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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The Mariners home stadium.

Central Coast Mariners Football Club are an Australian professional football (soccer) team based on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia.

Formed in 2004, the Mariners participate in the A-League, being one of only three teams from New South Wales to play in the competition and the first professional club from the Central Coast to compete.

Despite being considered one of the smaller franchises at the inception of the A-League competition, Central Coast qualified for the first four domestic finals after their establishment. The Mariners had a successful first season, winning the 2005 Pre-Season Cup and losing in the A-League grand final to Sydney FC.

They made the final of the Pre-Season Cup again in 2006 but lost to Adelaide United and finished sixth in the 2006–07 A-League competition at the end of the season. (Full article...)

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Robbie Fowler

Robbie Fowler, (born 9 April 1975 in Liverpool) is an English footballer who plays as a striker.

Fowler's career began with Liverpool, with whom he made his début in 1993. He scored 120 premiership goals for Liverpool in an eight year period and was also voted the PFA Young Player of the Year in two consecutive years, 1995 and 1996. 1996 was also the year that he won a UEFA Fair Play award for admitting that he had not been fouled by David Seaman at Highbury after a penalty had been given.

Fowler moved on to Leeds United in 2001 and later Manchester City in 2003 before returning to Liverpool in January 2006 for a season. He signed a two-year contract with Cardiff City in July 2007.

He has been capped for England twenty-six times, scoring seven goals. The most recent of these appearances came in the 2002 World Cup. As of August 2007, Fowler is the fourth highest goalscorer in Premier League history. In 2005, Fowler was listed as one of the 1,000 wealthiest Britons by the Sunday Times Rich List. Business interests including a large property portfolio led to Fowler becoming the third wealthiest footballer in that year's selection. (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 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?
... that after his soccer career, Steve Palacios enlisted in the United States Army and played for the United States Armed Forces soccer team?

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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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Look!, We have two eyes, two legs, we are the same as them, the only difference is that they play in Europe.

— Cuauhtémoc Blanco, to his fellow Mexico players at the 1998 World Cup Finals

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

Image 1Old Etonians v Blackburn Rovers match. Illustration by S.T. Dadd, 1882 (from History of association football)
Image 2Representation of a football match from the book Athletics and football, 1894 (from History of association football)
Image 3Japanese high-school girls playing football in their traditional hakama with one team wearing sashes (c. 1920) (from Women's association football)
Image 4Iran vs Turkey in 2010 Youth Olympics (from Women's association football)
Image 5Mia Hamm (left) battles with German defender Kerstin Stegemann (from Women's association football)
Image 6Chelsea, a women's football club of London, England in 2020. (from Women's association football)
Image 7An 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 8From 1866 to 1883, the laws provided for a tape between the goalposts (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 9The Royal Engineers team who reached the first FA Cup final in 1872 (from History of association football)
Image 10Harrow School team of 1867. (from History of association football)
Image 11A Welsh women's football team pose for a photograph in 1959 (from Women's association football)
Image 12FC de Rakt DA1 (2008/2009) (from Women's association football)
Image 13Drawing of the first international game by artist William Ralston (from History of association football)
Image 14"North" team of the British Ladies' Football Club, 1895 (from Women's association football)
Image 15When 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 16Sheffield F.C. (here pictured in 1876) is the oldest association club still active, having been founded in 1857 (from History of association football)

Selected World Cup

Pos	Grp	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	D	Argentina	3	2	0	1	6	3	+3	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	F	Belgium	3	2	0	1	2	1	+1	6
3	A	United States	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
4	E	Italy	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
5	B	Russia	3	1	0	2	7	6	+1	3
6	C	South Korea	3	0	2	1	4	5	−1	2

Source: FIFA

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List of statistics and records

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List of Players of the Year

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... that the 1998 Football League Third Division play-off Final was the first play-off final to feature two brothers when Neil and David Gregory played for Colchester United? (20 March 2021)
... that both Robbie Williams and Michael Jackson played for Blackpool in the 2007 Football League One play-off Final? (24 March 2021)
... that Dwayne De Rosario is Canada's all-time leading male soccer goalscorer, with 22 international goals? (22 March 2021)
... that MLS Cup 2000 was the first championship game in league history not to feature D.C. United? (13 April 2021)
... that after his side won the 2008 Football League One play-off Final, Doncaster Rovers manager Sean O'Driscoll said he could "murder a cup of tea"? (9 February 2021)
... that Mark Cullen was named as League Two Player of the Month for October 2014 after scoring a perfect hat-trick? (3 April 2021)