Talk:Association football

Number of countries

I just noticed the number of countries at the top of the page ("At the turn of the 21st century the game was played by over 250 million players in over 200 countries, making it the world's most popular sport."). As far as I know, the aren't even 200 countries in the entire world, so maybe this should be changed... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.45.231.127 (talk) 01:19, 15 June 2011 (UTC)

As far as you know? Your knowledge clearly doesn't extend very far, because according to this article, there are 203 sovereign states on Earth. – PeeJay 22:41, 15 June 2011 (UTC)

@PeeJay - you're being a little unfair and rather rude towards the first user. Defining "sovereign states" is a difficult process, and is open to quite a few interpretations. The 203 mentioned by you includes states that many people (and certainly most national governments) would not consider legitimate (ie, Transnistria). The UN recognises 194 states, and if the original user was going by that consideration your insulting response is unhelpful and unnecessary. ~~Aerach~~ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.129.71.53 (talk) 19:35, 22 November 2011 (UTC)

football pitch areas?

There are more than one football pitch standard... The standards are knowed by your areas. In the article illustration (please ADD THIS INFORMATION at the article) the standard is ~4136 m². — Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.103.31.154 (talk) 13:26, 18 June 2011 (UTC)

First played section

I propose changing the first played section to England to reflect the fact that britain is neither a country (UK) nor a football playing nation (which is England). Any objections? --Richardeast (talk) 16:45, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from Soccerman977, 23 June 2011

Soccer or Futbol has a boys world cup ever four years and so do the girls. Soccer or Futbol is in the Olmypics to. Soccerman977 (talk) 20:56, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

This info is already in the article. Also, I think you mean "men" and "women", not "boys" and "girls". – PeeJay 21:55, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

He could mean the FIFA sanctioned age restricted cups (Under 21, Under 18 etc) Cls14 (talk) 08:07, 29 June 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from Chelsea8888, 9 August 2011

Under misconduct, the recent backpass rule has not yet been exlained in the article. Please note that if a defender passes the ball back to the keeper, the keeper may not pick up the ball, unless it is bouncing at about chest level. If this infrigment of the law happens, and inderect free kick is awarded 15- yards outside the goal. Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Chelsea8888 (talk • contribs) 15:11, 9 August 2011 (UTC)

That is not an actual rule. If a player passes the ball back to the goalkeeper with his feet, the goalkeeper may not touch the ball with his hands. Full stop. – PeeJay 15:15, 9 August 2011 (UTC)

Must admit that I agree with PeeJay about this one. I can only speak for the laws in Europe though, it might be different elsewhere. Although I doubt it. Cls14 (talk) 08:39, 12 August 2011 (UTC)

Venue description Pitch and Field

A significant portion of the English speaking world, if not the majority refers to then playing area as a soccer field. Does anyone have a reason for not changing the venue information in the info box from Football pitch to "Field or Pitch" and keep the relevant links?Fasttimes68 (talk) 21:05, 14 September 2011 (UTC)

It now reads as if the sport can be played on a field or a pitch. It might be clearer to put 'pitch' in parenthesis? Or just leave it as football pitch (which is consistent with the article being in BrEng) and leave any nuances to the text. The same arguments also apply to 'football or soccer ball', further up the infobox.ReadingOldBoy (talk) 09:28, 16 September 2011 (UTC)

I don't have a problem with using pitch in lieu of field as the main term as long as field is actually introduced. Although I see no valid reason this article favors BrEng. Fasttimes68 (talk) 11:18, 16 September 2011 (UTC)

The article favours BrEn because that's the variant it was originally written in. WP:ENGVAR states that when there is no clear reason for one variant to be favoured over another, the original variant should be favoured. I happen to believe that the article has closer ties to BrEn anyway. Furthermore, I agree with ReadingOldBoy; I have no problem with other terms being introduced in parentheses or even in the prose for the first usage, but we should stick to BrEn for all other uses. – PeeJay 11:55, 16 September 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the explanation of BrEn. Makes sense to me. I agree with the prose suggestion as well.Fasttimes68 (talk) 12:44, 16 September 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from , 18 October 2011

History

"Organised" football was being played in castle courtyards in Scotland more than 500 years ago, experts have found. Documents show a set of accounts from the court of King James IV indicating he paid two shillings for a bag of "fut ballis" in April 1497.The world's oldest surviving football dates back to 1540 and was found behind panelling in Stirling Castle, Scotland. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.193.95.115 (talk) 21:19, 18 October 2011 (UTC)

Scotland v. England illustration caption WRONG on some count

I don't know which part of this caption is wrong, but the illustration depicts AT MOST TWO of:

(i) the first international match; (ii) a match in 1872; (iii) a match at The Oval.

It can't be correct on all three counts!

If (i) and (ii), it's at Hamilton Crescent in Glasgow. If (i) and (iii), it's not in 1872 and not the OFFICIAL first international, but the unofficial first match in 1870 (see elsewhere). If (ii) and (iii), it's not the first international by any reckoning, just one of the unofficial games played between Scottish and English representative teams at The Oval (of which there were five in total between 1870 and 1872).

Of course, it might just be (iii), and could depict the SECOND official international in 1873; or it could be later altogether; or none of the above! Someone who knows more about the illustration itself is needed to correct this. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.100.217.69 (talk) 01:59, 18 January 2012 (UTC)