Interesting Sporting Terms


last update: 10 July 2020


Quiz questions


Which well known English football team has the largest football pitch? Answer - Nottingham Forest with 7,455 square metres (Anfield is 6,868 square metres).



Pitch is a playing field, which usually has a regulation size defined by touchlines/sidelines, and including out of bounds.

Football rules and pitch


Football and
football pitch (soccer pitch):-
  • As indicated, the constraints are tighter for international matches.

  • An addition spectator restraining line should be set at least 4.5 m (from goal line) and 6 m (from touch line).

  • You can often see mention of 44 yards, 22 yards, 18 yards and 12 yards, as determined by a measurement known as a "chain" (22 yards).

  • The penalty arc ensures that all players must be 10 yards from the penalty spot.

  • Defensive players must also be at least 10 yards away from free kicks and corners.

  • Stoke City and Wolves have the smallest pitches (6,400 square metres), and Nottingham Forest has the largest (7,455 square metres).

  • If your player takes a free-kick or throw-in back to the keeper and the ball ends up in the goal it doesn't count as an own goal. Instead, a corner is awarded to the opposing team.

  • If a keeper’s goal kick doesn’t leave the 18-yard box before it’s next touched, the kick is retaken.

  • Goalkeepers can only hold the ball for 6 seconds after a catch, more is considered time-wasting and can they can be booked.

  • If a keeper has the ball in his possession and releases it, he can’t then pick it up again before another player has touched it. If he does, an indirect free-kick is awarded to the opposing team.

  • A player tries to get around the back pass rule by attempting to pass the ball with another part of their body, but it’s not actually legal.

  • No goal if ball goes flat on way to net.

  • A player can still receive a yellow card for illegal celebration even if the goal is disallowed.

  • A player can receive a red card before the match starts, e.g. kicking a spectator.

  • Penalty takers in a shootout should be equal for both teams, so if a player has been sent off in one team, the other team must drop a penalty taker.

  • A match is eligible to start with a minimum of seven players.

  • This rule was made official in June 2019 and states that the attackers are not allowed within one metre from the wall when the free kick is taken

  • Goalkeepers are not allowed to shake the posts in penalty situations, because the rulebooks state that before a penalty is taken, the goalpost should be perfectly still.

  • The Panenka is a technique used while taking a penalty kick.

  • The Cruyff turn is an evasive dribbling move.


Football Pitch









https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Glossaries_of_sports

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sports_terms_named_after_people