Basic Soccer Rules - 17 Rules
Soccer
Rules – Introduction
In
the
beginning
of the 19th
century, a people's game that has been around ever since
medieval times started
becoming more and more popular in England:
soccer. Back then soccer
was played using ad-hoc pitches and most teams were formed either
because they
were part of the same village, organization, factory or whatnot.
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Obviously,
these guys were
playing along to some basic soccer rules, but without a referee to
enforce
them, or clear specifications to these rules. For example, what would
have been
considered a foul in Liverpool might have been accepted as a fair
tackle in London.
Since soccer sparks some pretty
intense competition at times, playing it without a lot of strict rules
and
without a referee to enforce them caused serious troubles in mid 19
th
century England.
Soccer
fights became something that was seen as normal
and
they gave the game an aura of violence that in truth it
didn't deserve.
By 1860, soccer clubs were
already popping up in England, especially around London and they were
becoming
semi-professional, as the competition level started rising.
This caused
most of
the London clubs to meet in the Freemasons' Tavern in London
on 26 October
1863, forming the Football Association (FA), which is still the
governing
soccer organization in England. They decided that they would need
certain rules
for the game of soccer if they were to keep on playing competitively.
By the second meeting on the 8th
of December 1863, they decided to draw up the plans for the Laws of the
Game,
which is a sort of constitution holding all of the rules for soccer up
till
this date, with some modifications.
The 17
Rules for Soccer from the Laws of the Game
This soccer
constitution that was
the Laws of the Game now holds
17 specific key points that determine
the rules
of soccer. Let's go through each and explain them in more
detail.
1. The Field of Play
- The field of play is the surface
on which the game of soccer is played on. This law regulates everything
regarding line markings, soccer pitch dimensions and how to use them
properly.
For example, a soccer pitch must be between 90 and 120 meters long and
45 to 90
meters wide. However, it must also have a rectangular shape, so you
can't have
a square field with a length and width of 90 at the same time.
Other
basic rules of soccer and
field measurements are specified in this law, such as the dimensions of
each
goal (7.32 meters long and 2.44 meters high), the diameter of the
centre circle
(18.30 meters) or the distance between the penalty spot and the goal
(11
meters, perpendicularly on the goal).
Click
here for more details on soccer field layout...
2. The Ball
- Throughout the time, the rules
for soccer regarding the football remained the same, but the way in
which they
were applied was on a constant change. The rules state that the soccer
bull
must have a circumference between 68 and 70 centimeters and a weight
between
410 and 450 grams but they also state that the ball can be made out of
"leather
or any similar material".
Well that "any similar
material" bit constantly
improved over time and nowadays soccer balls reached near-perfection.
Almost each World Cup brought a
new type of soccer ball, with improved characteristics, although all of
them
stayed inside the official soccer rules stated in the Laws.
3.
The Number of Players
- According to the official soccer
rules, a team can bring in 10 outfield players and one goalkeeper on
the pitch
and can have several substitutes on the bench. The numbers of benched
subs as
well as the actual number of substitutions that are allowed in a single
match
vary with the type of the game played. For example, in official matches
only 3
substitutions are allowed, with 5, 7 or 9 players on the bench.
In
friendlies however, a coach
can fit in as many players as he wants on the bench and usually he can
also
make as many substitutions as he needs. In the past, the official
soccer rules
regarding substitutions were a lot stricter than this.
4. The Player's Equipment
- Just like with the soccer ball,
soccer equipment maintained most of the original rules in the Laws of
the Game,
but the way people interpret them today is quite different from how
they did
back in 1863. Basically the rules of soccer say that a player must wear
a shirt
or jersey, footwear, shin pads, shorts and socks and the two teams must
have
different equipment so that they can be differentiated on the pitch.
Back
then however, a soccer
jersey was a largely uncomfortable one and it was very simple, without
too many
details strapped on it. Today's jerseys are very light and
comfortable and on
many occasions they have the club's sponsors imprinted on
them, they have the
number of the player (and the name in some cases) on the back and the
club's
badge on the chest. These are not enforced by the soccer rules, but
they have
become common standards in today's game.
5. The Referee
- Well the man in black (or more
recently phosphorus green) is probably the biggest "invention" that
came with
the initial soccer rules constitution and his role is to enforce these
official
rules of soccer "in connection to the match he has been
appointed to".
The
center referee is accompanied
and helped by two assistant referees (one on each side of the pitch)
and a fourth
one that handles small issues like showing injury time duration,
checking a
substitute player's equipment and replacing one of the three
main referees if
they can't continue the game.
Click
here for more details on soccer referees...
6. The
Assistant Referees - As I explained above, the
assistant referees are placed on the sides of the pitch (one each) and
their
main role is to help the main referee with some decisions. Actually,
the
assistant referee has no decision power, he can only signal a game
issue (an
offside, a foul, handball and so forth) but it's up to the
central ref if he's
or she is going to take up the assistant's advice.
7. The Duration of the Match -
Standard adult games are limited
by the official soccer rules to two halves of 45 minutes each,
separated by a
15 minutes break. This is not the actual time of play, since this 90
minute
clock ticks even when the ball is out of play, during substitutions and
so
forth. In order to try to balance this timing a bit, the end of each
half also
brings a few minutes of "injury time" on the table.
In
some cases, when the match
must have a winner (a knockout match for example), two extra
mini-periods of 15
minutes each, with no break between them are added. If the match is
tied at the
end of extra time as well, the players go on for a penalty-shootout
that will
eventually decide the winner.
8. The Start and Restart of Play
- There are 8 reasons for which the
game can be stopped and similarly, 8 ways to restart it. Each period of
time
starts with a kick-off (1)
and the game is also restarted with a
kick-off if a
team scores a goal. If the ball goes out on the side lines, the player
who last
touched the ball conceded a throw-in (2). The game is
restarted with
the other
team throwing the ball back into play.
The goal kick (3)
is awarded to
the defending team, if the attacking team took the ball out of play on
the
defending team's goal line. The game is restarted with the
goalkeeper kicking
it from within the safety box. If the defending team touches the ball
last and
it goes over their own goal line, outside of the goal itself, then the
opposing
team earns a corner kick (4)
and they will be required to restart the
game from
the corner nearest to where the ball went out.
An indirect free kick (5)
is
awarded when a team produces a non-penal foul (dangerous play or
offside for
example) and the game is restarted with a ground kick that cannot be
taken
towards goal (if a player scores directly from an indirect free kick,
without
another player touching the ball, the goal won't stand). A
direct free kick (6)
is caused by a foul or handball and unlike the indirect free kick it
can be
struck directly towards the goal.
A penalty kick (7)
is similar to
a direct free kick in that it is caused by a foul or handball, but the
offence
occurs inside the defending team's penalty area. The game is
restarted with one
of the attacking team's players shooting for goal from the
penalty spot (11
meters, perpendicularly on goal), with nothing but a goalkeeper to
beat.
The last of these eight soccer
rules is rarer and it's called the dropped ball (8). The
dropped ball occurs
when the referee stops the game for a special reason (an injured
player, ball
becoming defective or the interference of an external factor) and the
game is
restarted with him dropping the ball from shoulder height in front of
two
players who will battle for possession (sort of how basketball matches
decide
initial possession).
9. Ball In and Out of Play
- According to the official soccer
rules, the ball is in play all throughout the match duration, except
when it
passes a bounding line (goal lines and touch lines), when an offence
occurs or
when play is stopped by the referee. In these particular cases, the
ball is out
of play and the soccer players cannot score goals or interact with the
ball. In
addition, substitutions can only occur when the ball is out of play
according
to the rules for the game of soccer.
10. The Methods of Scoring - As
long as the ball is in play
and no infringements of any soccer rules are being made, the players
can score
goals. A goal is considered when the ball crosses one of the goal areas
with
its entire circumference. Goals can be scored from action, from penalty
spots
and direct free kicks.
11.
The Offside
- Since this is one of the
trickiest rules of soccer today, I've decided to explain it
in detail in a
separate article on offside soccer rules.
Click
here for more details on offside rules...
12. Fouls
and Misconduct - There's a difference between
fouls and misconduct that many people fail to understand. A foul can
occur when
a player tries to get the ball from his opponent and kicks him or
pushes him
away accidentally, whereas misconduct means that a player willfully
targets his
opponent and punches, kicks or pushes him away.
Fouls
can only occur when the
ball is in play, but misconduct can occur when it's out of
play as well.
Depending on the seriousness of the foul or misconduct, the referee can
penalize it with a yellow or red card in addition to a free kick or
penalty
kick.
Click
here for more details on soccer fouls...
13.
Free Kicks
- I've explained most of the soccer
rules regarding free kicks in "Soccer
Rule Number 8 – The Start and Restart of Play".
One
additional soccer rule
worth mentioning is that players from the opposing team must be at
least 9.15
meters away from the position where the free kick will be struck. Also,
the
player that kicks the ball initially on a free kick cannot touch it
again until
a teammate or opposing player touches it.
14. Penalty Kicks
- Penalty kicks are conceded when a
defended player fouls or commits handball inside the 18 yard box
(commonly
known as the penalty box). It's important to know that not
all offences inside
the penalty box are punished with a penalty kick. For example, if a
player
commits dangerous play inside his own penalty box, the referee will
award an
indirect free kick from the place that the offence occurred.
When
the penalty kick is taken,
the only two players in the 18 yard box are the penalty taker and the
defending
team's goalkeeper. Everyone else must sit outside the box and
can only move
towards the ball once it is kicked. So if the penalty is saved by the
goalkeeper or strikes the bar, a player could run from the edge of the
box and
gain possession.
15.
The Throw In
- When the ball goes out of play on
the side lines, the opponent of the player who last touched the ball
will take
a throw in. The throwing method has to follow some rather strict rules;
otherwise the referee might dictate a throw in for the other team. The
player
taking the throw must keep his feet outside the side line, with the
sole on the
ground and the actual throw must be executed with the ball over the
thrower's
head.
16.
The Goal Kick
- The
goal kick is a means of
restarting play after the attacking team took the ball over the
defending
team's byline. The goal kick acts as a direct free kick, so
if a player would
kick the ball so hard that it would reach the opposing team's
goal and score,
the goal would count.
One
extra soccer rule regarding the goal kick
states that
the kick must be powerful enough to pass the penalty area. So in case
the
goalkeeper executes the goal kick and passes the ball to a teammate in
his own
penalty box, the goal kick is re-taken.
17. The Corner Kick
- The last of the 17 rules of
soccer refers to the corner kick, which occurs when the ball passes
over the
defending player's goal line, with a defender having touched
the ball last. The
corner kick acts as a direct free kick taken from the corner of the
pitch (if
the ball passes the line on the left of the goal, the corner is taken
from the
left corner and if it passes on the right, the corner is taken from the
right
corner).
The same rules as for a direct
free kick apply, in that opposing players must be at least 9.15 meters
away
from the corner, the corner taker may score directly from the corner
kick and
the kicker can't play the ball a second time until
it's touched by another
player. The only additional rule is that the ball be placed in the
corner arc.
Well that's pretty much all you
need to know about soccer and soccer rules. Most of these rules seem
harder
than they actually are on paper and if you watch a couple of matches
you'll soon
get the hang of them naturally. The only one that requires some special
attention is the offside
soccer rule, which indeed can be harder to
understand
without the proper explanation, so check out the offside article on the
site
for a more detailed clarification on that.
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Here to Learn How to Play Better Soccer
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==>Click
Here to Learn How to Play Better Soccer
<==