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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New Brompton F.C. (later Gillingham F.C.) in 1894.

Gillingham Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent, currently playing in the Football League One. The only Kent-based club in the Football League, they play their home matches at KRBS Priestfield Stadium.

The club was founded in 1893 and joined the Football League in 1920. They were voted out of the league in favour of Ipswich Town at the end of the 1937–38 season, but returned to it 12 years later after it was expanded from 88 to 92 clubs. Twice in the late 1980s they came close to winning promotion to the second tier of English football, but a decline then set in and in 1993 they narrowly avoided relegation to the Football Conference. Between 2000 and 2005, Gillingham were in the second tier of the English league for the only time in their history, achieving a club record highest league finish of eleventh place in 2002–03. (Full article...)

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Adam Boyd (born 25 May 1982 in Hartlepool) is an English footballer. Boyd, who plays as a striker, started playing whilst attending Grange Primary School. He was included in the under-11 team when 7 years of age and went on to play for Sunday League team Hartlepool St. Francis before being offered a trial by Middlesbrough F.C.. Middlesbrough declined to sign him to a youth contract and recommended him to local team Hartlepool United with whom he agreed an apprenticeship in 1998.

He began his professional career with Hartlepool in 1999 but did not make a lasting impact on the team until 2004 when he scored 12 goals in 10 appearances. He was one of League One's top goalscorers the following season and scored one of his most spectacular goals during a game against Sheffield Wednesday. Boyd received the ball outside the box and faked his way past two players before curving it over Wednesday goalkeeper Paul Gallacher. This goal earned him two awards, Hartlepool United's Goal of the Season 2005 and the North East Goal of the Season 2005, and he was also named Hartlepool United's Players' Player of the Year.

Boyd was injured in a game against Yeovil Town in 2006 which resulted in him having to receive treatment for a bruised leg bone, the treatment of this injury did not go as planned and he contracted a blood infection which saw him in rehabilitation for five months. During this period he transferred to Luton Town but his lack of form, the result of such a long period out of regular training, saw him lag behind the rest of the team in terms of fitness and match sharpness. He was released from his contract and moved to Leyton Orient in July 2007. (Full article...)

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The Scottish Football Association (also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA; Scots: Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA include clubs in Scotland, affiliated national associations as well as local associations. It was formed in 1873, making it the second oldest national football association in the world. It is not to be confused with the Scottish Football Union, which is the name that the SRU was known by until the 1920s.

The Scottish Football Association is a member of both UEFA and FIFA and holds a permanent seat on the International Football Association Board (IFAB) which is responsible for the Laws of the Game. It is based at Hampden Park in Glasgow. In addition, the Scottish Football Museum is located there. (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 Welsh footballer Jon Morgan went on to become a college principal after retiring?
... that Ecuadorian footballer Hernán Galíndez won a bicycle for beating a team featuring Lionel Messi when they were children?
... that after his soccer career, Steve Palacios enlisted in the United States Army and played for the United States Armed Forces soccer team?
... 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?

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Ghana national football team

Credit: cs.wikipedia user Koky

Appearing in the World Cup for the first time, Ghana came second in Group E of the 2006 FIFA World Cup and were beaten in the Round of 16 by Brazil. Their group wins over the Czech Republic (pictured) and the United States were one of the biggest surprises of the tournament.

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Football is simple, but the most difficult thing is to play simple football.

— Johann Cruyff

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

Image 1Japanese high-school girls playing football in their traditional hakama with one team wearing sashes (c. 1920) (from Women's association football)
Image 2Harrow School team of 1867. (from History of association football)
Image 3When 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 4A Welsh women's football team pose for a photograph in 1959 (from Women's association football)
Image 5United States Abby Wambach plays off a corner kick against Canada.
Image 6Representation of a football match from the book Athletics and football, 1894 (from History of association football)
Image 7Megan Rapinoe speaks on equal pay in March 2021. (from Women's association football)
Image 8Striker 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 9Marta of Brazil is the all-time leading scorer of the senior FIFA World Cups. (from Women's association football)
Image 10The Royal Engineers team who reached the first FA Cup final in 1872 (from History of association football)
Image 11Association football history (from History of association football)
Image 12From 1866 to 1883, the laws provided for a tape between the goalposts (from Laws of the Game (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 14Portland Thorns traveling supporters at Seattle's Memorial Stadium. (from Women's association football)
Image 15Old Etonians v Blackburn Rovers match. Illustration by S.T. Dadd, 1882 (from History of association football)
Image 16Iran vs Turkey in 2010 Youth Olympics (from Women's association football)
Image 17Florida state vs north carolina soccer 2005. (from Women's association football)
Image 18Drawing of the first international game by artist William Ralston (from History of association football)
Image 19Sheffield F.C. (here pictured in 1876) is the oldest association club still active, having been founded in 1857 (from History of association football)
Image 20"North" team of the British Ladies' Football Club, 1895 (from Women's association football)
Image 21Sam Kerr with Australia during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinal against Japan in Edmonton, 2015 (from Women's association football)
Image 22The 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 23Players 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 24Arsenal in 2007 of the Women's FA Cup. (from Women's association football)
Image 25Iran women's national football team maintained a higher rank internationally. (from Women's association football)
Image 26The Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies (from Women's association football)
Image 27Mia Hamm (left) battles with German defender Kerstin Stegemann (from Women's association football)
Image 28Olympique Lyonnais vs Paris Saint-Germain. (from Women's association football)
Image 29FC de Rakt DA1 (2008/2009) (from Women's association football)

Selected World Cup

Pos	Grp	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	B	Argentina	3	1	1	1	3	2	+1	3	Advance to knockout stage
2	D	Colombia	3	1	1	1	3	2	+1	3
3	F	Netherlands	3	0	3	0	2	2	0	3
4	E	Uruguay	3	1	1	1	2	3	−1	3
5	A	Austria	3	1	0	2	2	3	−1	2
6	C	Scotland	3	1	0	2	2	3	−1	2

Source: FIFA

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... that, such was his popularity with the club's supporters, when footballer Hughie Ferguson was sold by Motherwell F.C., the local steel works closed to allow workers to wave him off? (31 March 2021)
... that both Robbie Williams and Michael Jackson played for Blackpool in the 2007 Football League One play-off Final? (24 March 2021)
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