Tamil Nadu - Sports - Football

Football

Football is the name of several similar team sports, all of which involve (to varying degrees kicking a ball with the foot in an attempt to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer". However the word football is applied to whichever form of football became most popular in each particular part of the world. Hence the English language word "football" is applied to "gridiron football" a name associated with the North American sports, especially American football and Canadian football, Australian football, Gaelic football, rugby league, rugby union, and related games.

# Two teams of usually between 11 and 18 players; some variations that have fewer players five or more per team are also popular
# a clearly defined area in which to play the game;
# scoring goals or points, by moving the ball to an opposing team's end of the field and either into a goal area, or over a line

 Football

While it is widely believed that the word football originated in reference to the action of the foot kicking a ball, there is a rival explanation, which has it that football originally referred to a variety of games in medieval Europe, which were played on foot.] These games were usually played by peasants, as opposed to the horse-riding sports often played by aristocrats. While there is no conclusive evidence for this explanation, the word football has always implied a variety of games played on foot, not just those that involved kicking a ball. In some cases, the word football has even been applied to games which have specifically outlawed kicking the ball.

Association football and descendants
Variants of association football
An indoor soccer game at an open air venue in Mexico. The referee has just awarded the red team a free kick.

  1. * Association football, also known as football, soccer, footy and footie

  2. * Indoor/basketball court varieties of Football:
    o 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.
    o 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"
    o Masters Football six-a-side played in Europe by mature professionals 35 years and older

  3. * Paralympic football - modified Football for athletes with a disability. Includes:
    o Football 5-a-side - for visually impaired athletes
    o Football 7-a-side - for athletes with cerebral palsy
    o Amputee football - for athletes with amputations
    o Deaf football - for athletes with hearing impairments
    o Electric wheelchair soccer

  4. * Beach soccer - football played on sand, also known as beach football and sand soccer

  5. * Street football - encompasses a number of informal varieties of football

  6. * Rush goalie - is a variation of football in which the role of the goalkeeper is more flexible than normal

  7. * Headers and volleys- where the aim is to score goals against a goalkeeper using only headers and volleys

  8. * Crab football - players stand on their hands and feet and move around on their backs whilst playing football as normal

  9. * Swamp soccer -the game is played on a swamp or bog field

Rugby school football and descendants

  1. * Rugby football
    o 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"

  2. + Rugby league nines or sevens

  3. + Touch football rugby league - a non-contact version of rugby league. In South Africa it is known as six down

  4. + Tag Rugby -a non-contact version of rugby league, in which a velcro tag is removed to indicate a tackle
    o Rugby union

  5. + Rugby sevens
    Rugby sevens; Fiji v Cook Islands at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne

  6. + Tag rugby - a form of rugby union using the velcro tag
    o Beach rugby - rugby played on sand
    o Touch rugby - generic name for forms of rugby football which does not feature tackles

  7. * Gridiron football
    o 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
    o Indoor football, arena football - an indoor version of American football
    o 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

  8. o 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

  9. o Street football American - American football played in backyards without equipment and with simplified rules

  10. o 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

  11. + 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 teamsSee also: Comparison of American football and rugby league, Comparison of American football and rugby union, Comparison of Canadian and American football, and Comparison of rugby league and rugby union