Football

Football is the word given to a number of 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". The English language word "football" is also applied to "gridiron football" (a name associated with the North American sports, especially American football and Canadian football), Australian football, Gaelic football, rugby football (rugby league and rugby union), and related games. Each of these codes (specific sets of rules, or the games defined by them) is referred to as "football".

These games involve:

• 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 and/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;
• goals and/or points resulting from players putting the ball between two goalposts
• the goal and/or line being defended by the opposing team;
• players being required to move the ball—depending on the code—by kicking, carrying and/or hand passing the ball; and
• players using only their body to move the ball.

In most codes, there are rules restricting the movement of players offside, and players scoring a goal must put the ball either under or over a crossbar between the goalposts. Other features common to several football codes include: points being mostly scored by players carrying the ball across the goal line and; players receiving a free kick after they take a mark/make a fair catch.

Peoples from around the world have played games which involved kicking and/or carrying a ball, since ancient times. However, most of the modern codes of football have their origins in England.

Source: Wikipedia

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American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football (Canada also has its own slightly different version, Canadian football), is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. The ball can be advanced by carrying it (a running play) or by throwing it to a teammate (a passing play). Points can be scored in a variety of ways, including carrying the ball over the opponent's goal line, catching a pass thrown over that goal line, kicking the ball through the goal posts at the opponent's end zone, or tackling an opposing ball carrier within his end zone. The winner is the team with the most points when the time expires.

The sport is also played outside the United States. National professional and collegiate leagues exist in United Kingdom, Germany, Italy,Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Japan, Mexico, Israel, Spain, Austria, and several Pacific Island nations. The National Football League (NFL), the largest American professional football league in the world, ran a developmental league in Europe from 1991–1992 and then from 1995–2006.

American football is closely related to Canadian football, but with significant differences. Both sports originated from rugby football. The major forms of football in the United States are collegiate football and professional Football. There have been numerous major professional football leagues in the U.S., but currently the only one in existence is the NFL.

Source: Wikipedia

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Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played chiefly in Canada in which two teams of twelve players each compete for territorial control of a field of play 110 yards (100 m) long and 65 yards (59 m) wide (100 m × 60 m),[1] attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area (end zone). In Canada, the term football is used to refer to Canadian football and American football collectively, or either sport specifically, depending on the context. The two sports have shared origins and are closely related, but with significant differences.

Rugby football in Canada had its origins in the early 1860s,[2] and over time, the unique game known as Canadian football developed. Both the Canadian Football League (CFL), the sport's top professional league, and Football Canada, the governing body for amateur play, trace their roots to 1884 and the founding of the Canadian Rugby Football Union. Currently active teams such as the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats have similar longevity. The CFL is the most popular and only major professional Canadian football league. Its championship game, the Grey Cup, is the country's single largest sporting event and is watched by nearly one third of Canadian television households.[3] Canadian football is also played at the high school, junior, collegiate, and semi-professional levels: the Canadian Junior Football League and Quebec Junior Football League are large leagues for players aged 18–22, many post-secondary institutions compete in Canadian Interuniversity Sport for the Vanier Cup, and senior leagues such as the Alberta Football League have grown in popularity in recent years. Great achievements in Canadian football are enshrined in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

Other organizations across Canada perform senior league Canadian football during the summer. One example is the Maritime Football League. MFL, provides a safe and enjoyable post high school, community based, competitive-developmental tackle football league for athletes living in the Maritime Provinces of Canada

Source: Wikipedia