The OFC Women's Olympic Football Tournament between New Zealand and Papua New Guinea has been changed from a home and away play-off to a single fixture to be played on Saturday 8 March 2008 in Papua New Guinea.
The change was requested and agreed by mutual consent between the two associations and approved by FIFA together with the OFC.
The winner of the match will progress to the Women's Olympic Football Tournament in Beijing in August.
Thunderstorms and heavy rain are forecast for Port Moresby on Saturday along with temperatures up to 35 degrees Celsius but Kiwi coach John Herdman is confident his side has enough composure to keep their powder dry in the early running and enough class to prevail despite trying conditions.
"Most of our players have experience of playing in Papua New Guinea [in FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup qualifying last year] so know what to expect," said Herdman.
"There'll be a hostile crowd and the pitch won't be great. It'll be extremely hot and humid and Papua New Guinea will put 11 players behind the ball and try to frustrate us."
"But if we're patient, the goals will come because we've got the quality."
Changes through historyThe format for selecting Oceania's women's representative at the Olympic Games Women's Football Tournament, has changed each year since Oceania first gained entry in 2000.
In 2000, Australia, as host nation of the 2000 Olympic Games, qualified. In 2004, a tournament was held in Fiji, featuring the host nation, Australia and Papua New Guinea.
2008 marks the first Olympic Qualifiers since Australia switched confederations from OFC to Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on 1 January 2006. The winner of the tournament will be awarded direct entry to Beijing 2008.
New Zealand will head into the fixtures as hot favourites but will face a Papua New Guinea team who achieved its highest-ever placing at an OFC/FIFA World Cup qualifying event last year when it finished runners-up to New Zealand.
Papua New Guinea qualified for an Olympic Games showdown with the Football Ferns after winning the gold medal at the XIII South Pacific Games Women's Football Tournament in Samoa last year.
Papua New Guinea defeated Tonga 3-1 after extra-time to secure the South Pacific Games gold medal and clinch the Olympic Games qualifying berth against New Zealand.
New Zealand were seeded to the play-off stage and did not compete at the South Pacific Games.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
round off a week dominated by the return legs of the UEFA Champions League first knockout round, this weekend promises to be pretty lively in Europe's top leagues. In France, six-time champions Olympique Lyon will be looking to ram home their superiority when they play host to second-placed Bordeaux, while in England, Arsenal seek to extend their lead at the top of the Premiership. Inter Milan will want to celebrate their centenary in style, while Real Madrid and Bayern Munich both need to be on their guard.
Read on as FIFA.com brings you with an overview of this weekend's programme.
Premier League: onwards and upwards for ArsenalWith both Chelsea and Manchester United tied up with Cup duties, the Gunners will be looking to break away at the head of the table. Already one point in front of the Red Devils and a healthy seven in advance of the Blues (who have one match in hand), they travel to face Wigan. After outclassing none other than AC Milan this Tuesday in the Champions League, Arsene Wenger's braves will be confident they can build on their momentous triumph at the San Siro by beating a side struggling to avoid the drop.
Just behind the leading trio, a tight struggle is developing for the last Champions League qualifying spot. Everton make the trip to 12th-placed Sunderland, while Liverpool welcome crisis-stricken Newcastle. On Wednesday evening, the Reds tore apart West Ham 4-0 in a rescheduled league fixture, with Spaniard Fernando Torres becoming only the fourth player in the club's history to bag a hat trick in two consecutive home games (after the 3-2 win over Middlesbrough on 23 February). The question: Can Kevin Keegan secure the first league win of his new tenure? A tall order given that the Magpies will be visiting Anfield this Saturday. The big game: Liverpool - Newcastle United, Saturday 9 March 2008, 16:00 CET The quote: "The more we work together, the more influence the manager is having. The time has come for us to show what we can really do." (Alan Smith,NewcastleUnited striker)
Ligue 1: Gerland stages top-of-the-table clashCould the French title really hinge on just one game? After their elimination from the Champions League by Manchester United, Lyon now have to pick themselves up for one of the biggest challenges in their recent history. After six consecutive league titles, Juninho and his cohorts have never been so close to being pipped at the post. Winners of seven of their last nine league fixtures, Bordeaux now lie just three points behind Les Gones. If they return from the banks of the Rhone with three points, the Ligue 1 race will be thrown wide open.
With FC Metz already resigned to playing Ligue 2 football next season, the struggle to avoid filling the remaining two relegation places is really hotting up. After Rennes (14th) host Paris Saint-Germain (17th) and FC Sochaux (19th) pay their visit to Toulouse FC (18th) on Saturday, the picture should become a bit clearer.
The question: Having stormed from the relegation zone up to fourth place in just four months, how far can Olympique Marseille go? The big game: Olympique Lyon - Girondins Bordeaux, Sunday 9 March 2008, 20:55 CET The quote: "It's true, we've not had the same level of serenity this year. It feels as if things could go either way. The spirit in the squad is good but there's a lot that's being left unsaid, and that takes its toll. It's all going to have to come out in the open at some point, that's for sure." (Gregory Coupet, Olympique Lyon goalkeeper)
Serie A: Happy birthday Inter!When they welcome Reggina to the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium this Saturday, Inter Milan will be celebrating their centenary (read full story elsewhere). With a haul of 15 titles, five Italian Cups, three Supercups, two European Cups, three UEFA Cups and two Intercontinental Cups, the Lombardy club's track record is one of the most impressive around. And with Roberto Mancini's men having tasted defeat just once so far this season, this lengthy list of honours looks set to be extended.
In the battle for the Champions League qualifying places, AS Roma travel to Napoli, Fiorentina head for Siena and Juventus to Genoa. But the weekend's big game takes place at the foot of the table, where Sicilians Catania (18th) play host to Cagliari (20th). Defeat for either side could spell disaster...
The question: Unbeaten in nine league games but held to draws in their last two, can AC Milan bounce back after their European exit? The big game: Catania - Cagliari, Sunday 9 March 2008, 15:00 CET The quote: "I feel much better than three months ago and the atmosphere at the club is making me want to keep going for another year. I love the game and I love training. The directors are trying to get me to stay on." (Paolo Maldini, AC Milan defender, who will be 40 in June)
Primera Division: Real's case for the defenceAfter Wednesday's disastrous 2-1 defeat by AS Roma in the Champions League, LosMerengues need to gather their spirits fast as they prepare to host Espanyol. Against La Liga's fifth-placed side, Bernd Schuster will have to assemble an effective defence without the suspended Sergio Ramos and injury victims Michel Salgado and Fabio Cannavaro.
Currently lying five points behind Madrid, Frank Rijkaard's Barça are intent on continuing their recent good form when they welcome closest pursuers Villarreal CF. But the Azulgranas will definitely be without Lionel Messi and Carles Puyol, while both Gabriel Milito and Rafael Marquez are doubtful.
Sevilla FC have an early opportunity to banish their Champions League blues at home to cellar-dwellers Levante. But caution will be their watchword, as Giovanni Di Biasi's charges picked up three points last weekend courtesy of a 2-1 win over Real Zaragoza. Atletico Madrid hope to demonstrate that their 4-2 success against Barça was no flash in the pan when they travel to struggling Zaragoza. Los Maños, having got through three coaches so far this season, now find themselves nervously eying the relegation trapdoor.
The question: Since the 2004/05 season, Real Madrid have adopted the happy habit of scoring four goals against Espanyol at the Santiago Bernabeu. Will they be able to do it again? The big game: FC Barcelona - Villarreal CF, Sunday 9 March 2008. 21:00 CET The quote: "Him being injured definitely helps us as Messi is Barcelona's best player. I'm sad for him though, especially after seeing him leave the pitch in tears. It's still going to be a very tough game, but we'll be going to Barcelona hoping to pick up one or even three points." (Diego Godin, Villarreal's Uruguayan defender)
Bundesliga: Bayern face tough test inKarlsruheAt the start of the current campaign, no one suspected that Karlsruhe SC would be battling with the top teams in their first season back among the German elite. But as they prepare to take on title favourites Bayern, Edmund Becker's men lie in fifth position, five points behind Hamburg SV, the side currently occupying the last Champions League qualification place. Suffice to say that the Bavarians will need to watch their step against these confident newcomers.
In the other encounters on matchday 23, Schalke 04, fresh from glorious qualification for the quarter-finals of the Champions League, make the trip to Arminia Bielefeld, a side yet to taste victory in 2008. Reigning champions VfB Stuttgart face Werder Bremen, who must win to stay in touch with Bayern at the top of the table. Finally, third-placed Hamburg pay a visit to the cup-winners Nuremburg, now languishing 16 th in the table.
The question: With Stuttgart chasing UEFA Cup qualification and Werder Bremen competing for the title, who will come out on top? The big game: Bayern Munich - Karlsruhe SC, Saturday 8 May 2008, 15:30 CET The quote: "It's a good thing that we have to play again so soon. This will help us put our performance out of our minds. We don't have too much time to dwell on it and can immediately show that we can perform much better." (Werder Bremen striker Aaron Hunt after the 2-0 defeat at Glasgow Rangers)
ElsewhereThis Sunday, the eyes of Dutch football fans will be riveted on the big Eredivisie showdown between PSV Eindhoven and Ajax Amsterdam. Trailing their rivals by six points, Ajax know that this away game could be their last chance to move within touching distance of the head of the table.
The Czech championship, meanwhile, will be enlivened by two bill-toppers, between Banik Ostrava (3rd) and Slavia Prague (1st), and Sparta Prague (2nd) versus FK Teplice (4th). Over in Switzerland, Young Boys Berne will endeavour to stay in contact with leaders FC Basel when they welcome third-placed FC Zurich.
Read on as FIFA.com brings you with an overview of this weekend's programme.
Premier League: onwards and upwards for ArsenalWith both Chelsea and Manchester United tied up with Cup duties, the Gunners will be looking to break away at the head of the table. Already one point in front of the Red Devils and a healthy seven in advance of the Blues (who have one match in hand), they travel to face Wigan. After outclassing none other than AC Milan this Tuesday in the Champions League, Arsene Wenger's braves will be confident they can build on their momentous triumph at the San Siro by beating a side struggling to avoid the drop.
Just behind the leading trio, a tight struggle is developing for the last Champions League qualifying spot. Everton make the trip to 12th-placed Sunderland, while Liverpool welcome crisis-stricken Newcastle. On Wednesday evening, the Reds tore apart West Ham 4-0 in a rescheduled league fixture, with Spaniard Fernando Torres becoming only the fourth player in the club's history to bag a hat trick in two consecutive home games (after the 3-2 win over Middlesbrough on 23 February). The question: Can Kevin Keegan secure the first league win of his new tenure? A tall order given that the Magpies will be visiting Anfield this Saturday. The big game: Liverpool - Newcastle United, Saturday 9 March 2008, 16:00 CET The quote: "The more we work together, the more influence the manager is having. The time has come for us to show what we can really do." (Alan Smith,NewcastleUnited striker)
Ligue 1: Gerland stages top-of-the-table clashCould the French title really hinge on just one game? After their elimination from the Champions League by Manchester United, Lyon now have to pick themselves up for one of the biggest challenges in their recent history. After six consecutive league titles, Juninho and his cohorts have never been so close to being pipped at the post. Winners of seven of their last nine league fixtures, Bordeaux now lie just three points behind Les Gones. If they return from the banks of the Rhone with three points, the Ligue 1 race will be thrown wide open.
With FC Metz already resigned to playing Ligue 2 football next season, the struggle to avoid filling the remaining two relegation places is really hotting up. After Rennes (14th) host Paris Saint-Germain (17th) and FC Sochaux (19th) pay their visit to Toulouse FC (18th) on Saturday, the picture should become a bit clearer.
The question: Having stormed from the relegation zone up to fourth place in just four months, how far can Olympique Marseille go? The big game: Olympique Lyon - Girondins Bordeaux, Sunday 9 March 2008, 20:55 CET The quote: "It's true, we've not had the same level of serenity this year. It feels as if things could go either way. The spirit in the squad is good but there's a lot that's being left unsaid, and that takes its toll. It's all going to have to come out in the open at some point, that's for sure." (Gregory Coupet, Olympique Lyon goalkeeper)
Serie A: Happy birthday Inter!When they welcome Reggina to the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium this Saturday, Inter Milan will be celebrating their centenary (read full story elsewhere). With a haul of 15 titles, five Italian Cups, three Supercups, two European Cups, three UEFA Cups and two Intercontinental Cups, the Lombardy club's track record is one of the most impressive around. And with Roberto Mancini's men having tasted defeat just once so far this season, this lengthy list of honours looks set to be extended.
In the battle for the Champions League qualifying places, AS Roma travel to Napoli, Fiorentina head for Siena and Juventus to Genoa. But the weekend's big game takes place at the foot of the table, where Sicilians Catania (18th) play host to Cagliari (20th). Defeat for either side could spell disaster...
The question: Unbeaten in nine league games but held to draws in their last two, can AC Milan bounce back after their European exit? The big game: Catania - Cagliari, Sunday 9 March 2008, 15:00 CET The quote: "I feel much better than three months ago and the atmosphere at the club is making me want to keep going for another year. I love the game and I love training. The directors are trying to get me to stay on." (Paolo Maldini, AC Milan defender, who will be 40 in June)
Primera Division: Real's case for the defenceAfter Wednesday's disastrous 2-1 defeat by AS Roma in the Champions League, LosMerengues need to gather their spirits fast as they prepare to host Espanyol. Against La Liga's fifth-placed side, Bernd Schuster will have to assemble an effective defence without the suspended Sergio Ramos and injury victims Michel Salgado and Fabio Cannavaro.
Currently lying five points behind Madrid, Frank Rijkaard's Barça are intent on continuing their recent good form when they welcome closest pursuers Villarreal CF. But the Azulgranas will definitely be without Lionel Messi and Carles Puyol, while both Gabriel Milito and Rafael Marquez are doubtful.
Sevilla FC have an early opportunity to banish their Champions League blues at home to cellar-dwellers Levante. But caution will be their watchword, as Giovanni Di Biasi's charges picked up three points last weekend courtesy of a 2-1 win over Real Zaragoza. Atletico Madrid hope to demonstrate that their 4-2 success against Barça was no flash in the pan when they travel to struggling Zaragoza. Los Maños, having got through three coaches so far this season, now find themselves nervously eying the relegation trapdoor.
The question: Since the 2004/05 season, Real Madrid have adopted the happy habit of scoring four goals against Espanyol at the Santiago Bernabeu. Will they be able to do it again? The big game: FC Barcelona - Villarreal CF, Sunday 9 March 2008. 21:00 CET The quote: "Him being injured definitely helps us as Messi is Barcelona's best player. I'm sad for him though, especially after seeing him leave the pitch in tears. It's still going to be a very tough game, but we'll be going to Barcelona hoping to pick up one or even three points." (Diego Godin, Villarreal's Uruguayan defender)
Bundesliga: Bayern face tough test inKarlsruheAt the start of the current campaign, no one suspected that Karlsruhe SC would be battling with the top teams in their first season back among the German elite. But as they prepare to take on title favourites Bayern, Edmund Becker's men lie in fifth position, five points behind Hamburg SV, the side currently occupying the last Champions League qualification place. Suffice to say that the Bavarians will need to watch their step against these confident newcomers.
In the other encounters on matchday 23, Schalke 04, fresh from glorious qualification for the quarter-finals of the Champions League, make the trip to Arminia Bielefeld, a side yet to taste victory in 2008. Reigning champions VfB Stuttgart face Werder Bremen, who must win to stay in touch with Bayern at the top of the table. Finally, third-placed Hamburg pay a visit to the cup-winners Nuremburg, now languishing 16 th in the table.
The question: With Stuttgart chasing UEFA Cup qualification and Werder Bremen competing for the title, who will come out on top? The big game: Bayern Munich - Karlsruhe SC, Saturday 8 May 2008, 15:30 CET The quote: "It's a good thing that we have to play again so soon. This will help us put our performance out of our minds. We don't have too much time to dwell on it and can immediately show that we can perform much better." (Werder Bremen striker Aaron Hunt after the 2-0 defeat at Glasgow Rangers)
ElsewhereThis Sunday, the eyes of Dutch football fans will be riveted on the big Eredivisie showdown between PSV Eindhoven and Ajax Amsterdam. Trailing their rivals by six points, Ajax know that this away game could be their last chance to move within touching distance of the head of the table.
The Czech championship, meanwhile, will be enlivened by two bill-toppers, between Banik Ostrava (3rd) and Slavia Prague (1st), and Sparta Prague (2nd) versus FK Teplice (4th). Over in Switzerland, Young Boys Berne will endeavour to stay in contact with leaders FC Basel when they welcome third-placed FC Zurich.
Jose Mourinho hopes to return to management next year in either Italy or Spain, the former Chelsea coach has said.
The Portuguese tactician added that he wants to go back to England before finishing his coaching career as Portugal's national team boss.
"Now no, I am studying," the 45-year-old told Thursday's Gazzetta dello Sport when asked if he wanted to return to coaching. "From next year however, yes."
Mourinho was sacked by Chelsea in September after a disagreement with club chiefs despite winning two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups in three years at Stamford Bridge.
"Italy or Spain," Mourinho said when asked about his future. "Afterwards I want to go back to England and finally be national coach of Portugal."
The colourful if controversial coach, who turned down the chance of managing England in December, has been linked in the media with Barcelona and AC Milan, whose respective coaches Frank Rijkaard and Carlo Ancelotti are under pressure.
Holders Milan were dumped out of the Champions League by Arsenal in the last 16 on Tuesday after the Premier League leaders won their second leg 2-0 at San Siro.
"I respect Milan and Ancelotti but Arsenal deserved to qualify over the two games," added Mourinho, who won the European Cup with Porto in 2004.
There has been further speculation that Mourinho may be in line for the Inter Milan job despite Roberto Mancini guiding this season's leaders to the Serie A title last term. Mourinho played down the talk but said he admired Inter owner Massimo Moratti.
"I respect him very much as a person that loves football and his club deeply," he said. "However I have never talked with him
The Portuguese tactician added that he wants to go back to England before finishing his coaching career as Portugal's national team boss.
"Now no, I am studying," the 45-year-old told Thursday's Gazzetta dello Sport when asked if he wanted to return to coaching. "From next year however, yes."
Mourinho was sacked by Chelsea in September after a disagreement with club chiefs despite winning two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups in three years at Stamford Bridge.
"Italy or Spain," Mourinho said when asked about his future. "Afterwards I want to go back to England and finally be national coach of Portugal."
The colourful if controversial coach, who turned down the chance of managing England in December, has been linked in the media with Barcelona and AC Milan, whose respective coaches Frank Rijkaard and Carlo Ancelotti are under pressure.
Holders Milan were dumped out of the Champions League by Arsenal in the last 16 on Tuesday after the Premier League leaders won their second leg 2-0 at San Siro.
"I respect Milan and Ancelotti but Arsenal deserved to qualify over the two games," added Mourinho, who won the European Cup with Porto in 2004.
There has been further speculation that Mourinho may be in line for the Inter Milan job despite Roberto Mancini guiding this season's leaders to the Serie A title last term. Mourinho played down the talk but said he admired Inter owner Massimo Moratti.
"I respect him very much as a person that loves football and his club deeply," he said. "However I have never talked with him
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Surviving Mediæval ball games
The ball is hit into the air at the 2006 Royal Shrovetide Football match. (Photographer: Gary Austin.)
British Shrove Tuesday games
Alnwick in Northumberland
Ashbourne in Derbyshire (known as Royal Shrovetide Football)
Atherstone in Warwickshire
Corfe Castle in Dorset — The Shrove Tuesday Football Ceremony of the Purbeck Marblers.
Haxey in Lincolnshire (the Haxey Hood, actually played on Epiphany)
Hurling the Silver Ball takes place at St Columb Major in Cornwall
Sedgefield in County Durham
In Scotland the Ba game ("Ball Game") is still popular around Christmas and Hogmanay at:
Duns, Berwickshire
Scone, Perthshire
Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands
Outside the UK
Calcio Fiorentino — a modern revival of Renaissance football from 16th century Florence.
Surviving public school games
Harrow football players after a game at Harrow School.
Eton field game
Eton wall game
Harrow football
Winchester College football
Recent inventions and hybrid games
Based on FA rules:
Cubbies
Three sided football
Triskelion
Keepie uppie(keep up) — is the art of juggling with a football using feet, knees, chest, shoulders, and head.
Footbag — is a small bean bag or sand bag used as a ball in a number of keepie uppie variations, including hacky sack (which is a trade mark).
Freestyle football — a modern take on keepie uppie where freestylers are graded for their entertainment value and expression of skill.
Based on rugby:
Scuffleball
Force ’em backs a.k.a. forcing back, forcemanback et c.
Hybrid games
Austus — a compromise between Australian rules and American football, invented in Melbourne during World War II.
Bossaball — mixes Association football and volleyball and gymnastics; played on inflatables and trampolines.
Footvolley — mixes Association football and beach volleyball; played on sand
Kickball — a hybrid of soccer and baseball, invented in the United States in about 1942.
Speedball (American) — a combination of American football, soccer, and basketball, devised in the United States in 1912.
Universal football — A hybrid of Australian rules and rugby league, trialled in Sydney in 1933.[25]
Volata — a game resembling Association football and European handball, devised by Italian fascist leader, Augusto Turati, in the 1920s.
Wheelchair rugby — also known as Murderball, invented in Canada in 1977. Based on ice hockey and basketball rather than rugby.
Wheelchair power tag rugby
Wheelchair rugby league
Tabletop games and other recreations
Based on Football (soccer):
Subbuteo
Blow football
Table football — also known as foosball, table soccer, babyfoot, bar football or gettone)
Fantasy football (soccer)
Button football — also known as Futebol de Mesa, Jogo de Botões
Penny football
Based on rugby:
Penny rugby
Based on American football:
Paper football
Blood Bowl
Fantasy football (American)
Madden NFL
NFL
Based on Australian football:
List of Australian rules football computer games
AFL Premiership 2005
See also
Names for association football
Players who have converted from one football code to another
Football field (unit of length)
The ball is hit into the air at the 2006 Royal Shrovetide Football match. (Photographer: Gary Austin.)
British Shrove Tuesday games
Alnwick in Northumberland
Ashbourne in Derbyshire (known as Royal Shrovetide Football)
Atherstone in Warwickshire
Corfe Castle in Dorset — The Shrove Tuesday Football Ceremony of the Purbeck Marblers.
Haxey in Lincolnshire (the Haxey Hood, actually played on Epiphany)
Hurling the Silver Ball takes place at St Columb Major in Cornwall
Sedgefield in County Durham
In Scotland the Ba game ("Ball Game") is still popular around Christmas and Hogmanay at:
Duns, Berwickshire
Scone, Perthshire
Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands
Outside the UK
Calcio Fiorentino — a modern revival of Renaissance football from 16th century Florence.
Surviving public school games
Harrow football players after a game at Harrow School.
Eton field game
Eton wall game
Harrow football
Winchester College football
Recent inventions and hybrid games
Based on FA rules:
Cubbies
Three sided football
Triskelion
Keepie uppie(keep up) — is the art of juggling with a football using feet, knees, chest, shoulders, and head.
Footbag — is a small bean bag or sand bag used as a ball in a number of keepie uppie variations, including hacky sack (which is a trade mark).
Freestyle football — a modern take on keepie uppie where freestylers are graded for their entertainment value and expression of skill.
Based on rugby:
Scuffleball
Force ’em backs a.k.a. forcing back, forcemanback et c.
Hybrid games
Austus — a compromise between Australian rules and American football, invented in Melbourne during World War II.
Bossaball — mixes Association football and volleyball and gymnastics; played on inflatables and trampolines.
Footvolley — mixes Association football and beach volleyball; played on sand
Kickball — a hybrid of soccer and baseball, invented in the United States in about 1942.
Speedball (American) — a combination of American football, soccer, and basketball, devised in the United States in 1912.
Universal football — A hybrid of Australian rules and rugby league, trialled in Sydney in 1933.[25]
Volata — a game resembling Association football and European handball, devised by Italian fascist leader, Augusto Turati, in the 1920s.
Wheelchair rugby — also known as Murderball, invented in Canada in 1977. Based on ice hockey and basketball rather than rugby.
Wheelchair power tag rugby
Wheelchair rugby league
Tabletop games and other recreations
Based on Football (soccer):
Subbuteo
Blow football
Table football — also known as foosball, table soccer, babyfoot, bar football or gettone)
Fantasy football (soccer)
Button football — also known as Futebol de Mesa, Jogo de Botões
Penny football
Based on rugby:
Penny rugby
Based on American football:
Paper football
Blood Bowl
Fantasy football (American)
Madden NFL
NFL
Based on Australian football:
List of Australian rules football computer games
AFL Premiership 2005
See also
Names for association football
Players who have converted from one football code to another
Football field (unit of length)
Football Today
Use of the word "football" in English-speaking countries
Further information: Football (word)
The word "football", when used in reference to a specific game can mean any one of those described above. Because of this, much friendly controversy has occurred over the term football, primarily because it is used in different ways in different parts of the English-speaking world. Most often, the word "football" is used to refer to the code of football that is considered dominant within a particular region. So, effectively, what the word "football" means usually depends on where one says it.
The name "soccer" (or "soccer football") was originally a slang abbreviation of association football and is now the prevailing term in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand where other codes of football are dominant.
Of the 45 national FIFA affiliates in which English is an official or primary language, only three (Canada, Samoa and the United States) actually use "soccer" in their organizations' official names, while the rest use football (although the Samoan Federation actually uses both). However, in some countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, use of the word "football" by soccer bodies is a recent change and has been controversial. The governing body for Rugby Union in New Zealand changed its name from "New Zealand Rugby Football Union" to "New Zealand Rugby Union" in 2006.
Use of the word "football" in non-English-speaking countries
Generally around the world today the word "football" is in widespread use as the name for association football.
Present day codes and "families"
Association football and descendants
An indoor soccer game at an open air venue in Mexico. The referee has just awarded the red team a free kick.
Association football, also known as football, soccer, footy and footie
Indoor/basketball court varieties of Football:
Five-a-side football — played throughout the world under various rules including:
Futsal — the FIFA-approved five-a-side indoor game
Minivoetbal — the five-a-side indoor game played in East and West Flanders where it is hugely popular
Papi fut the five-a-side game played in outdoor basketball courts (built with goals) in Central America.
Indoor soccer — the six-a-side indoor game, known in Latin America, where it is often played in open air venues, as fútbol rápido ("fast football")
Masters Football six-a-side played in Europe by mature professionals (35 years and older)
Paralympic football — modified Football for athletes with a disability. Includes:
Football 5-a-side — for visually impaired athletes
Football 7-a-side — for athletes with cerebral palsy
Electric wheelchair soccer
Beach soccer — football played on sand, also known as beach fooptball and sand soccer
Street football — encompasses a number of informal varieties of football
Rush goalie — is a variation of football in which the role of the goalkeeper is more flexible than normal
Headers and volleys — where the aim is to score goals against a goalkeeper using only headers and volleys
Crab football — players stand on their hands and feet and move around on their backs whilst playing football as normal
Swamp soccer — the game is played on a swamp or bog field
Rugby school football and descendants
Rugby football
Rugby league — usually known simply as "football" or "footy" in the Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland, and by some followers of the game in England. Also often referred to simply as "league"
Rugby league nines (or sevens)
Touch football (rugby league) — a non-contact version of rugby league. In South Africa it is known as six down
Oz Tag — a non-contact version of rugby league, in which a velcro tag is removed to indicate a tackle
Rugby union
Rugby sevens
Rugby sevens; Fiji v Cook Islands at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne
Tag rugby — a form of rugby union using the velcro tag
Beach rugby — rugby played on sand
Touch rugby — generic name for forms of rugby football which does not feature tackles
American football — called "football" in the United States and Canada, and "gridiron" in Australia and New Zealand. Sometimes called "tackle football" to distinguish it from the touch versions
Arena football — an indoor version of American football
Nine-man football, eight-man football, six-man football — versions of tackle football, played primarily by smaller high schools that lack enough players to field full 11-man teams
Touch football (American) — non-tackle American football
Flag football — non-tackle American football, like touch football, in which a flag that is held by velcro on a belt tied around the waist is pulled by defenders to indicate a tackle
Canadian football — called simply "football" in Canada; "football" in Canada can mean either Canadian or American football depending on context
Canadian flag football — non-tackle Canadian football
Nine-man football — similar to nine-man American football, but using Canadian rules; played by smaller schools in Saskatchewan that lack enough players to field full 12-man teams
See also: Comparison of American football and rugby league, Comparison of American football and rugby union, Comparison of Canadian and American football, Comparison of rugby league and rugby union.
Irish and Australian varieties
International rules football test match from the 2005 International Rules Series between Australia and Ireland at Telstra Dome, Melbourne, Australia.
These codes have in common the absence of an offside rule, the requirement to bounce or solo (toe-kick) the ball while running, handpassing by punching or tapping the ball rather than throwing it, and other traditions.
Australian rules football — officially known as "Australian football", and informally as "Aussie rules" or "footy". In some areas (erroneously) referred to as "AFL", which is the name of the main organising body and competition
Auskick — a version of Australian rules designed by the AFL for young children
Metro footy (or Metro rules footy) — a modified version invented by the USAFL, for use on gridiron fields in North American cities (which often lack grounds large enough for conventional Australian rules matches)
Kick-to-kick
9-a-side footy — a more open, running variety of Australian rules, requiring 18 players in total and a proportionally smaller playing area (includes contact and non-contact varieties)
Rec footy — "Recreational Football", a modified non-contact touch variation of Australian rules, created by the AFL, which replaces tackles with tags
Touch Aussie Rules — a non-contact variation of Australian Rules played only in the United Kingdom
Samoa rules — localised version adapted to Samoan conditions, such as the use of rugby football fields
Masters Australian football (a.k.a. Superules) — reduced contact version introduced for competitions limited to players over 30 years of age
Women's Australian rules football — played with a smaller ball and (sometimes) reduced contact version introduced for women's competition
Gaelic football — Played predominantly in Ireland. Sometimes referred to as "football" or "gaah" (from the acronym for Gaelic Athletic Association)
Ladies Gaelic football
International rules football — a compromise code used for games between Gaelic and Australian Rules players
See also: Comparison of Australian rules football and Gaelic football
Use of the word "football" in English-speaking countries
Further information: Football (word)
The word "football", when used in reference to a specific game can mean any one of those described above. Because of this, much friendly controversy has occurred over the term football, primarily because it is used in different ways in different parts of the English-speaking world. Most often, the word "football" is used to refer to the code of football that is considered dominant within a particular region. So, effectively, what the word "football" means usually depends on where one says it.
The name "soccer" (or "soccer football") was originally a slang abbreviation of association football and is now the prevailing term in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand where other codes of football are dominant.
Of the 45 national FIFA affiliates in which English is an official or primary language, only three (Canada, Samoa and the United States) actually use "soccer" in their organizations' official names, while the rest use football (although the Samoan Federation actually uses both). However, in some countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, use of the word "football" by soccer bodies is a recent change and has been controversial. The governing body for Rugby Union in New Zealand changed its name from "New Zealand Rugby Football Union" to "New Zealand Rugby Union" in 2006.
Use of the word "football" in non-English-speaking countries
Generally around the world today the word "football" is in widespread use as the name for association football.
Present day codes and "families"
Association football and descendants
An indoor soccer game at an open air venue in Mexico. The referee has just awarded the red team a free kick.
Association football, also known as football, soccer, footy and footie
Indoor/basketball court varieties of Football:
Five-a-side football — played throughout the world under various rules including:
Futsal — the FIFA-approved five-a-side indoor game
Minivoetbal — the five-a-side indoor game played in East and West Flanders where it is hugely popular
Papi fut the five-a-side game played in outdoor basketball courts (built with goals) in Central America.
Indoor soccer — the six-a-side indoor game, known in Latin America, where it is often played in open air venues, as fútbol rápido ("fast football")
Masters Football six-a-side played in Europe by mature professionals (35 years and older)
Paralympic football — modified Football for athletes with a disability. Includes:
Football 5-a-side — for visually impaired athletes
Football 7-a-side — for athletes with cerebral palsy
Electric wheelchair soccer
Beach soccer — football played on sand, also known as beach fooptball and sand soccer
Street football — encompasses a number of informal varieties of football
Rush goalie — is a variation of football in which the role of the goalkeeper is more flexible than normal
Headers and volleys — where the aim is to score goals against a goalkeeper using only headers and volleys
Crab football — players stand on their hands and feet and move around on their backs whilst playing football as normal
Swamp soccer — the game is played on a swamp or bog field
Rugby school football and descendants
Rugby football
Rugby league — usually known simply as "football" or "footy" in the Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland, and by some followers of the game in England. Also often referred to simply as "league"
Rugby league nines (or sevens)
Touch football (rugby league) — a non-contact version of rugby league. In South Africa it is known as six down
Oz Tag — a non-contact version of rugby league, in which a velcro tag is removed to indicate a tackle
Rugby union
Rugby sevens
Rugby sevens; Fiji v Cook Islands at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne
Tag rugby — a form of rugby union using the velcro tag
Beach rugby — rugby played on sand
Touch rugby — generic name for forms of rugby football which does not feature tackles
American football — called "football" in the United States and Canada, and "gridiron" in Australia and New Zealand. Sometimes called "tackle football" to distinguish it from the touch versions
Arena football — an indoor version of American football
Nine-man football, eight-man football, six-man football — versions of tackle football, played primarily by smaller high schools that lack enough players to field full 11-man teams
Touch football (American) — non-tackle American football
Flag football — non-tackle American football, like touch football, in which a flag that is held by velcro on a belt tied around the waist is pulled by defenders to indicate a tackle
Canadian football — called simply "football" in Canada; "football" in Canada can mean either Canadian or American football depending on context
Canadian flag football — non-tackle Canadian football
Nine-man football — similar to nine-man American football, but using Canadian rules; played by smaller schools in Saskatchewan that lack enough players to field full 12-man teams
See also: Comparison of American football and rugby league, Comparison of American football and rugby union, Comparison of Canadian and American football, Comparison of rugby league and rugby union.
Irish and Australian varieties
International rules football test match from the 2005 International Rules Series between Australia and Ireland at Telstra Dome, Melbourne, Australia.
These codes have in common the absence of an offside rule, the requirement to bounce or solo (toe-kick) the ball while running, handpassing by punching or tapping the ball rather than throwing it, and other traditions.
Australian rules football — officially known as "Australian football", and informally as "Aussie rules" or "footy". In some areas (erroneously) referred to as "AFL", which is the name of the main organising body and competition
Auskick — a version of Australian rules designed by the AFL for young children
Metro footy (or Metro rules footy) — a modified version invented by the USAFL, for use on gridiron fields in North American cities (which often lack grounds large enough for conventional Australian rules matches)
Kick-to-kick
9-a-side footy — a more open, running variety of Australian rules, requiring 18 players in total and a proportionally smaller playing area (includes contact and non-contact varieties)
Rec footy — "Recreational Football", a modified non-contact touch variation of Australian rules, created by the AFL, which replaces tackles with tags
Touch Aussie Rules — a non-contact variation of Australian Rules played only in the United Kingdom
Samoa rules — localised version adapted to Samoan conditions, such as the use of rugby football fields
Masters Australian football (a.k.a. Superules) — reduced contact version introduced for competitions limited to players over 30 years of age
Women's Australian rules football — played with a smaller ball and (sometimes) reduced contact version introduced for women's competition
Gaelic football — Played predominantly in Ireland. Sometimes referred to as "football" or "gaah" (from the acronym for Gaelic Athletic Association)
Ladies Gaelic football
International rules football — a compromise code used for games between Gaelic and Australian Rules players
See also: Comparison of Australian rules football and Gaelic football
Gaelic football
Main article: History of Gaelic football
In the mid-19th century, various traditional football games, referred to collectively as caid, remained popular in Ireland, especially in County Kerry. One observer, Father W. Ferris, described two main forms of caid during this period: the "field game" in which the object was to put the ball through arch-like goals, formed from the boughs of two trees, and; the epic "cross-country game" which took up most of the daylight hours of a Sunday on which it was played, and was won by one team taking the ball across a parish boundary. "Wrestling", "holding" opposing players, and carrying the ball were all allowed.
By the 1870s, Rugby and Association football had started to become popular in Ireland. Trinity College, Dublin was an early stronghold of Rugby (see the Developments in the 1850s section, above). The rules of the English FA were being distributed widely. Traditional forms of caid had begun to give way to a "rough-and-tumble game" which allowed tripping.
There was no serious attempt to unify and codify Irish varieties of football, until the establishment of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in 1884. The GAA sought to promote traditional Irish sports, such as hurling and to reject imported games like Rugby and Association football. The first Gaelic football rules were drawn up by Maurice Davin and published in the United Ireland magazine on February 7, 1887. Davin's rules showed the influence of games such as hurling and a desire to formalise a distinctly Irish code of football. The prime example of this differentiation was the lack of an offside rule (an attribute which, for many years, was shared only by other Irish games like hurling, and by Australian rules football).
The split in Rugby football
An English cartoon from the 1890s lampooning the divide in rugby football which led to the formation of rugby league. The caricatures are of Rev. Frank Marshall, an arch-opponent of player payments, and James Miller, a long-time opponent of Marshall. The caption reads:Marshall: "Oh, fie, go away naughty boy, I don't play with boys who can’t afford to take a holiday for football any day they like!" Miller: "Yes, that’s just you to a T; you’d make it so that no lad whose father wasn’t a millionaire could play at all in a really good team. For my part I see no reason why the men who make the money shouldn’t have a share in the spending of it."
Further information: History of rugby league
The International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) was founded in 1886, but rifts were beginning to emerge in the code. Professionalism was beginning to creep into the various codes of football.
In England , by the 1890s, a long-standing Rugby Football Union ban on professional players was causing regional tensions within rugby football, as many players in northern England were working class and could not afford to take time off to train, travel, play and recover from injuries. This was not very different from what had occurred ten years earlier in soccer in Northern England but the authorities reacted very differently in the RFU, attempting to alienate the working class support in Northern England. In 1895, following a dispute about a player being paid broken time payments, which replaced wages lost as a result of playing rugby, representatives of the northern clubs met in Huddersfield to form the Northern Rugby Football Union (NRFU). The new body initially permitted only various types of player wage replacements. However, within two years, NRFU players could be paid, but they were required to have a job outside sport.
The demands of a professional league dictated that rugby had to become a better "spectator" sport. Within a few years the NRFU rules had started to diverge from the RFU, most notably with the abolition of the line-out. This was followed by the replacement of the ruck with the "play-the-ball ruck", which allowed a two-player ruck contest between the tackler at marker and the player tackled. Mauls were stopped once the ball carrier was held, being replaced by a play-the ball-ruck. The separate Lancashire and Yorkshire competitions of the NRFU merged in 1901, forming the Northern Rugby League, the first time the name rugby league was used officially in England.
Over time, the RFU form of rugby, played by clubs which remained members of national federations affiliated to the IRFB, became known as rugby union.
The globalisation of Association football
Main article: History of FIFA
The need for a single body to oversee Association football had become apparent by the beginning of the 20th century, with the increasing popularity of international fixtures. The English Football Association had chaired many discussions on setting up an international body, but was perceived as making no progress. It fell to associations from seven other European countries: France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, to form an international association. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was founded in Paris on May 21, 1904. Its first president was Robert Guérin. The French name and acronym has remained, even outside French-speaking countries.
The reform of American football
Both forms of rugby and American football were noted at the time for serious injuries, as well as the deaths of a significant number of players. By the early 20th century in the USA, this had resulted in national controversy and American football was banned by a number of colleges. Consequently, a series of meetings was held by 19 colleges in 1905–06. This occurred reputedly at the behest of President Theodore Roosevelt. He was considered a fancier of the game, but he threatened to ban it unless the rules were modified to reduce the numbers of deaths and disabilities. The meetings are now considered to be the origin of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
One proposed change was a widening of the playing field. However, Harvard University had just built a concrete stadium and therefore objected to widening, instead proposing legalisation of the forward pass. The report of the meetings introduced many restrictions on tackling and two more divergences from rugby: the forward pass and the banning of mass formation plays. The changes did not immediately have the desired effect, and 33 American football players were killed during 1908 alone. However, the number of deaths and injuries did gradually decline.
Further divergence of the two rugby codes
Rugby league rules diverged significantly from rugby union in 1906, with the reduction of the team from 15 to 13 players. In 1907, a New Zealand professional rugby team toured Australia and Britain, receiving an enthusiastic response, and professional rugby leagues were launched in Australia the following year. However, the rules of professional games varied from one country to another, and negotiations between various national bodies were required to fix the exact rules for each international match. This situation endured until 1948, when at the instigation of the French league, the Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) was formed at a meeting in Bordeaux.
During the second half of 20th century, the rules changed further. In 1966, rugby league officials borrowed the American football concept of downs: a team could retain possession of the ball for no more than four tackles. The maximum number of tackles was later increased to six (in 1971), and in rugby league this became known as the six tackle rule.
With the advent of full-time professionals in the early 1990s, and the consequent speeding up of the game, the five metre off-side distance between the two teams became 10 metres, and the replacement rule was superseded by various interchange rules, among other changes.
The laws of rugby union also changed significantly during the 20th century. In particular, goals from marks were abolished, kicks directly into touch from outside the 22 metre line were penalised, new laws were put in place to determine who had possession following an inconclusive ruck or maul, and the lifting of players in line-outs was legalised.
In 1995, rugby union became an "open" game, that is one which allowed professional players. Although the original dispute between the two codes has now disappeared — and despite the fact that officials from both forms of rugby football have sometimes mentioned the possibility of re-unification — the rules of both codes and their culture have diverged to such an extent that such an event is unlikely in the foreseeable future.
Football Today
Use of the word "football" in English-speaking countries
Further information: Football (word)
The word "football", when used in reference to a specific game can mean any one of those described above. Because of this, much friendly controversy has occurred over the term football, primarily because it is used in different ways in different parts of the English-speaking world. Most often, the word "football" is used to refer to the code of football that is considered dominant within a particular region. So, effectively, what the word "football" means usually depends on where one says it.
The name "soccer" (or "soccer football") was originally a slang abbreviation of association football and is now the prevailing term in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand where other codes of football are dominant.
Of the 45 national FIFA affiliates in which English is an official or primary language, only three (Canada, Samoa and the United States) actually use "soccer" in their organizations' official names, while the rest use football (although the Samoan Federation actually uses both). However, in some countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, use of the word "football" by soccer bodies is a recent change and has been controversial. The governing body for Rugby Union in New Zealand changed its name from "New Zealand Rugby Football Union" to "New Zealand Rugby Union" in 2006.
Use of the word "football" in non-English
Main article: History of Gaelic football
In the mid-19th century, various traditional football games, referred to collectively as caid, remained popular in Ireland, especially in County Kerry. One observer, Father W. Ferris, described two main forms of caid during this period: the "field game" in which the object was to put the ball through arch-like goals, formed from the boughs of two trees, and; the epic "cross-country game" which took up most of the daylight hours of a Sunday on which it was played, and was won by one team taking the ball across a parish boundary. "Wrestling", "holding" opposing players, and carrying the ball were all allowed.
By the 1870s, Rugby and Association football had started to become popular in Ireland. Trinity College, Dublin was an early stronghold of Rugby (see the Developments in the 1850s section, above). The rules of the English FA were being distributed widely. Traditional forms of caid had begun to give way to a "rough-and-tumble game" which allowed tripping.
There was no serious attempt to unify and codify Irish varieties of football, until the establishment of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in 1884. The GAA sought to promote traditional Irish sports, such as hurling and to reject imported games like Rugby and Association football. The first Gaelic football rules were drawn up by Maurice Davin and published in the United Ireland magazine on February 7, 1887. Davin's rules showed the influence of games such as hurling and a desire to formalise a distinctly Irish code of football. The prime example of this differentiation was the lack of an offside rule (an attribute which, for many years, was shared only by other Irish games like hurling, and by Australian rules football).
The split in Rugby football
An English cartoon from the 1890s lampooning the divide in rugby football which led to the formation of rugby league. The caricatures are of Rev. Frank Marshall, an arch-opponent of player payments, and James Miller, a long-time opponent of Marshall. The caption reads:Marshall: "Oh, fie, go away naughty boy, I don't play with boys who can’t afford to take a holiday for football any day they like!" Miller: "Yes, that’s just you to a T; you’d make it so that no lad whose father wasn’t a millionaire could play at all in a really good team. For my part I see no reason why the men who make the money shouldn’t have a share in the spending of it."
Further information: History of rugby league
The International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) was founded in 1886, but rifts were beginning to emerge in the code. Professionalism was beginning to creep into the various codes of football.
In England , by the 1890s, a long-standing Rugby Football Union ban on professional players was causing regional tensions within rugby football, as many players in northern England were working class and could not afford to take time off to train, travel, play and recover from injuries. This was not very different from what had occurred ten years earlier in soccer in Northern England but the authorities reacted very differently in the RFU, attempting to alienate the working class support in Northern England. In 1895, following a dispute about a player being paid broken time payments, which replaced wages lost as a result of playing rugby, representatives of the northern clubs met in Huddersfield to form the Northern Rugby Football Union (NRFU). The new body initially permitted only various types of player wage replacements. However, within two years, NRFU players could be paid, but they were required to have a job outside sport.
The demands of a professional league dictated that rugby had to become a better "spectator" sport. Within a few years the NRFU rules had started to diverge from the RFU, most notably with the abolition of the line-out. This was followed by the replacement of the ruck with the "play-the-ball ruck", which allowed a two-player ruck contest between the tackler at marker and the player tackled. Mauls were stopped once the ball carrier was held, being replaced by a play-the ball-ruck. The separate Lancashire and Yorkshire competitions of the NRFU merged in 1901, forming the Northern Rugby League, the first time the name rugby league was used officially in England.
Over time, the RFU form of rugby, played by clubs which remained members of national federations affiliated to the IRFB, became known as rugby union.
The globalisation of Association football
Main article: History of FIFA
The need for a single body to oversee Association football had become apparent by the beginning of the 20th century, with the increasing popularity of international fixtures. The English Football Association had chaired many discussions on setting up an international body, but was perceived as making no progress. It fell to associations from seven other European countries: France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, to form an international association. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was founded in Paris on May 21, 1904. Its first president was Robert Guérin. The French name and acronym has remained, even outside French-speaking countries.
The reform of American football
Both forms of rugby and American football were noted at the time for serious injuries, as well as the deaths of a significant number of players. By the early 20th century in the USA, this had resulted in national controversy and American football was banned by a number of colleges. Consequently, a series of meetings was held by 19 colleges in 1905–06. This occurred reputedly at the behest of President Theodore Roosevelt. He was considered a fancier of the game, but he threatened to ban it unless the rules were modified to reduce the numbers of deaths and disabilities. The meetings are now considered to be the origin of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
One proposed change was a widening of the playing field. However, Harvard University had just built a concrete stadium and therefore objected to widening, instead proposing legalisation of the forward pass. The report of the meetings introduced many restrictions on tackling and two more divergences from rugby: the forward pass and the banning of mass formation plays. The changes did not immediately have the desired effect, and 33 American football players were killed during 1908 alone. However, the number of deaths and injuries did gradually decline.
Further divergence of the two rugby codes
Rugby league rules diverged significantly from rugby union in 1906, with the reduction of the team from 15 to 13 players. In 1907, a New Zealand professional rugby team toured Australia and Britain, receiving an enthusiastic response, and professional rugby leagues were launched in Australia the following year. However, the rules of professional games varied from one country to another, and negotiations between various national bodies were required to fix the exact rules for each international match. This situation endured until 1948, when at the instigation of the French league, the Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) was formed at a meeting in Bordeaux.
During the second half of 20th century, the rules changed further. In 1966, rugby league officials borrowed the American football concept of downs: a team could retain possession of the ball for no more than four tackles. The maximum number of tackles was later increased to six (in 1971), and in rugby league this became known as the six tackle rule.
With the advent of full-time professionals in the early 1990s, and the consequent speeding up of the game, the five metre off-side distance between the two teams became 10 metres, and the replacement rule was superseded by various interchange rules, among other changes.
The laws of rugby union also changed significantly during the 20th century. In particular, goals from marks were abolished, kicks directly into touch from outside the 22 metre line were penalised, new laws were put in place to determine who had possession following an inconclusive ruck or maul, and the lifting of players in line-outs was legalised.
In 1995, rugby union became an "open" game, that is one which allowed professional players. Although the original dispute between the two codes has now disappeared — and despite the fact that officials from both forms of rugby football have sometimes mentioned the possibility of re-unification — the rules of both codes and their culture have diverged to such an extent that such an event is unlikely in the foreseeable future.
Football Today
Use of the word "football" in English-speaking countries
Further information: Football (word)
The word "football", when used in reference to a specific game can mean any one of those described above. Because of this, much friendly controversy has occurred over the term football, primarily because it is used in different ways in different parts of the English-speaking world. Most often, the word "football" is used to refer to the code of football that is considered dominant within a particular region. So, effectively, what the word "football" means usually depends on where one says it.
The name "soccer" (or "soccer football") was originally a slang abbreviation of association football and is now the prevailing term in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand where other codes of football are dominant.
Of the 45 national FIFA affiliates in which English is an official or primary language, only three (Canada, Samoa and the United States) actually use "soccer" in their organizations' official names, while the rest use football (although the Samoan Federation actually uses both). However, in some countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, use of the word "football" by soccer bodies is a recent change and has been controversial. The governing body for Rugby Union in New Zealand changed its name from "New Zealand Rugby Football Union" to "New Zealand Rugby Union" in 2006.
Use of the word "football" in non-English
North American football codes
This article or section is missing citations or needs footnotes.Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (December 2007)
Main articles: History of American football and History of Canadian football.
As was the case in Britain, by the early 19th century, North American schools and universities played their own local games, between sides made up of students. Students at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire played a game called Old division football, a variant of the association football codes, as early as the 1820s.
The "Tigers" of Hamilton, Ontario circa 1906. Founded 1869 as the Hamilton Foot Ball Club, they eventually merged with the Hamilton Flying Wildcats to form the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, a team still active in the Canadian Football League.[24]
The first game of rugby in Canada is generally said to have taken place in Montreal, in 1865, when British Army officers played local civilians. The game gradually gained a following, and the Montreal Football Club was formed in 1868, the first recorded football club in Canada.
In 1869, the first game played in the United States under rules based on the English FA (soccer) code occurred, between Princeton and Rutgers. This is also often considered to be the first US game of college football, in the sense of a game between colleges (although the eventual form of American football would come from rugby, not soccer).
Modern American football grew out of a match between McGill University of Montreal, and Harvard University in 1874. At the time, Harvard students are reported to have played the Boston Game — a running code — rather than the FA-based kicking games favored by US universities. This made it easy for Harvard to adapt to the rugby-based game played by McGill and the two teams alternated between their respective sets of rules. Within a few years, however, Harvard had both adopted McGill's rugby rules and had persuaded other US university teams to do the same. In 1876, at the Massasoit Convention, it was agreed by these universities to adopt most of the Rugby Football Union rules. However, a touch-down only counted toward the score if neither side kicked a field goal. The convention decided that, in the US game, four touchdowns would be worth one goal; in the event of a tied score, a goal converted from a touchdown would take precedence over four touch-downs.
Princeton, Rutgers and others continued to compete using soccer-based rules for a few years before switching to the rugby-based rules of Harvard and its competitors. US colleges did not generally return to soccer until the early twentieth century.
Rutgers College Football Team, 1882
In 1880, Yale coach Walter Camp, devised a number of major changes to the American game, beginning with the reduction of teams from 15 to 11 players, followed by reduction of the field area by almost half, and; the introduction of the scrimmage, in which a player heeled the ball backwards, to begin a game. These were complemented in 1882 by another of Camp's innovations: a team had to surrender possession if they did not gain five yards after three downs (i.e. successful tackles).
Over the years Canadian football absorbed some developments in American football, but also retained many unique characteristics. One of these was that Canadian football, for many years, did not officially distinguish itself from rugby. For example, the Canadian Rugby Football Union, founded in 1884 was the forerunner of the Canadian Football League, rather than a rugby union body. (The Canadian Rugby Union was not formed until 1965.) American football was also frequently described as "rugby" in the 1880s
This article or section is missing citations or needs footnotes.Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (December 2007)
Main articles: History of American football and History of Canadian football.
As was the case in Britain, by the early 19th century, North American schools and universities played their own local games, between sides made up of students. Students at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire played a game called Old division football, a variant of the association football codes, as early as the 1820s.
The "Tigers" of Hamilton, Ontario circa 1906. Founded 1869 as the Hamilton Foot Ball Club, they eventually merged with the Hamilton Flying Wildcats to form the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, a team still active in the Canadian Football League.[24]
The first game of rugby in Canada is generally said to have taken place in Montreal, in 1865, when British Army officers played local civilians. The game gradually gained a following, and the Montreal Football Club was formed in 1868, the first recorded football club in Canada.
In 1869, the first game played in the United States under rules based on the English FA (soccer) code occurred, between Princeton and Rutgers. This is also often considered to be the first US game of college football, in the sense of a game between colleges (although the eventual form of American football would come from rugby, not soccer).
Modern American football grew out of a match between McGill University of Montreal, and Harvard University in 1874. At the time, Harvard students are reported to have played the Boston Game — a running code — rather than the FA-based kicking games favored by US universities. This made it easy for Harvard to adapt to the rugby-based game played by McGill and the two teams alternated between their respective sets of rules. Within a few years, however, Harvard had both adopted McGill's rugby rules and had persuaded other US university teams to do the same. In 1876, at the Massasoit Convention, it was agreed by these universities to adopt most of the Rugby Football Union rules. However, a touch-down only counted toward the score if neither side kicked a field goal. The convention decided that, in the US game, four touchdowns would be worth one goal; in the event of a tied score, a goal converted from a touchdown would take precedence over four touch-downs.
Princeton, Rutgers and others continued to compete using soccer-based rules for a few years before switching to the rugby-based rules of Harvard and its competitors. US colleges did not generally return to soccer until the early twentieth century.
Rutgers College Football Team, 1882
In 1880, Yale coach Walter Camp, devised a number of major changes to the American game, beginning with the reduction of teams from 15 to 11 players, followed by reduction of the field area by almost half, and; the introduction of the scrimmage, in which a player heeled the ball backwards, to begin a game. These were complemented in 1882 by another of Camp's innovations: a team had to surrender possession if they did not gain five yards after three downs (i.e. successful tackles).
Over the years Canadian football absorbed some developments in American football, but also retained many unique characteristics. One of these was that Canadian football, for many years, did not officially distinguish itself from rugby. For example, the Canadian Rugby Football Union, founded in 1884 was the forerunner of the Canadian Football League, rather than a rugby union body. (The Canadian Rugby Union was not formed until 1965.) American football was also frequently described as "rugby" in the 1880s
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