Portal:Association football

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Association football, 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 get the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts, under the bar, and across the goal line), thereby scoring a goal. When the ball is in play, the players mainly use their feet, but may use any other part of their body, 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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82 winning squad at Villa part during the 25 year celebrations

Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and they have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founding members of the Football League in 1888 and the Premier League in 1992.

They are one of the oldest and most successful football clubs in England, having won the First Division Championship seven times and the FA Cup seven times. Villa are also one of only four English clubs to win the European Cup, which they did in 1982. Aston Villa is the fourth most successful club in English football history, having won over 20 major honours, although most of these were won before the Second World War.

They have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with local rivals Birmingham City and the Birmingham Derby between the two teams has been contested since 1879. Less heated rivalries exist with the other West Midlands clubs. (Full article...)

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Statue of Bert Trautmann

Bert Trautmann (born 22 October 1923 in Bremen, Germany) is a German football goalkeeper who played for Manchester City from 1949 to 1964. Raised during times of inter-war strife in Germany, Trautmann joined the Luftwaffe early in the Second World War, serving as a paratrooper and earning five medals including an Iron Cross. Captured by the British in the final stages of WWII, he was incarcerated in a POW camp in Lancashire, settling in the area on his release in 1948. He started his football career at local team St Helens Town after the war and was offered a contract by Manchester City in October 1949. The club's decision to sign a former Axis paratrooper sparked protests, with 20,000 people attending a demonstration. Over time he gained acceptance through his performances in the City goal, playing all but five of the club's next 250 matches.

Named FWA Footballer of the Year for 1956, Trautmann entered football folklore with his performance in the 1956 FA (Football Association) Cup Final. With 15 minutes of the match remaining Trautmann suffered a serious injury after diving at the feet of Birmingham City's Peter Murphy. Despite his injury he continued to play, making crucial saves to preserve his team's 3–1 lead. His neck was noticeably crooked as he collected his winners' medal; three days later an X-ray revealed it to be broken.

Trautmann continued to play for Manchester City until 1964, making 545 appearances. In 2004 he was appointed an honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for promoting Anglo-German understanding through football. (Full article...)

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The Brazilian Football Confederation (Portuguese: Confederação Brasileira de Futebol; CBF) is the governing body of football in Brazil. It was founded on Monday, 8 June 1914, as Federação Brasileira de Sports [pt], and renamed Confederação Brasileira de Desportos in 1916. The football confederation, as known today, separated from other sports associations on 24 September 1979. Between 1914 and 1979 it was the governing body, or at least the international reference, for other Olympic sports, such as tennis (until the CBT was founded in 1955), athletics (until the CBAt was founded in 1977), handball (until 1979), swimming and waterpolo. It currently has the most wins on FIFA world cups, with a total of five.

The CBF has its headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. The confederation owns a training center, named Granja Comary, located in Teresópolis. (Full article...)

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... that Welsh footballer Jon Morgan went on to become a college principal after retiring?
... 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 Ryan Roberts, a defensive end for Notre Dame, was a soccer player in high school?
... 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 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?

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football in Japan

Credit: Flickr user Jack French

A futsal pitch in use on the top of a tower block in Tokyo. The sport of football in Japan is organized professionally by the J.League and the Japan Football Association. Association football and its variants are some of the most popular sports in the country.

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It was the hand of God!

— Diego Maradona, referring to his goal against England in the 1986 World Cup

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

Image 1Harrow School team of 1867. (from History of association football)
Image 2Drawing of the first international game by artist William Ralston (from History of association football)
Image 3Yuki Ogimi (17) scores for Japan against the United States off a pass from Homare Sawa (10) as Kelley O'Hara (5) defends and Hope Solo (1) attempts to save. (from Women's association football)
Image 4Japanese high-school girls playing football in their traditional hakama with one team wearing sashes (c. 1920) (from Women's association football)
Image 5Marta wearing the Brazil number 10 during a match in the 2007 Pan American Games (from Women's association football)
Image 6Chelsea, a women's football club of London, England in 2020. (from Women's association football)
Image 7Representation of a football match from the book Athletics and football, 1894 (from History of association football)
Image 8The Royal Engineers team who reached the first FA Cup final in 1872 (from History of association football)
Image 9"North" team of the British Ladies' Football Club, 1895 (from Women's association football)
Image 10Sheffield F.C. (here pictured in 1876) is the oldest association club still active, having been founded in 1857 (from History of association football)
Image 11Old Etonians v Blackburn Rovers match. Illustration by S.T. Dadd, 1882 (from History of association football)
Image 12When 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 13Iran vs Turkey in 2010 Youth Olympics (from Women's association football)
Image 14FC de Rakt DA1 (2008/2009) (from Women's association football)
Image 15Abby Wambach and England captain Steph Houghton shake hands before kick off on February 13, 2015 (from Women's association football)
Image 16From 1866 to 1883, the laws provided for a tape between the goalposts (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 17A Welsh women's football team pose for a photograph in 1959 (from Women's association football)
Image 18An 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 19Mia Hamm (left) battles with German defender Kerstin Stegemann (from Women's association football)

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The 1970 FIFA World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for men's senior national teams. Held from 31 May to 21 June in Mexico, it was the first World Cup tournament held outside Europe and South America, and also the first held in North America. Teams representing 75 nations from all six populated continents entered the competition, and its qualification rounds began in May 1968. Fourteen teams qualified from this process to join host nation Mexico and defending champions England in the 16-team final tournament. El Salvador, Israel and Morocco made their debut appearances at the final stage.

In the tournament final, Brazil won 4–1 against Italy, another FIFA two-time champion (and UEFA Euro 1968 winner). Brazil also overcame another two-time champion and South American champions Uruguay, by 3–1 in the semi-final, and defending champions England 1–0 in the group stage as they were also eliminated by West Germany in the quarter-finals. This is currently the only time that the winning team defeated the European and South American champions alongside the tournament's defending champions. (Full article...)

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York City F.C.

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List of Clubmen of the Year

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... that after winning the 2004 Football League Second Division play-off Final, some of the Brighton & Hove Albion players dropped the trophy while celebrating and damaged it? (2 March 2021)
... that the opening goal of the 1992 Football League Third Division play-off Final was described as a "Russian linesman job"? (28 February 2021)
... that AFC Wimbledon were promoted for a sixth time since their formation in 2002 when they won the 2016 Football League Two play-off Final? (6 February 2021)
... 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, during his time in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, footballer Ernie Curtis would obtain extra food by teaching his captors how to play with a ball made of paper? (27 March 2021)
... that the 2020 EFL League Two play-off Final is believed to be the first competitive match played behind closed doors at Wembley Stadium? (13 January 2021)