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Table of contentsChapter I: Soccer (association football)

1.1 Gameplay...............................................................21.2 History...................................................................41.3 Laws......................................................................7

1.3.1 Players, equipment and officials.................71.3.2 Pitch............................................................91.3.3 Duration and tie-breaking methods...........101.3.4 Ball in and out of play…………… .……..12 1.3.5 Misconduct………………………………13

1.4 International competitions……………………. .141.5 Domestic competitions........................................151.6 Women’s association football .............................17

Chapter II: American football2.1 History................................................................182.2 Rules...................................................................20

2.2.1 Field and players.......................................202.2.2 Start of halves...........................................212.2.3 Game duration..........................................232.2.4 Scoring.....................................................24

2.3 Players................................................................262.3.1 Offense.....................................................262.3.2 Defense....................................................272.3.3 Special teams...........................................28

2.4 Physicality...........................................................292.5 Organization in the United States.......................312.6 Outside the United States....................................31

Chapter III: Differences and similarities

3.1 Playstyle..............................................................333.2 Fields, players, equipment and games.................333.3 International popularity and distribution............35



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Chapter I: Soccer (association football)

Association football , commonly known as football or soccer , is asport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball.It is the world's most popular sport.

The game is played on a rectangular field of grass or greenartificial turf, with a goal in the middle of each of the short ends. Theobject of the game is to score by driving the ball into the opposing goal.In general play, the goalkeepers are the only players allowed to touch the

ball with their hands or arms, while the field players typically use theirfeet to kick the ball into position, occasionally using their torso or head

to intercept a ball in midair. The team that scores the most goals by theend of the match wins. If the score is tied at the end of the game, either adraw is declared or the game goes into extra time and/or a penaltyshootout, depending on the format of the competition.

1.1 Gameplay

Association Football is played in accordance with a set of rulesknown as the Laws of the Game. The game is played using a spherical

ball (of 71 cm (28 in) circumference in FIFA play), known as the football . Two teams of eleven players each compete to get the ball intothe other team's goal (between the posts and under the bar), therebyscoring a goal. The team that has scored more goals at the end of thegame is the winner; if both teams have scored an equal number of goalsthen the game is a draw. Each team is led by a captain who has only oneofficial responsibility as mandated the Laws of the Game: to be involvedin the coin toss prior to kick-off or penalty kicks.



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The primary law isthat players other thangoalkeepers may notdeliberately handle the

ball with their hands orarms during play, thoughthey do use their handsduring a throw-in restart.Although players usuallyuse their feet to move the

ball around, they may use any part of their body (notably, "heading"with the forehead) other than their hands or arms. Within normal play,

all players are free to play the ball in any direction and move throughoutthe pitch, though the ball cannot be received in an offside position.

In typical game play, players attempt to create goal-scoringopportunities through individual control of the ball, such as by dribbling,

passing the ball to a team-mate, and by taking shots at the goal, which isguarded by the opposing goalkeeper. Opposing players may try to regaincontrol of the ball by intercepting a pass or through tackling theopponent in possession of the ball; however, physical contact betweenopponents is restricted. Football is generally a free-flowing game, with

play stopping only when the ball has left the field of play or when play isstopped by the referee for an infringement of the rules. After a stoppage,

play recommences with a specified restart.

At a professional level, most matches produce only a few goals. Forexample, the 2005 – 06 season of the English Premier League producedan average of 2.48 goals per match. The Laws of the Game do not

specify any player positions other than goalkeeper, but a number ofspecialised roles have evolved. Broadly, these include three maincategories: strikers, or forwards, whose main task is to score goals;defenders, who specialise in preventing their opponents from scoring;and midfielders, who dispossess the opposition and keep possession ofthe ball in order to pass it to the forwards on their team. Players in these



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positions are referred to as outfield players, in order to distinguish themfrom the single goalkeeper. These positions are further subdividedaccording to the area of the field in which the player spends most time.For example, there are central defenders, and left and right midfielders.The ten outfield players may be arranged in any combination. Thenumber of players in each position determines the style of the team's

play; more forwards and fewer defenders creates a more aggressive andoffensive-minded game, while the reverse creates a slower, moredefensive style of play. While players typically spend most of the gamein a specific position, there are few restrictions on player movement, and

players can switch positions at any time. The layout of a team's playersis known as a formation . Defining the team's formation and tactics is

usually the prerogative of the team's manager.

1.2 History

Games revolving around the kicking of a ball have been played inmany countries throughout history. According to FIFA, the "The veryearliest form of the game for which there is scientific evidence was anexercise from a military manual dating back to the second and thirdcenturies BC in China." The modern rules of association football are

based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varyingforms of football played at the public schools of England. The history offootball in England dates back to at least the eighth century.

The Cambridge Rules, first drawn up at Cambridge University in1848, were particularly influential in thedevelopment of subsequent codes,including association football. The

Cambridge Rules were written at TrinityCollege, Cambridge, at a meeting attended by representatives from Eton, Harrow,Rugby, Winchester and Shrewsburyschools. They were not universallyadopted. During the 1850s, many clubs



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unconnected to schools or universities were formed throughout theEnglish-speaking world, to play various forms of football. Some cameup with their own distinct codes of rules, most notably the SheffieldFootball Club, formed by former public school pupils in 1857, which ledto formation of a Sheffield FA in 1867. In 1862, John Charles Thring ofUppingham School also devised an influential set of rules.

These ongoing efforts contributed to the formation of The FootballAssociation (The FA) in 1863, which first met on the morning of 26October 1863 at the Freemasons' Tavern in Great Queen Street, London.The only school to be represented on this occasion was Charterhouse.The Freemason's Tavern was the setting for five more meetings between

October and December, which eventually produced the firstcomprehensive set of rules. At the final meeting, the first FA treasurer,the representative from Blackheath, withdrew his club from the FA overthe removal of two draft rules at the previous meeting: the first allowedfor running with the ball in hand; the second for obstructing such a run

by hacking (kicking an opponent in the shins), tripping and holding.Other English rugby football clubs followed this lead and did not jointhe FA, or subsequently left the FA and instead in 1871 formed theRugby Football Union. The eleven remaining clubs, under the charge ofEbenezer Cobb Morley, went on to ratify the original thirteen laws of thegame. These rules included handling of the ball by "marks" and the lackof a crossbar, rules which made it remarkably similar to Victorian rulesfootball being developed at that time in Australia. The Sheffield FA

played by its own rules until the 1870s with the FA absorbing some ofits rules until there was little difference between the games.

The laws of the game are currently determined by the International

Football Association Board (IFAB). The Board was formed in 1886 aftera meeting in Manchester of The Football Association, the ScottishFootball Association, the Football Association of Wales, and the IrishFootball Association. The world's oldest football competition is the FACup, which was founded by C. W. Alcock and has been contested byEnglish teams since 1872.



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The first official international football matchtook place in 1872 between Scotland andEngland in Glasgow, again at the instigationof C. W. Alcock. England is home to theworld's first football league, which wasfounded in Birmingham in 1888 by AstonVilla director William McGregor. Theoriginal format contained 12 clubs from theMidlands and the North of England. FIFA,the international football body, was formedin Paris in 1904 and declared that they would

adhere to Laws of the Game of the Football Association. The growing

popularity of the international game led to the admittance of FIFArepresentatives to the International Football Association Board in 1913.The board currently consists of four representatives from FIFA and onerepresentative from each of the four British associations.

Today, football is played at a professional level all over the world.Millions of people regularly go to football stadiums to follow theirfavourite teams, while billions more watch the game on television or onthe internet. A very large number of people also play football at anamateur level. According to a survey conducted by FIFA published in2001, over 240 million people from more than 200 countries regularly

play football. Football has the highest global television audience insport.

In many parts of the world football evokes great passions and playsan important role in the life of individual fans, local communities, andeven nations. The Côte d'Ivoire national football team helped secure a

truce to the nation's civil war in 2006 and it helped further reducetensions between government and rebel forces in 2007 by playing amatch in the rebel capital of Bouaké, an occasion that brought botharmies together peacefully for the first time. By contrast, football iswidely considered to be the final proximate cause in the Football War inJune 1969 between El Salvador and Honduras. The sport also



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exacerbated tensions at the beginning of the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s,when a match between Dinamo Zagreb and Red Star Belgrade devolvedinto rioting in March 1990.

1.3 LawsThere are 17 laws in the official Laws of the Game. The same laws

are designed to apply to all levels of football, although certainmodifications for groups such as juniors, seniors, women and peoplewith physical disabilities are permitted. The laws are often framed in

broad terms, which allow flexibility in their application depending onthe nature of the game. The Laws of the Game are published by FIFA,

but are maintained by the International Football Association Board(IFAB), not FIFA itself. In addition to the seventeen laws, numerousIFAB decisions and other directives contribute to the regulation offootball. The most complex of the laws is offside. The offside law limitsthe ability of attacking players to receive the ball when closer to theopponent's goal line than: the ball itself; the second-to-last defending

player (which can include the goalkeeper); and the half-way line.

1.3.1 Players, equipment, and officials

Each team consists of a maximum of eleven players (excludingsubstitutes), one of whom must be the goalkeeper. Competition rulesmay state a minimum number of players required to constitute a team,

which is usually seven. Goalkeepers are the only players allowed to playthe ball with their hands or arms, provided they do so within the penaltyarea in front of their own goal. Though there are a variety of positions inwhich the outfield (non-goalkeeper) players are strategically placed by acoach, these positions are not defined or required by the Laws.



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The basic equipment or kit players are required to wear includes ashirt, shorts, socks, footwear and adequate shin guards. Headgear is not arequired piece of basic equipment, but players today may choose to wearit to protect themselves from head injury. Players are forbidden to wearor use anything that is dangerous to themselves or another player, suchas jewellery or watches. The goalkeeper must wear clothing that is easilydistinguishable from that worn by the other players and the matchofficials.

A number of players may be replaced by substitutes during thecourse of the game. The maximum number of substitutions permitted inmost competitive international and domestic league games is three,

though the permitted number may vary in other competitions or infriendly matches. Common reasons for a substitution include injury,tiredness, ineffectiveness, a tactical switch, or timewasting at the end ofa finely poised game. In standard adult matches, a player who has beensubstituted may not take further part in a match. IFAB recommends that"that a match should not continue if there are fewer than seven players ineither team." Any decision regarding points awarded for abandonedgames is left to the individual football associations.

A game is officiated by a referee, who has "full authority toenforce the Laws of the Game in connection with the match to which hehas been appointed" (Law 5), and whose decisions are final. The refereeis assisted by two assistant referees. In many high-level games there isalso a fourth official who assists the referee and may replace anotherofficial should the need arise.



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1.3.2 Pitch

As the Laws were formulated in England, and were initiallyadministered solely by the four British football associations withinIFAB, the standard dimensions of a football pitch were originallyexpressed in imperial units. The Laws now express dimensions withapproximate metric equivalents (followed by traditional units in

brackets), though popular use tends to continue to use traditional units inEnglish-speaking countries with a relatively recent history ofmetrication, such as Britain.

The length of the pitch for international adult matches is in the

range of 100 – 110 m (110 – 120 yd) and the width is in the range of 64 – 75 m (70 – 80 yd). Fields for non-international matches may be 91 – 120 m(100 – 130 yd) length and 45 – 91 m (50 – 101 yd) in width, provided thatthe pitch does not become square. Although in 2008, the IFAB initiallyapproved a fixed size of 105 m long and 68 m wide as a standard pitchdimension for A international matches this decision was later put onhold and was never actually implemented.

The longer boundary lines are touchlines , while the shorter boundaries (on which the goals are placed) are goal lines . A rectangulargoal is positioned at the middle of each goal line. The inner edges of thevertical goal posts must be 7.32 m (8 yd) apart, and the lower edge of thehorizontal crossbar supported by the goal posts must be 2.44 m (8 ft)above the ground. Nets are usually placed behind the goal, but are notrequired by the Laws.

In front of each goal is an area known as the penalty area. This

area is marked by the goal line, two lines starting on the goal line 16.5 m(18 yd) from the goalposts and extending 16.5 m (18 yd) into the pitch perpendicular to the goal line, and a line joining them. This area has anumber of functions, the most prominent being to mark where thegoalkeeper may handle the ball and where a penalty foul by a member ofthe defending team becomes punishable by a penalty kick. Other



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markings define the position of the ball or players at kick-offs, goalkicks, penalty kicks and corner kicks.

1.3.3 Duration and tie-breaking methods

A standard adult football match consists of two periods of 45 minuteseach, known as halves. Each half runs continuously, meaning that theclock is not stopped when the ball is out of play. There is usually a 15-minute half-time break between halves. The end of the match is knownas full-time. The referee is the official timekeeper for the match, andmay make an allowance for time lost through substitutions, injured

players requiring attention, or other stoppages. This added time is

commonly referred to as stoppage time or injury time , and is at the solediscretion of the referee. The referee alone signals the end of the match.

In matches where a fourth official is appointed, toward the end ofthe half the referee signals how many minutes of stoppage time heintends to add. The fourth official then informs the players andspectators by holding up a board showing this number. The signalledstoppage time may be further extended by the referee. Added time wasintroduced because of an incident which happened in 1891 during amatch between Stoke and Aston Villa. Trailing 1 – 0 and with just twominutes remaining, Stoke were awarded a penalty. Villa's goalkeeperkicked the ball out of the ground, and by the time the ball had beenrecovered, the 90 minutes had elapsed and the game was over. The samelaw also stands that the duration of either half is extended until the

penalty kick to be taken or retaken is completed, thus no game shall endwith a penalty to be taken.

In league competitions, games may end in a draw, but in someknockout competitions if a game is tied at the end of regulation time itmay go into extra time, which consists of two further 15-minute periods.If the score is still tied after extra time, some competitions allow the useof penalty shootouts (known officially in the Laws of the Game as"kicks from the penalty mark") to determine which team will progress to



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the next stage of the tournament. Goals scored during extra time periodscount toward the final score of the game, but kicks from the penaltymark are only used to decide the team that progresses to the next part ofthe tournament (with goals scored in a penalty shootout not making up

part of the final score).

In competitions using two-legged matches, each team competes athome once, with an aggregate score from the two matches decidingwhich team progresses. Where aggregates are equal, the away goals rulemay be used to determine the winners, in which case the winner is theteam that scored the most goals in the leg played away from home. If theresult is still equal, kicks from the penalty mark are required.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the IFAB experimented withways of creating a winner without requiring a penalty shootout, whichwas often seen as an undesirable way to end a match. These involvedrules ending a game in extra time early, either when the first goal inextra time was scored ( golden goal ), or if one team held a lead at the endof the first period of extra time ( silver goal ). Golden goal was used at theWorld Cup in 1998 and 2002. The first World Cup game decided by agolden goal was France's victory over Paraguay in 1998. Germany was

the first nation to score a golden goal in a major competition, beatingCzech Republic in the final of Euro 1996. Silver goal was used in Euro2004. Both these experiments have been discontinued by IFAB.



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1.3.4 Ball in and out of play

Under the Laws, the two basic states of play during a game are ballin play and ball out of play . From the beginning of each playing period

with a kick-off until the end ofthe playing period, the ball is in

play at all times, except wheneither the ball leaves the field of

play, or play is stopped by thereferee. When the ball becomesout of play, play is restarted by

one of eight restart methodsdepending on how it went out of

play:

Kick-off: following a goal by the opposing team, or to begin each period of play.

Throw-in: when the ball has crossed the touchline; awarded toopposing team to that which last touched the ball.

Goal kick: when the ball has wholly crossed the goal line without agoal having been scored and having last been touched by a playerof the attacking team; awarded to defending team.

Corner kick: when the ball has wholly crossed the goal linewithout a goal having been scored and having last been touched bya player of the defending team; awarded to attacking team.

Indirect free kick: awarded to the opposing team following "non- penal" fouls, certain technical infringements, or when play is

stopped to caution or send-off an opponent without a specific foulhaving occurred. A goal may not be scored directly from anindirect free kick.

Direct free kick: awarded to fouled team following certain listed"penal" fouls. A goal may be scored directly from a direct freekick.



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Penalty kick: awarded to the fouled team following a foul usually punishable by a direct free kick but that has occurred within theiropponent's penalty area.

Dropped-ball: occurs when the referee has stopped play for anyother reason, such as a serious injury to a player, interference by anexternal party, or a ball becoming defective. This restart isuncommon in adult games.

1.3.5 Misconduct

A foul occurs when a player commits an offence listed in the Lawsof the Game while the ball is in play. The offences that constitute a foul

are listed in Law 12. Handling the ball deliberately, tripping anopponent, or pushing an opponent, are examples of "penal fouls",

punishable by a direct free kick or penalty kick depending on where theoffence occurred. Other fouls are punishable by an indirect free kick.The referee may punish a player or substitute's misconduct by a caution(yellow card) or sending-off (red card). A secondyellow card at the same game leads to a red card, and

therefore to a sending-off. A player given a yellowcard is said to have been "booked", the refereewriting the player's name in his official notebook. If a

player has been sent off, no substitute can be brought on in their place.Misconduct may occur at any time, and while the offences thatconstitute misconduct are listed, the definitions are broad. In particular,the offence of "unsporting behaviour" may be used to deal with mostevents that violate the spirit of the game, even if they are not listed asspecific offences. A referee can show a yellow or red card to a player,substitute or substituted player. Non-players such as managers andsupport staff cannot be shown the yellow or red card, but may beexpelled from the technical area if they fail to conduct themselves in aresponsible manner.



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Rather than stopping play, the referee may allow play to continueif doing so will benefit the team against which an offence has beencommitted. This is known as "playing an advantage". The referee may"call back" play and penalise the original offence if the anticipatedadvantage does not ensue within "a few seconds". Even if an offence isnot penalised due to advantage being played, the offender may still besanctioned for misconduct at the next stoppage of play.

1.4 International competitions

The major international competition in football is the World Cup,organised by FIFA. This competition takes place over a four-year

period. More than 190 national teams compete in qualifying tournamentswithin the scope of continental confederations for a place in the finals.The finals tournament, which is held every four years, involves 32national teams competing over a four-week period. The most recenttournament, the 2010 FIFA World Cup, was held in South Africa from11 June to 11 July.

There has been a football tournament at every Summer OlympicGames since 1900, except at the 1932 games in Los Angeles. Before theinception of the World Cup, the Olympics (especially during the 1920s)had the same status as the World Cup. Originally, the event was foramateurs only, however, since the 1984 Summer Olympics professional

players have been permitted, albeit with certain restrictions which prevent countries from fieldingtheir strongest sides. Currently, theOlympic men's tournament is

played at Under-23 level. In the past the Olympics have allowed arestricted number of over-age

players per team; but that practiceceased in the 2008 Olympics. Awomen's tournament was added in



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1996; in contrast to the men's event, full international sides without agerestrictions play the women’s Olympic tournament.

After the World Cup, the most important international football

competitions are the continental championships, which are organised byeach continental confederation and contested between national teams.These are the European Championship (UEFA), the Copa América(CONMEBOL), African Cup of Nations (CAF), the Asian Cup (AFC),the CONCACAF Gold Cup (CONCACAF) and the OFC Nations Cup(OFC). The FIFA Confederations Cup is contested by the winners of all6 continental championships, the current FIFA World Cup champions

and the country which is hosting the Confederations Cup. This isgenerally regarded as a warm up tournament for the upcoming FIFAWorld Cup and does not carry the same prestige as the World Cup itself.The most prestigious competitions in club football are the respectivecontinental championships, which are generally contested betweennational champions, for example the UEFA Champions League inEurope and the Copa Libertadores de América in South America. Thewinners of each continental competition contest the FIFA Club WorldCup.



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1.5 Domestic competitions

The governing bodies in each country operate league systems in adomestic season, normally comprising several divisions, in which theteams gain points throughoutthe season depending onresults. Teams are placedinto tables, placing them inorder according to points

accrued. Most commonly,each team plays every otherteam in its league at homeand away in each season, ina round-robin tournament.At the end of a season, thetop team is declared the

champion. The top fewteams may be promoted to a higher division, and one or more of theteams finishing at the bottom are relegated to a lower division. Theteams finishing at the top of a country's league may be eligible also to

play in international club competitions in the following season. Themain exceptions to this system occur in some Latin American leagues,which divide football championships into two sections named Aperturaand Clausura (Spanish for Opening and Closing), awarding a championfor each. The majority of countries supplement the league system withone or more "cup" competitions organised on a knock-out basis.

Some countries' top divisions feature highly paid star players; insmaller countries and lower divisions, players may be part-timers with a



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second job, or amateurs. The five top European leagues – the PremierLeague (England), La Liga (Spain), Serie A (Italy), the Bundesliga(Germany) and Ligue 1 (France) – attract most of the world's best

players and each of the leagues has a total wage cost in excess of £600million/€763 million/$ 1.185 billion.

1.6 Women's association football

Women have been playing association football since the firstrecorded women's game in 1895 in North London. It has traditionally

been associated with charity games and physical exercise, particularly in

the United Kingdom. This perception began to change in the 1970s withthe breakthrough of organised women's association football. Associationfootball is the most prominent team sport for women in severalcountries, and one of the few women's team sports with professionalleagues.

The growth in women's football has seen major competitions beinglaunched at both national and international level mirroring the male

competitions. Women's football faced many struggles throughout itsfight for right. It had a "golden age" in the United Kingdom in the early1920s when crowds reached 50,000 at some matches; this was stoppedon 5 December 1921 when England's Football Association voted to banthe game from grounds used by its member clubs. The FA's ban wasrescinded in December 1969 with UEFA voting to officially recognisewomen's football in 1971. The FIFA Women's World Cup was

inaugurated in 1991 and has been held every four years since.



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Chapter II: American Football

American football ,known in the United States asfootball , is a sport played

between two teams of eleven.The objective of the game is toscore points by advancing the

ball into the opposing team'send zone. The ball can beadvanced by running with it orthrowing it to a teammate.

Points can be scored bycarrying the ball over theopponent's goal line, catching a pass thrown over that goal line, kickingthe ball through the opponent's goal posts or tackling an opposing ballcarrier in his own end zone.

In the United States, high school football, college football and professional football are played under slightly different rules. Highschool football is governed by the National Federation of State HighSchool Associations, college football by the National Collegiate AthleticAssociation and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, whilethe major professional league is the NFL.

The sport is also played in Europe, Japan and Mexico. TheInternational Federation of American Football acts as an internationalgoverning body for the sport. American football is closely related toCanadian football but with some differences in rules and the field.

2.1 History

The history of American football can be traced to early versions ofrugby football and association football. Both games have their origins invarieties of football played in the United Kingdom in the mid-19th



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century, in which a ball is kicked at agoal and/or run overa line. Many gamesknown as "football"were being played atcolleges anduniversities in theUnited States in thefirst half of the 19thcentury.

Americanfootball resultedfrom several major

divergences from rugby football, most notably the rule changesinstituted by Walter Camp, considered the "Father of AmericanFootball". Among these important changes were the introduction of theline of scrimmage and of down-and-distance rules. In the late 19th andearly 20th centuries, game play developments by college coaches suchas Eddie Cochems, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Knute Rockne, and Glenn"Pop" Warner helped take advantage of the newly introduced forward

pass.

The popularity of collegiate football grew as it became thedominant version of the sport for the first half of the twentieth century.Bow games, a college football tradition, attracted a national audience forcollegiate teams. Bolstered by fierce rivalries, college football still holdswidespread appeal in the US.

The origin of professional football can be traced back to 1892,with William "Pudge" Heffelfinger's $500 contract to play in a game forthe Allegheny Athletic Association against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club.The first Professional "league" was the Ohio League, formed in 1903,and the first Professional Football championship game was between the



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Buffalo Prospects and the Canton Bulldogs in 1919. In 1920, theAmerican Professional Football Association was formed. The first gamewas played in Dayton, Ohio on October 3, 1920 with the host Trianglesdefeating the Columbus Panhandles 14 – 0. The league changed its nameto the National Football League (NFL) two years later, and eventually

became the major league of American football. Initially a sport ofMidwestern industrial towns in the United States, professional footballeventually became a national phenomenon. Football's increasing

popularity is usually traced to the 1958 NFL Championship Game, acontest that has been dubbed the "Greatest Game Ever Played". A rivalleague to the NFL, the American Football League (AFL), began play in1960; the pressure it put on the senior league led to a merger between

the two leagues and the creation of the Super Bowl, which has becomethe most watched television event in the United States on an annual basis.

2.2 Rules

Game play in American football consists of a series of downs ,individual plays of short duration, outside of which the ball is dead ornot in play. These can be plays from scrimmage — passes, runs, punts,or field goal attempts — or free kicks such as kickoffs. Substitutions can

be made between downs, which allows for a great deal of specializationas coaches choose the players best suited for each particular situation.During a play, each team should have no more than 11 players on thefield, and each of them has specific tasks assigned for that specific play.

2.2.1 Field and players

American football is played on a field 360 by 160 feet (120.0 by53.3 yards; 109.7 by 48.8 meters). The longer boundary lines are sidelines , while the shorter boundary lines are end lines . Sidelines andend lines are out of bounds. Near each end of the field is a goal line ;they are 100 yards (91.4 m) apart. A scoring area called an end zone extends 10 yards (9.1 m) beyond each goal line to each end line. The end



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zone includes the goal line but not the end line. While the playing fieldis effectively flat, it is common for a field to be built with a slightcrown — with the middle of the field higher than the sides — to allowwater to drain from the field.

Yard lines cross the field every 5 yards (4.6 m), and are numberedevery 10 yards from each goal line to the 50-yard line, or midfield(similar to a typical rugby league field). Two rows of short lines, knownas inbounds lines or hash marks , run at 1-yard (91.4 cm) intervals

perpendicular to the sidelines near the middle of the field. All plays startwith the ball on or between the hash marks. Because of the arrangementof the lines, the field is occasionally referred to as a gridiron in a

reference to the cooking grill with a similar pattern of lines.At the back of each end zone are two goalposts (also called

uprights ) connected by a crossbar 10 feet (3.05 m) from the ground. Forhigh skill levels, the posts are 18 feet 6 inches (5.64 m) apart. For lowerskill levels, these are widened to 23 feet 4 inches (7.11 m).

Each team has 11 players on the field at a time. Usually there aremany more players off the field. There are 53 active players on an NFL

team. However, if time allows, teams may substitute for any or all oftheir players during the breaks between plays. As a result, players havevery specialized roles and are divided into three separate units: theoffense, the defense and the special teams. It is rare for all teammembers to participate in a given game, as some roles have little utility

beyond that of an injury substitute.

2.2.2 Start of halves

Similarly to association football, the game begins with a coin toss todetermine which team will kick off to begin the game and which goaleach team will defend. Unlike association football though, the optionsare presented again to start the second half; the choices for the first halfdo not automatically determine the start of the second half. The referee



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conducts the coin toss with the captains (or sometimes coaches) of theopposing teams. The team that wins the coin toss has three options:

1. They may choose whether to kick or receive the opening kickoff.

2. They may choose which goal to defend.3. They may choose to defer the first choice to the other team and

have first choice to start the second half.

Whatever the first team chooses, the second team has the option onthe other choice (for example, if the first team elects to receive at thestart of the game, the second team can decide which goal to defend).

At the start of the second half, the options to kick, receive, or choosea goal to defend are presented to the captains again. The team which didnot choose first to start the first half (or which deferred its privilege tochoose first) now gets first choice of options.



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2.2.3 Game duration

A standard football game consists of four 15-minute quarters (12-minute quarters in high-school football and oftenshorter at lower levels),with a 12-minute half-time intermission after

the second quarter. At alllevels, a down (play) that begins before timeexpires is allowed tocontinue until itscompletion, even afterthe clock reaches zero.The clock is also stopped

after certain plays, therefore, a game can last considerably longer (oftenmore than three hours in real time), and if a game is broadcast ontelevision, TV timeouts are taken at certain intervals of the game to

broadcast commercials outside of game action. If an NFL game is tiedafter four quarters, the teams play an additional period lasting up to 15minutes. In a regular season NFL overtime game, the first team thatscores wins, even if the other team does not get a possession; this isreferred to as sudden death. However, in a post-season NFL game duringthe playoffs, if the first team with possession scores only a field goal, theother team is allowed the opportunity to match or better this score. Thisrule only affects playoff games in overtime in which the first team with

possession scores a field goal: if the first team with possession scores atouchdown, the sudden death rules take effect. In a regular-season NFLgame, if neither team scores in overtime, the game is a tie. In an NFL



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playoff game, additional overtime periods are played, as needed, todetermine a winner. College overtime rules are more complicated.

2.2.4 Scoring

A team scores points by the following plays:

A touchdown (TD) is worth 6 points. It is scored when a playerruns the ball into or catches a pass in his opponent's end zone. Atouchdown is analogous to a try in rugby. Unlike rugby, a player

does not have to touch the ball to the ground to score; atouchdown is scored any time a player has possession of the ballwhile any part of the ball is beyond the vertical plane created bythe leading edge of the opponent's goal line stripe (the stripeitself is a part of the end zone).

o After a touchdown, the scoring team attempts a try (whichis also analogous to the conversion in rugby). The ball isplaced at the other team's 3-yard (2.7 m) line (the 2-yard

(1.8 m) line in the NFL). The team can attempt to kick itthrough the goalposts (over the crossbar and between theuprights) in the manner of a field goal for 1 point (an extrapoint or point-after touchdown (PAT) ), or run or pass it intothe end zone in the manner of a touchdown for 2 points (atwo-point conversion ). In college football, if the defenseintercepts or recovers a fumble during a one or two pointconversion attempt and returns it to the opposing end zone,

the defensive team is awarded the two points. A field goal (FG) is worth 3 points, and it is scored by kicking the

ball through the goalposts defended by the opposition. Field goalsmay be place kicked (kicked when the ball is held vertically againstthe ground by a teammate) or drop kicked (extremely uncommonin the modern game due to the better accuracy of place kicks,



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with only two successful drop kicks in sixty-plus years in the NFL).A field goal is usually attempted on fourth down instead of a puntwhen the ball is close enough to the opponent's goalposts, or,when there is little or no time left to otherwise score.

A safety , worth 2 points, is scored by the opposing team when theteam in possession at the end of a down is responsible for the ballbecoming dead behind its own goal line. For instance, a safety isscored by the defense if an offensive player is tackled, goes out ofbounds, or fumbles the ball out of bounds in his own end zone.Safeties are relatively rare. Note that, though even more rare, theteam initially on offense during a down can score a safety if aplayer of the original defense gains possession of the ball in frontof his own goal line and then carries the ball or fumbles it into hisown end zone where it becomes dead. However, if the ballbecomes dead behind the goal line of the team in possession andits opponent is responsible for the ball being there (for instance, ifthe defense intercepts a forward pass in its own end zone and theball becomes dead before the ball is advanced out of the endzone) it is a touchback: no points are scored and the team last in

possession keeps possession with a first down at its own 20 yardline. In amateur football, in the extremely rare instance that asafety is scored on a try, it is worth only 1 point.



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2.3 Players

Most football players have highly specialized roles. At the collegeand NFL levels, most play only offense or only defense.

2.3.1 Offense

The offensive line (OL) consists of five players whose job is toprotect the passer and clear the way for runners by blockingmembers of the defense. The lineman in the middle is the Center.Outside the Center are the Guards, and outside them are theTackles. Except for the center, who snaps the ball to one of thebacks, offensive linemen generally do not handle the ball.



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zones for members of the defensive team, except that they must be in thedefensive zone at the start of play. The positions, movements andresponsibilities of all defensive players are assigned by the team byselection of certain coverages, or patterns of placement and assignmentof responsibilities. The positional roles are customary. These roles havevaried over the history of American football. The following arecustomary defensive positions used in many coverages in modernAmerican football.

The defensive line consists of three to six players who line upimmediately across from the offensive line. They try to occupy theoffensive linemen in order to free up the linebackers, disrupt the

backfield (behind the offensive line) of the offense, and tackle therunning back if he has the ball before he can gain yardage or thequarterback before he can throw or pass the ball. They are the firstline of defense.

Behind the defensive line are the linebackers . They line up between the defensive line and defensive backs and may eitherrush the quarterback or cover potential receivers.

The last line of defense is known as the secondary, comprising atleast three players who line up as defensive backs , who are eithercornerbacks or safeties . They cover the receivers and try to stop

pass completions. They occasionally rush the quarterback.

2.3.3 Special teams

The units of players who handle kicking plays are known asspecial teams . Three important special-teams players are the punter ,who handles punts, the placekicker or kicker, who kicks off and

attempts field goals and extra points, and the long snapper , who snapsthe ball for extra points, field goals, and punts. Also included on specialteams are the returners. These players return punts or kickoffs and try toget in good field position. These players can also score touchdowns.



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2.4 Physicality

American football is a collision sport. To stop the offense fromadvancing the ball, the defense must tackle the player with the ball byknocking or pulling him down. As such, defensive players must usesome form of physical contact to

bring the ball-carrier to the ground,within certain rules and guidelines.

Tacklers cannot kick or punch therunner. They also cannot grab theface mask of the runner's helmet orlead into a tackle with their ownhelmet ("spearing"). Despite theseand other rules regardingunnecessary roughness, most otherforms of tackling are legal.

Blockers and defenders trying toevade them also have wide leewayin trying to force their opponentsout of the way. Quarterbacks areregularly hit by defenders comingon full speed from outside thequarterback's field of vision. This iscommonly known as a blindside.

To compensate for this, players must wear special protectiveequipment, such as a padded plastic helmet, shoulder pads, hip pads andknee pads. These protective pads were introduced decades ago and haveimproved ever since to help minimize lasting injury to players. Anunintended consequence of all the safety equipment has resulted inincreasing levels of violence in the game. Players may now hurl



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themselves at one another at high speeds without a significant chance ofinjury. The injuries that do result tend to be severe and often season orcareer-ending and sometimes fatal. In previous years with less padding,tackling more closely resembled tackles in Rugby football. Betterhelmets have allowed players to use their helmets as weapons. This formof tackling is particularly unwise, because of the great potential for brainor spinal injury. All this has caused the various leagues, especially the

NFL, to implement a complicated series of penalties for various types ofcontact. Most recently, virtually any contact with the helmet of adefensive player on the quarterback, or any contact to the quarterback'shead, is now a foul. During the late 1970s, the penalty in high schoolfootball for spearing included ejection from the game.

Despite protective equipment and rule changes to emphasizesafety, injuries remain very common in football. It is increasingly rare,for example, for NFL quarterbacks or running backs (who take the mostdirect hits) to make it through an entire season without missing sometime to injury. Additionally, 28 football players died from direct footballinjuries in the years 2000-05 and an additional 68 died indirectly fromdehydration or other examples of "non-physical" dangers, according tothe National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research. Concussionsare common, with about 41,000 suffered every year among high school

players according to the Brain Injury Association of Arizona. In 1981,U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who played football in high school,commented on the contact of the sport: "Football is the last thing left incivilization where men can literally fling themselves bodily at oneanother in combat and not be at war."

Extra and optional equipment such as neck rolls, spider pads, rib

protectors (referred to as "flak jackets"), and elbow pads help againstinjury as well, though they do not tend to be used by the majority of players due to their lack of requirement.

The danger of football, and the equipment required to reduce it,make regulation football impractical for casual play. Flag football and



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touch football are less violent variants of the game popular amongrecreational players.

2.5 Organization in the United States

In the United States, the major forms are high school football,college football and professional football. Most American high schoolsfield football teams. In general, high school teams play only againstother teams within the same state, but there are some exceptions likenearby schools located on opposite sides of a state line.

Most of college football in the United States is governed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and most collegesand universities around the country have football teams. These teamsmostly play other similarly sized schools, through the NCAA'sdivisional system, which divides the schools into four divisions:Division I Bowl Subdivision, Division I Championship Subdivision,Division II, and Division III. Unlike the three smaller NCAA footballdivisions, the Division I Bowl Subdivision does not have an organizedtournament to determine its national champion. Instead, teams areinvited to compete in a number of post-season bowl games. In addition,the champions of six conferences in the Division I Bowl Subdivisionreceive automatic bids, and four other schools receive "at-large" bids, tothose five bowl games under the highly lucrative Bowl ChampionshipSeries to help determine the national champion.

The highest level major professional league in the United States isthe 32-team National Football League (NFL). Another professionalleague, the 5-team United Football League, also currently operates.Several semi-professional, women's semi-professional football, andindoor football leagues are also played across the country.

2.6 Outside the United States



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Outside the United States, the sport is referred to as "Americanfootball" (or a translation thereof) to differentiate it from other footballcodes such as association football (soccer), rugby football, Australianrules football and Gaelic football. In Australia and New Zealand thegame is also known as gridiron football, or more commonly as gridiron,although in the United States the term gridiron refers only to the playingfield itself. The term gridiron has also been used in the UK to describethe game. In much of the world, the term football is unambiguous andrefers to association football (known commonly as 'soccer' in the UnitedStates).



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Chapter III: Differences and similarities

American football is usually confused with European football. Thedifference between the two is greatly, but the same use of title canconfuse others.

3.1 Playstyle

The most obvious difference that a sports fan will discern betweensoccer and American football is that soccer is played mainly by kickingthe ball and it is only the goalkeeper who can handle the ball. Americanfootball, in contrast, is played by throwing the ball.

3.2 Fields, players, equipment and games



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In soccer the field length is 100 – 110 m (110 – 120 yd) and the widthis in the range of 64 – 75 m (70 – 80 yd) while american football is playedon a field 360 by 160 feet (120.0 by 53.3 yards; 109.7 by 48.8 meters).

Soccer matches are usually played on grass pitches althoughoccasionally they are played on artificial pitches. In contrast, Americanfootball matches tend to be played on artificial pitches.

In soccer the ball is spherical (71 cm (28 inch) circumference inFIFA play) and in american football the ball has a diamond shape.

Both soccer and American football have eleven players per sidehowever in soccer you don’t need much equipment to play it . As long asyou have a ball, then you can use jumpers for goalposts and play.American football is more physical and therefore protective equipmentis required which makes it less suited for young children and less

accessible to people in poorer countries.Soccer is played over 90 minutes and is split into two halves,

american football is played over just 60 minutes that are split into fourquarters.Time outs are allowed in American football but not in soccer.Soccer matches can end in a draw/tie. However, in some cup



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competitions, 30 minutes of extra time are played to try to determine awinner and a penalty shoot-out may result if teams still can't beseparated.American football matches are decided by 15 minutes overtime if theyare tied after normal time.

Soccer is principally a sport that is dominated at professional level by men. However, female professional leagues have started to appear,however the american football has not obtained the same level of

participation from women.

3.3 International popularity and distribution

Soccer is the dominant team sport across South America, Africa,Europe, and large tracts of Asia. American football is dominant in NorthAmerica. One of the reasons why soccer is more popular in world termsis that it is played competitively at international level. There is a WorldCup which takes place every four years and that has played a huge rolein spreading the soccer gospel. American Football has its World Series

but it's a misnomer as it just involves North American club teams.



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Bibliography

Dunning, Eric. "The development of soccer as a world game" "England Premiership (2005/2006)" Sportpress.com . Dart, James; Bandini, Paolo (2007-02-21). "Has football everstarted a war?". The Guardian (London). Bath, Richard (ed.) Th e Complete Book of Rugby (Seven OaksLtd, 1997 "NFL History 1869 – 1910". NFL.com . NFL Enterprises LLC.2007.

2009 Off icial Playing Rules of the Nati onal F ootbal l L eague .Triumph Books. 2009. "Playing with the Percentages When Trailing by TwoTouchdowns". Montana State University. "History of the FA". Football Association (FA) "Where it all began". FIFA. Ronald Reagan: H ow an Or dinary M an Became anExtraordinary Leader .

"Digest of Rules". National Football League.

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