by Me View Post
football "soccer" is the most played sport in america


Most played?? Maybe. Most popular?? Hard to believe, and that is what i was getting at.
10-04-2010, 02:11 PM #18
Originally posted by b View Post
Most played?? Maybe. Most popular?? Hard to believe, and that is what i was getting at.


most popular is american football closely followd by baseball.. but thats mainly because americans love there start and stop games (they can make millions off advertising in just 1 game) more money you make the more it gets shown on tv the more publicity = more people wanting to see it


more breaks = more money = more airtime = mass amouts of people seeing the sport = most popular

The following user thanked xSiiK---AT0MIK for this useful post:

Dan0692
10-04-2010, 08:12 PM #19
Originally posted by Flowz View Post
Cool Info How Long Did It Take You?



=D


lol, u know the answer.

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