Football

Football

Football

Introduction

Football is an amazing, exciting team sport. A full game of football (also called soccer) has 11 players per side, but games with fewer players are played too. The aim is to kick or head the football into the other team's net to score a goal. The team who scores the most goals wins the game! Players line up in rows of defenders, midfielders and attackers. This is called a team's formation. Players can control and move the ball with any part of their body except their hands and arms. Goalkeeper's lane on (each side) is the only players who can handle the ball, providing they stay in their penalty area.

About Football

Goals win football matches. That is why teams fear playing against a side that has leading goal scorers. One of the things that make football so exciting is that anyone in a team can score a goal. When you are playing in a match, you need to react quickly and shoot for goal accurately. To score a goal the whole of the ball must cross the goal line in between the goal posts. When you play, remember that your shot may hit a defender or bounce off the post. This may give you another chance to score. (Francis, 2009)

A full-size pitch covers a large area about 100 meters Long and between 65 and 70 meters wide. The edges of the pitch are marked with sidelines and, at each end, goal Lines. A halfway line divides the pitch in two. A game starts with one side kicking off from the centre spot. None of the other team's players is allowed inside the centre circle until the kick-off has happened. The game continues until the ball goes out of play. This is when the whole of the ball passes over a sideline or goal line. It matters which team touches the ball last.

Both the varieties of football that originally hailed from Britain, the Rugby and Association games, have probably never been as popular as they are now. The association game, or soccer as it has become known, now almost globally popular and judging by the last few World Cups; before long a team from Asia, Africa or North America will go on to win the trophy. Rugby's progress has been less dramatic, but the game is becoming increasingly international and is surely destined to continue to expand. Of course, periodically it is likely that both varieties of football will be afflicted by problems stemming from a downturn in the world economy and difficulties generated by financial mismanagement. Collectively, however, their future appears bright. Peculiarly enough, despite this very little is known about the origins of modem football and many questions relating to its growth and development remain unanswered.

Background

Football is a very old game, especially in Britain. Why, then, did it not become a major commercial sport until the final quarter of the nineteenth century? By then, many other sports in Britain, notably horse racing, cricket and boxing, had long been major commercial ...