FOOTBALL
POOTBALP
form of the game gradually evolved. The game is played upon a level, rectangular piece of ground 330 feet long by 160 broad. The boundary lines of this area should be plainly marked with lime or sawdust, to enable the referee to determine when arid where the ball has gone out of bounds. There also are transverse lines crossing the field at intervals of every five yards, to enable the referee to determine readily how much ground has been gained by the side in possession of the ball. The end-boundary lines are called the goal-lines, and at the center of each stands a goal consisting of two upright posts 18 feet 6 inches apart, united by a crossbar at a distance of 10 feet above the ground. There are eleven men on each side, constituting a team. In general seven men play forward with the ball, and the remaining four somewhat back of them. The center-man or center-rush usually puts the ball into play. Immediately behind him on either side are the right and left guards, then the right and left tackles, and behind them the right and left end men. The quarter-back has a position somewhat behind the center-rush, the two half-backs a few feet behind him and the full-back farthest back of all.
The choice of goals and first possession of the ball having been determined by lot, the play is started by the ball being kicked off from the center-line to a distance of at least ten yards into the opponents' territory. During the kick-off, the side in possession of the ball must not be beyond the center-line, and the opposing side must be at least ten yards back of it. After the kick-off, any player who is on side, that is, between the ball and his own goal, may get possession of it and run with it towards the opponents' goal or pass it to one of his own side, provided he does not pass it forward, that is, to one who is ahead of him and consequently not on side. Having the ball in the vicinity of the opponents' goal, scoring may be made either by a drop-kick, that is, by kicking the ball from the field over the cross-bar of the goal, thus securing five points, or by securing a touch-down, that is, carrying it over the end-line and touching it to the ground behind the opponents' goal-line. A touch-down counts four points, and also entitles the side securing it to a try-at-goal. In case of a try-at-goal, the ball either is kicked out to be caught by one of the same side and kicked at goal by him from a point back of that from which he caught it, or is held to the ground by one player while one of his side kicks it at the goal. In either case, if the player succeed in converting the touch-down with 9, goal, that is, succeed in kicking the ball Vver the cross-bar of the goal, it adds one point to the score of his side. An-
other possible way of scoring is by means of what is known as the safety. In case a team is hard-pressed by its opponents who seem likely to secure a touch-down, if the oppressed side themselves touch the ball down behind their goal, they win the privilege of taking the ball out to the twenty-five yard line and of kicking it off from there. In that case, however, the opponents win two points.
When a player is running with the ball, he may be caught and stopped by an opponent. In this case, if he keep possession of the ball and say "down," the ball is again put into play by his own side from this spot, by means of a play called a scrimmage. In the scrimmage the teams line up, facing each other, the center-man passes the ball to one of his backs who kicks it down the field or tries to carry it towards the opponents' goal, his own team meanwhile trying to protect him, as far as the rules will permit, from the attacks of the opposing side. In case the ball is kicked out of bounds, it goes to the possession of the opposite side who usually put it in play in scrimmage.
It has been found desirable to prevent one side from keeping possession of the ball indefinitely by means of scrimmage-play, without making progress with it towards the opponents' goal. This is accomplished by means of a rule that if in three attempts the ball is not advanced by at least ten yards, it must either be taken back twenty yards or given over to the opponents. Consequently if, after two scrimmages, it seem unlikely that the required ten yards will be gained, the ball is usually kicked as far as possible down the field.
The game has developed into one affording considerable opportunity for the display of generalship on the part of its principal director and for a great variety of team-plays and tactics. The quarter-back and the captain generally use a code of signals to inform their men what particular plays to execute. The game has recently been severely criticised on account of its roughness, and new rules changing the nature of the play have consequently been introduced.
Association-football is older than either Rugby or American football, and is still popular enough in England to draw crowds of 1,00,000 people to its most important matches. The ball used is round instead of oval, it is played almost entirely by kicking it, the players not being allowed to carry it as in the other games, and a score is secured by sending it between the goal-posts of the opposing team, under the cross-bar. The posts are twenty-four feet apart, the cross-bar eight feet high. The players consist of one goal-keeper who alone is allowed to touch the ball with his
