Portal:Association football

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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each, who primarily use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular-framed goal defended by the opposing team. Traditionally, the game has been played over two 45-minute halves, for a total match time of 90 minutes. With an estimated 250 million players active in over 200 countries and territories, it is the world's most popular sport.

The game of association football is played in accordance with the Laws of the Game, a set of rules that has been in effect since 1863 and maintained by the IFAB since 1886. The game is played with a football that is 68–70 cm (27–28 in) in circumference. The two teams compete to score goals by getting the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts, under the bar, and fully across the goal line). When the ball is in play, the players mainly use their feet, but may also use any other part of their body, such as their head, chest and thighs, except for their hands or arms, to control, strike, or pass the ball. Only the goalkeepers may use their hands and arms, and only then within the penalty area. The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner. There are situations where a goal can be disallowed, such as an offside call or a foul in the build-up to the goal. Depending on the format of the competition, an equal number of goals scored may result in a draw being declared, or the game goes into extra time or a penalty shoot-out.

Internationally, association football is governed by FIFA. Under FIFA, there are six continental confederations: AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC, and UEFA. Of these confederations, CONMEBOL is the oldest one, being founded in 1916. National associations (e.g. The FA or JFA) are responsible for managing the game in their own countries both professionally and at an amateur level, and coordinating competitions in accordance with the Laws of the Game. The most senior and prestigious international competitions are the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Women's World Cup. The men's World Cup is the most-viewed sporting event in the world, surpassing the Olympic Games. The two most prestigious competitions in European club football are the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Women's Champions League, which attract an extensive television audience throughout the world. Since 2009, the final of the men's tournament has been the most-watched annual sporting event in the world. (Full article...)

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Priestfield Stadium during a match.

Priestfield Stadium is a football stadium in Gillingham, Kent. It has been the home of Gillingham Football Club since the club's formation in 1893 and the first recorded game played there was on 2 September 1893 when the club played Woolwich Arsenal's reserve team.

In 1955 the pitch, which was on a slope and had also been used as grazing for local Sheep at the turn of the century, was relaid along with further refurbishments to the terraces. Priestfield underwent extensive redevelopment during the late 1990s, which has brought its capacity down to a current figure of 11,582. It has four all-seater stands, all constructed since 1997 and has also been the temporary home of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club as well as hosting England Women's and Youth international matches.

In 2004 the ground was voted as "the worst football ground in England" in a poll by The Guardian and 36% of respondents labelled it "the ugliest building in the town" in a separate poll in 2006. (Full article...)

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Mido in 2008

Ahmed Hossam Hussein Abdelhamid (born February 23, 1983 in Cairo, Egypt), commonly known as Mido, is an Egyptian footballer who plays in the position of striker.

Mido started his career with El-Zamalek in Egypt in 1999 and left the club for K.A.A. Gent of Belgium in 2000 where he won the Belgian Ebony Shoe, this led to a move to Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam in 2001. A player with a fiery temperament, Mido has clashed with players and coaching staff in a number of clubs that he has subsequently played for including - Celta Vigo, Olympique de Marseille, A.S. Roma and Tottenham Hotspur. At one point he was relegated to playing for the A.S. Roma reserve team due to breaking club disciplinary rules. He has attracted high prices for his services, moving to Marseille for €12 million in 2003 and £6 million for his transfer to Premier League club Middlesbrough in 2007. As such he is one of the most valuable Egyptian-born players in footballing history.

Mido is an international player for Egypt and has amassed over 40 caps and scored in excess of 15 goals. However, his career with Egypt has been struck by controversy, having twice been banned from selection by the national team. (Full article...)

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The Football Association or the FA is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the amateur and professional game in its territory.

The FA facilitates all competitive football matches within its remit at national level, and indirectly at local level through the county football associations. It runs numerous competitions, the most famous of which is the FA Cup. It is also responsible for appointing the management of the men's, women's, and youth national football teams. (Full article...)

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... that Carlton Town F.C., now competing at the eighth tier of the English football pyramid, was once denied promotion by a hat-trick scored by future England international Jamie Vardy?
... that after his soccer career, Steve Palacios enlisted in the United States Army and played for the United States Armed Forces soccer team?
... that Welsh footballer Jon Morgan went on to become a college principal after retiring?
... that goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse, who has lived in England, Africa and the US, has been chosen to play soccer for the Republic of Ireland?
... that Ryan Roberts, a defensive end for Notre Dame, was a soccer player in high school?
... that Ecuadorian footballer Hernán Galíndez won a bicycle for beating a team featuring Lionel Messi when they were children?

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FC Barcelona

Credit: Public domain

An advertisement published on October 22, 1899 in the magazine Los Deportes on behalf of Joan Gamper requesting that anyone interested in playing football in the area contacts him. This note led to the eventual creation of FC Barcelona.

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If God had wanted us to play football in the clouds, he'd have put grass up there.

— Brian Clough, on his dislike for long balls

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The following are images from various association football-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Drawing of the first international game by artist William Ralston (from History of association football)
Image 2FC de Rakt DA1 (2008/2009) (from Women's association football)
Image 3United States Abby Wambach plays off a corner kick against Canada.
Image 4The Royal Engineers team who reached the first FA Cup final in 1872 (from History of association football)
Image 5Sam Kerr with Australia during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinal against Japan in Edmonton, 2015 (from Women's association football)
Image 6Mia Hamm (left) battles with German defender Kerstin Stegemann (from Women's association football)
Image 7Arsenal in 2007 of the Women's FA Cup. (from Women's association football)
Image 8"North" team of the British Ladies' Football Club, 1895 (from Women's association football)
Image 9Portland Thorns traveling supporters at Seattle's Memorial Stadium. (from Women's association football)
Image 10When first introduced in 1891, the penalty was awarded for offences within 12 yards of the goal-line. (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 11Representation of a football match from the book Athletics and football, 1894 (from History of association football)
Image 12Olympique Lyonnais vs Paris Saint-Germain. (from Women's association football)
Image 13An early draft of the original hand-written 'Laws of the Game' drawn up on behalf of The Football Association by Ebenezer Cobb Morley in 1863 on display at the National Football Museum, Manchester. (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 14Marta of Brazil is the all-time leading scorer of the senior FIFA World Cups. (from Women's association football)
Image 15Iran vs Turkey in 2010 Youth Olympics (from Women's association football)
Image 16The Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies (from Women's association football)
Image 17Cricket and Foot-Ball, one of the earliest books about association football, published by Beadle & Co. in New York in 1866. It contained the rules and laws of the game (from History of association football)
Image 18A Welsh women's football team pose for a photograph in 1959 (from Women's association football)
Image 19Harrow School team of 1867. (from History of association football)
Image 20Striker Cristiana Girelli and coach Rita Guarino of Juventus in 2019. Juventus is one of the most storied and successful football clubs in Italy. (from Women's association football)
Image 21Sheffield F.C. (here pictured in 1876) is the oldest association club still active, having been founded in 1857 (from History of association football)
Image 22Old Etonians v Blackburn Rovers match. Illustration by S.T. Dadd, 1882 (from History of association football)
Image 23Florida state vs North Carolina soccer 2005. (from Women's association football)
Image 24Iran women's national football team maintained a higher rank internationally. (from Women's association football)
Image 25From 1866 to 1883, the laws provided for a tape between the goalposts (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 26Players fighting for the ball during the match between Germany and Norway in UEFA Women's Euro 2009 in Tampere, Finland. (from Women's association football)
Image 27Megan Rapinoe speaks on equal pay in March 2021. (from Women's association football)
Image 28The official record attendance for a women's football match was set at Camp Nou on 22 April 2022, with 91,648 people watching Barcelona defeat Wolfsburg 5–1 (pictured). (from Women's association football)
Image 29Japanese high-school girls playing football in their traditional hakama with one team wearing sashes (c. 1920) (from Women's association football)

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The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial championship of women's national soccer teams organized by FIFA. It was held in the United States from September 20 to October 12, 2003, at six venues in six cities across the country. The tournament was won by Germany, who became the first country to win both the men's and women's World Cup.

China was originally awarded the right to host the tournament, which would have taken place from September 23 to October 11 in four cities. A severe outbreak of SARS in early 2003 affected Guangdong in southern China and prompted FIFA to move the Women's World Cup to the United States, who had hosted the previous edition in 1999. China was instead granted hosting rights for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup and financial compensation while the United States Soccer Federation made new arrangements to host at smaller stadiums. (Full article...)

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York City F.C.

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... that the year after going into administration, Huddersfield Town gained promotion to the Second Division by winning the 2004 Football League Third Division play-off Final? (27 April 2021)
... that a team including bricklayers, assistant bank managers and insurance clerks defeated Coventry City in the third round of the FA Cup in 1989? (5 April 2021)
... that Cheltenham Town lost the 2012 Football League Two play-off Final, their first defeat in nine play-off matches? (6 March 2021)
... that South African association footballer Amanda Sister has played for clubs in Hungary and Italy? (9 March 2021)
... that the 1991 Football League Fourth Division play-off Final was the first Football League play-off to be decided by a penalty shoot-out? (13 March 2021)
... that Tranmere Rovers players were each promised a £10,000 bonus for winning the 1991 Football League Third Division play-off Final? (12 April 2021)