This article is about the family of sports. For specific sports and other uses, see Football (disambiguation).
American football (gridiron)
Association football (soccer)
Australian rules football
Gaelic football (GAA)
Rugby league football
Rugby union football
Several codes of football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word football normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly called football include association football (known as soccer in Australia, Canada, South Africa, the United States, and sometimes in Ireland and New Zealand); Australian rules football; Gaelic football; gridiron football (specifically American football, Arena football, or Canadian football); International rules football; rugby league football; and rugby union football.[1] These various forms of football share, to varying degrees, common origins and are known as "football codes".
There are a number of references to traditional, ancient, or prehistoric ball games played in many different parts of the world.[2][3][4] Contemporary codes of football can be traced back to the codification of these games at English public schools during the 19th century, itself an outgrowth of medieval football.[5][6] The expansion and cultural power of the British Empire allowed these rules of football to spread to areas of British influence outside the directly controlled Empire.[7] By the end of the 19th century, distinct regional codes were already developing: Gaelic football, for example, deliberately incorporated the rules of local traditional football games in order to maintain their heritage.[8] In 1888, the Football League was founded in England, becoming the first of many professional football associations. During the 20th century, several of the various kinds of football grew to become some of the most popular team sports in the world.[9]
^Reilly, Thomas; Gilbourne, D. (2003). "Science and football: a review of applied research in the football code". Journal of Sports Sciences. 21 (9): 693–705. doi:10.1080/0264041031000102105. PMID 14579867. S2CID 37880342.
^"History of Football – Britain, the home of Football". FIFA. Archived from the original on 22 September 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
^Post Publishing PCL. "Bangkok Post article". Bangkok Post.
^"History of Football – The Origins". FIFA. Archived from the original on 24 April 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
^"History of Rugby in Australia". Rugby Football History. Archived from the original on 23 December 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
^Bailey, Steven (1995). "Living Sports History: Football at Winchester, Eton and Harrow". The Sports Historian. 15 (1): 34–53. doi:10.1080/17460269508551675.
^Perkin, Harold (1989). "Teaching the nations how to play: sport and society in the British empire and commonwealth". The International Journal of the History of Sport. 6 (2): 145–155. doi:10.1080/09523368908713685.
^Reilly, Thomas; Doran, D. (2001). "Science and Gaelic football: A review". Journal of Sports Sciences. 19 (3): 181–193. doi:10.1080/026404101750095330. PMID 11256823. S2CID 43471221.
^Bale, J. (2002). Sports Geography. Taylor & Francis. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-419-25230-6. Archived from the original on 27 February 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
rules football; Gaelic football; gridiron football (specifically American football, Arena football, or Canadian football); International rules football; rugby...
College football refers to gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate...
National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference...
Australian rules football, also called Australian football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams...
Association football, commonly known as football, or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each, who primarily use their feet...
Fantasy football may refer to: Fantasy football (association), a game in which participants assemble an imaginary team of real life footballers (soccer...
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams...
States national football team may refer to: United States men's national American football team United States women's national American football team United...
national football team have represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association...
Gaelic football (Irish: Peil Ghaelach; short name Peil, Ulster Scots: Gaelic fitbaw), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team...
The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level...
Football at the Summer Olympics, also referred to as the Olympic Football Tournament, has been included in every Summer Olympic Games as a men's competition...
The Arena Football League (AFL) can refer to one of three successive professional indoor American football leagues in the United States. The first of these...
This is a list of football clubs that compete within the leagues and divisions of the men's English football league system as far down as Level 10, that...
The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship in England and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is the highest...
Alabama Crimson Tide football program represents the University of Alabama (variously Alabama, UA, or Bama) in the sport of American football. The team competes...
The following is a list of most expensive association football transfers, which details the highest transfer fees ever paid for players, as well as transfers...
The English football champions are the winners of the highest league in English men's football, which since 1992–93 is called the Premier League. Following...
This is a list of football stadiums in England, ranked in descending order of capacity. There is an extremely large number of football stadiums and pitches...
Albania national football team (Albanian: Kombëtarja e futbollit të Shqipërisë) represents Albania in men's international football, and is governed by...
Football hooliganism, also known as soccer hooliganism, football rioting or soccer rioting constitutes violence and other destructive behaviors perpetrated...
list of notable men's and women's football clubs that competed within the leagues and divisions of the French football league system during the 2023–24...
Trojans football program represents University of Southern California in the sport of American football. The Trojans compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision...
The Ivory Coast national football team (French: Équipe de football de Côte d'Ivoire, recognized as the Côte d'Ivoire by FIFA) represents Ivory Coast in...
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the intercollegiate football team representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, north...
national football team (Catalan: Selecció de futbol de Catalunya) is the official football team of Catalonia. It is organised by the Catalan Football Federation...
Global Information
