Portal:Association football

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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each, who primarily use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular-framed goal defended by the opposing team. Traditionally, the game has been played over two 45-minute halves, for a total match time of 90 minutes. With an estimated 250 million players active in over 200 countries and territories, it is the world's most popular sport.

The game of association football is played in accordance with the Laws of the Game, a set of rules that has been in effect since 1863 and maintained by the IFAB since 1886. The game is played with a football that is 68–70 cm (27–28 in) in circumference. The two teams compete to score goals by getting the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts, under the bar, and fully across the goal line). When the ball is in play, the players mainly use their feet, but may also use any other part of their body, such as their head, chest and thighs, except for their hands or arms, to control, strike, or pass the ball. Only the goalkeepers may use their hands and arms, and only then within the penalty area. The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner. There are situations where a goal can be disallowed, such as an offside call or a foul in the build-up to the goal. Depending on the format of the competition, an equal number of goals scored may result in a draw being declared, or the game goes into extra time or a penalty shoot-out.

Internationally, association football is governed by FIFA. Under FIFA, there are six continental confederations: AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC, and UEFA. Of these confederations, CONMEBOL is the oldest one, being founded in 1916. National associations (e.g. The FA or JFA) are responsible for managing the game in their own countries both professionally and at an amateur level, and coordinating competitions in accordance with the Laws of the Game. The most senior and prestigious international competitions are the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Women's World Cup. The men's World Cup is the most-viewed sporting event in the world, surpassing the Olympic Games. The two most prestigious competitions in European club football are the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Women's Champions League, which attract an extensive television audience throughout the world. Since 2009, the final of the men's tournament has been the most-watched annual sporting event in the world. (Full article...)

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Margate (blue shirts) in action in 2007

Margate Football Club are an English football team based in the seaside resort of Margate, Kent. Nicknamed "The Gate", the club have reached the third round proper of England's premier cup competition, the FA Cup, on two occasions.

Founded in 1896, the club joined the Southern Football League in 1933 and remained there until 2001 when they gained promotion to the Football Conference, the highest level of English non-league football.

Their tenure in the Conference saw the team forced to groundshare with other clubs due to drawn-out and problematic redevelopment work at their Hartsdown Park stadium, and during the three years spent away from their own ground they were expelled from the Conference National and subsequently relegated to the Isthmian League. (Full article...)

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James Milner

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

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

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

A playmaker, he has made over a hundred appearances for the club, as well as making a record number of appearances for the England Under-21 side. He was part of the squad that reached the semi-finals of the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship before eventually losing 13-12 in a penalty shoot-out in which he scored twice. In October 2007, Milner scored Newcastle's 500th home Premier League goal in a 3–1 win over Tottenham Hotspur. (Full article...)

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The Argentine Football Association (Spanish: Asociación del Fútbol Argentino, locally [asosjaˈsjon del ˈfuðβol aɾxenˈtino]; AFA) is the governing body of football in Argentina based in Buenos Aires. It organises the main divisions of Argentine league system (from Primera División to Torneo Regional Federal and Torneo Promocional Amateur), including domestic cups: Copa Argentina, Supercopa Argentina, Copa de la Liga Profesional, Trofeo de Campeones de la Liga Profesional and the Supercopa Internacional. The body also manages all the Argentina national teams, including the Senior, U-20, U-17, U-15, Olympic and women's squads. Secondly, it also organizes the women's, children, youth, futsal, and other local leagues.

The AFA also organised all the Primera División championships from 1893 to 2016–17. From the 2017–18 season the "Superliga Argentina", an entity which was administered independently and had its own statute, took over the Primera División championships. Nevertheless, the Superliga was contractually linked with the main football body. The last championship organised by the Superliga was 2019–20, shortly after the season ended the body was dissolved. (Full article...)

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... that after his soccer career, Steve Palacios enlisted in the United States Army and played for the United States Armed Forces soccer team?
... that Welsh footballer Jon Morgan went on to become a college principal after retiring?
... that Ecuadorian footballer Hernán Galíndez won a bicycle for beating a team featuring Lionel Messi when they were children?
... that 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 goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse, who has lived in England, Africa and the US, has been chosen to play soccer for the Republic of Ireland?
... that Ryan Roberts, a defensive end for Notre Dame, was a soccer player in high school?

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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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I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.

— George Best

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

Image 1Drawing of the first international game by artist William Ralston (from History of association football)
Image 2When 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 3Olympique Lyonnais vs Paris Saint-Germain. (from Women's association football)
Image 4Portland Thorns traveling supporters at Seattle's Memorial Stadium. (from Women's association football)
Image 5United States Abby Wambach plays off a corner kick against Canada.
Image 6A Welsh women's football team pose for a photograph in 1959 (from Women's association football)
Image 7Players fighting for the ball during the match between Germany and Norway in UEFA Women's Euro 2009 in Tampere, Finland. (from Women's association football)
Image 8Sam Kerr with Australia during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinal against Japan in Edmonton, 2015 (from Women's association football)
Image 9Iran vs Turkey in 2010 Youth Olympics (from Women's association football)
Image 10Cricket and Foot-Ball, one of the earliest books about association football, published by Beadle & Co. in New York in 1866. It contained the rules and laws of the game (from History of association football)
Image 11Mia Hamm (left) battles with German defender Kerstin Stegemann (from Women's association football)
Image 12FC de Rakt DA1 (2008/2009) (from Women's association football)
Image 13Striker Cristiana Girelli and coach Rita Guarino of Juventus in 2019. Juventus is one of the most storied and successful football clubs in Italy. (from Women's association football)
Image 14The Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies (from Women's association football)
Image 15Florida state vs North Carolina soccer 2005. (from Women's association football)
Image 16Marta of Brazil is the all-time leading scorer of the senior FIFA World Cups. (from Women's association football)
Image 17The official record attendance for a women's football match was set at Camp Nou on 22 April 2022, with 91,648 people watching Barcelona defeat Wolfsburg 5–1 (pictured). (from Women's association football)
Image 18Harrow School team of 1867. (from History of association football)
Image 19"North" team of the British Ladies' Football Club, 1895 (from Women's association football)
Image 20Representation of a football match from the book Athletics and football, 1894 (from History of association football)
Image 21Iran women's national football team maintained a higher rank internationally. (from Women's association football)
Image 22Megan Rapinoe speaks on equal pay in March 2021. (from Women's association football)
Image 23Sheffield F.C. (here pictured in 1876) is the oldest association club still active, having been founded in 1857 (from History of association football)
Image 24Old Etonians v Blackburn Rovers match. Illustration by S.T. Dadd, 1882 (from History of association football)
Image 25An 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 26Japanese high-school girls playing football in their traditional hakama with one team wearing sashes (c. 1920) (from Women's association football)
Image 27Arsenal in 2007 of the Women's FA Cup. (from Women's association football)
Image 28From 1866 to 1883, the laws provided for a tape between the goalposts (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 29The Royal Engineers team who reached the first FA Cup final in 1872 (from History of association football)

Selected World Cup

The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in 2007. It was the second time that Brazil staged the competition, the first being in 1950, and the fifth time that it was held in South America.

31 national teams advanced through qualification competitions to join the host nation in the final tournament (with Bosnia and Herzegovina as the only debutant). A total of 64 matches were played in 12 venues located in as many host cities across Brazil. For the first time at a World Cup finals, match officials used goal-line technology, as well as vanishing spray for free kicks. FIFA Fan Fests in each host city gathered a total of 5 million people, and the country received 1 million visitors from 202 countries. Spain, the defending champions, were eliminated at the group stage. Host nation Brazil, who had won the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, lost to Germany 7–1 in the semi-finals and eventually finished in fourth place. (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 the East Bengal Ultras, founded in 2013, became India's first ultras group? (29 March 2021)
... that Manjappada, a supporters' group of Kerala Blasters FC, coordinated and brought forty-one busloads of their fans across Kerala to the venue for the opening match of the 2019–20 season? (26 January 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 Neil Warnock left Huddersfield Town shortly after they gained promotion by winning the 1995 Football League Second Division play-off Final because he said the club chairman had told him a "porky pie"? (21 March 2021)
... that the 2008 FA Cup Final between Cardiff City and Portsmouth holds the record for the highest attendance for a football match at the new Wembley Stadium, with 89,874? (16 January 2021)
... that the 1991 Football League Fourth Division play-off Final was the first Football League play-off to be decided by a penalty shoot-out? (13 March 2021)