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 almost exclusively 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 that only 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 in England) 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 prestigious senior 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 club football are the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Women's Champions League, which attract an extensive television audience worldwide. The final of the men's tournament is the most-watched annual sporting event in the world. (Full article...)

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Leek Town F.C. in action in 2006

Leek Town Football Club is an English football club based in Leek, Staffordshire. Founded in 1946, the club played in a variety of local leagues before becoming founder members of the North West Counties League in 1982. They progressed to the Northern Premier League in 1987.

Leek Town reached the final of the FA Trophy in 1990, having progressed all the way from the First Qualifying Round, but lost in the final at Wembley Stadium to Barrow. In 1997 they were Northern Premier League champions and gained promotion to the Football Conference, the highest level of English non-league football, although they only spent two seasons at that level before being relegated.

Harrison Park has been the club's home ground since 1948 after paying £1,250 for the land, no other facilities were added until the 1950's and players had to change in the toilets of a nearby pub. Expanded and upgraded in the 1990s, the ground is named after former chairman Geoff Harrison. (Full article...)

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James Milner

James Milner (born January 4, 1986) is an English footballer who plays as a winger and left-sided midfielder.

Milner began his career at Leeds United by joining the club's academy in 1996, he was later taken on as a trainee. Milner made his inaugural appearance for the first-team in 2002, aged only 16 and became prominent by becoming the youngest player ever to score in the Premier League.

While at Leeds United, Milner spent time on loan at Swindon Town to gain experience as a first team player. Following his move to Newcastle United in 2004, he was loaned to Aston Villa for a season before establishing himself as a regular starter in the Newcastle first team.

A playmaker, he has made over a hundred appearances for the club, as well as making a record number of appearances for the England Under-21 side. He was part of the squad that reached the semi-finals of the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship before eventually losing 13-12 in a penalty shoot-out in which he scored twice. In October 2007, Milner scored Newcastle's 500th home Premier League goal in a 3–1 win over Tottenham Hotspur. (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 Ryan Roberts, a defensive end for Notre Dame, was a soccer player in high school?
... that after his soccer career, Steve Palacios enlisted in the United States Army and played for the United States Armed Forces soccer team?
... that Ecuadorian footballer Hernán Galíndez won a bicycle for beating a team featuring Lionel Messi when they were children?
... 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 goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse, who has lived in England, Africa and the US, has been chosen to play soccer for the Republic of Ireland?

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Battle of Santiago

Credit: Public Domain

On June 2, 1962, Chile played Italy in the 1962 FIFA World Cup. Known as The Battle of Santiago, it is derided as one of the most violent games of football ever. The first foul occurred after 12 seconds and Italy's Giorgio Ferrini was sent off in the twelfth minute after a foul on Honorino Landa. In the violence that followed, Leonel Sánchez broke Italian captain Humberto Maschio's nose with a left hook by accident. Chile won the match 2-0.

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We need a big, ugly defender. If we had one of them we'd have dealt with County's first goal by taking out the ball, the player and the first three rows of seats in the stands.

— Ian Holloway

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

Image 1When 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 2From 1866 to 1883, the laws provided for a tape between the goalposts (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 3Iran vs Turkey in 2010 Youth Olympics (from Women's association football)
Image 4Players 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 5Iran women's national football team maintained a higher rank internationally. (from Women's association football)
Image 6"North" team of the British Ladies' Football Club, 1895 (from Women's association football)
Image 7The 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 8A Welsh women's football team pose for a photograph in 1959 (from Women's association football)
Image 9Sheffield F.C. (here pictured in 1876) is the oldest association club still active, having been founded in 1857 (from History of association football)
Image 10Striker 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 11Olympique Lyonnais vs Paris Saint-Germain. (from Women's association football)
Image 12Sam Kerr with Australia during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinal against Japan in Edmonton, 2015 (from Women's association football)
Image 13Portland Thorns traveling supporters at Seattle's Memorial Stadium. (from Women's association football)
Image 14Harrow School team of 1867. (from History of association football)
Image 15United States Abby Wambach plays off a corner kick against Canada.
Image 16Drawing of the first international game by artist William Ralston (from History of association football)
Image 17FC de Rakt DA1 (2008/2009) (from Women's association football)
Image 18The Royal Engineers team who reached the first FA Cup final in 1872 (from History of association football)
Image 19An 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 20The Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies (from Women's association football)
Image 21Megan Rapinoe speaks on equal pay in March 2021. (from Women's association football)
Image 22Cricket 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 23Arsenal in 2007 of the Women's FA Cup. (from Women's association football)
Image 24Old Etonians v Blackburn Rovers match. Illustration by S.T. Dadd, 1882 (from History of association football)
Image 25Japanese high-school girls playing football in their traditional hakama with one team wearing sashes (c. 1920) (from Women's association football)
Image 26Marta of Brazil is the all-time leading scorer of the senior FIFA World Cups. (from Women's association football)
Image 27Representation of a football match from the book Athletics and football, 1894 (from History of association football)
Image 28Mia Hamm (left) battles with German defender Kerstin Stegemann (from Women's association football)
Image 29Florida state vs North Carolina soccer 2005. (from Women's association football)

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Tournament logo

The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was the third edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national soccer teams. It was hosted as well as won by the United States and took place from June 19 to July 10, 1999, at eight venues across the country. The tournament was the most successful FIFA Women's World Cup in terms of attendance, television ratings, and public interest.

The 1999 edition was the first to field sixteen teams, an increase from the twelve in 1995, and featured an all-female roster of referees and match officials. It was played primarily in large American football venues due to expected demand following the successful 1996 Olympics women's tournament. The average attendance was 37,319 spectators per match and the total attendance was 1.194 million, a record that stood until 2015. The tournament earned a profit of $4 million on its $30 million operating budget. (Full article...)