Football is my favorite sports. It is a very popular game throughout the world. In almost every school and college there is a football team.
Football is quiet an interesting sport. The game is played between two teams, with eleven players on each side. The goals are each made up of two upright posts eight yards apart, with a cross-bar eight feet from the ground, on either end of the playground.
It is an active sport. One player of each party, the goal-keeper, is placed between these posts to defend the goal of his side. In front of each goal-keeper stand two back. Their chief duty is to prevent the opponents from bringing the ball close enough to the goal to shoot into it. Ahead of the backs are three half-backs. They perform two functions. They have to play on the offensive and help the forwards. They have also to play on the defensive and help the backs. The five forwards, who stand in a row across the ground, play mainly on the offensive. No player is allowed to touch the ball with his hands, while it is in play, to push any of the opponents, or to indulge in rough play. But the goal-keepers are allowed to use their hands for holding the ball.
The game has rules of its own. The playground should be 200 yards long and 60 yards broad. It should be marked with four flags posted at its four corners. Two linesmen should be appointed to point out where the ball crosses the line as well as to decide which party is to throw the ball in. A kick from the center of the field at the appointed time marks the starting of the game. The opponents are not allowed to come within ten yards of the ball, until it is thus kicked off. In every game a referee is appointed whose duty is to enforce the laws and decide all disputed points. The referee’s decision is final so far as the facts of the game are concerned. The referee also keeps a record of the game and acts as its time-keeper. The linesmen help the referee in making his decisions.
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