Basic Soccer Rules

Soccer is one of the simplest sports in the world. This may be the reason why it's the most popular sport in the world. The rules become more complicated and technical with the level of play. But even at the professional level they are quite simple. FIFA, International Federation of Football, holds the official rules to the game. According to them, the official rules may be modified in their application for players of under 16 years of age, female soccer players, veteran players (over 35 years of age), and for players with disabilities.

Any or all of the following modifications are permissible:

size of the field of play
size, weight and material of the ball
width between the goal posts and height of the crossbar from the ground
duration of the periods of play
substitutions

Size of field: The field must be rectangle, that's pretty much it. Soccer field size depends on good judgment of how many players on each side. and the size of your goals. You want it big enough to keep ball in play but small enough to engage all players and prevent boot ball. To be considered true international competition basic soccer rules (11 vs 11) field must be:

Length: minimum 100 m (110 yds) maximum 110 m (120 yds)

Width: minimum 64 m (70 yds) maximum 75 m (80 yds)

Ball Size: The ball size depends on age. Below are basic soccer rules sizes according to our programs. We use the following sizes for all development programs.
3-5 ages - size 4 - Size 3 is a good size to kick inside the house or back yard play.
6-12 ages - size 4- Size 4 will be used until about 11-12.
12-adult - size 5- This is the standard size for professional and adult soccer. Some countries introduce size 5 to kids as young as 4. The ideas are more surface of ball = more surface of boot.

Players: soccer is played by two teams of equal number. Max players per team is 11 (Goalie + 10 field players). Team size is reduced by age. Some leagues play with 8 players for youth aged ten and under. And down to 6 per side for the under 5's.

Substitutions: Officially, you are only allowed 3 subs per game, however, depending on modified rules this may be different. For youth leagues usually, there is no cap on subs. A substitution can only be performed when the ball is not in play and your team has possession. (Ex) it's a throw in for your team, or goal kick for your team. Substitutions cannot be made when the ball is in play (even if your goalie has the ball in his/her hands... this is still in play)

Starting the Game: The game is started at the center of the field. The team who kicks off passes the ball Forward to a teammate at the referee’s signal. The opposing team is not allowed to enter the center circle until the team kicks off.

Game in play: As long the ball stays in the field the game is in play. only exceptions is when the referee blows his whistle for an infraction or offside. The ball is considered in play as long as it is in side the goal and side lines. Furthermore, it's still in play as long as it has contact with the line. Therefore, the ball may be touching the outer part of the goal or side line and still be considered in play (This applies if the ball is in the air as well). contact with the goal post, corner flag, and referee back in the field is still considered in play. The referee is considered a fixture of the field.

GOAL: In the basic soccer rules the point of the game is to get the ball in the opposing team’s goal and the team with the most goals after the specified time is the winner. The ball must cross the goal line to be a goal. Therefore, if the ball is still in contact with the goal line in the inner part of the goal it is not a goal! I have seen pro's sweep through the goal line to save their team from a goal. Everybody swears that it was already in but the cameras show the ball was still in contact with the line (This applies if the ball is in the air as well).

How long is a game? For basic soccer rules a game is no more than 90 min long. Two halves of 45 min (that's what the pros play, with a 15 min half time break)
Youth games range from 15-30 min halves with a 7-10 min half time.

NO HANDS! Alright, I know you probably knew this but here it is anyway. Only the goalie can use their hands. The definition for hand ball is any part of between your fingers (including nails) to your upper arm. Your shoulder is actually legal to use! One side note about goalies. the goalie is not allowed to use their hands if the ball was kicked back to them intentionally by any of his/her team mates. This rule is about 25 years old. in the old days’ defenders, when under pressure, would pass the ball back to their goalie to secure in their hands (this was a good rule change for spectators). Youth leagues under 10's don't really enforce this rule as most of the time it isn't an intentional pass back. Coaches should not be teaching this as an option.

Out of Bounds: if the ball crosses the side line it is a throw in. The team who did not touch the ball last before the ball crossed the line gets the throw in. If the ball crosses the goal line two things may occur. If the team that is defending that goal line touches it out it is a corner kick. If the team attacking that goal kicks it out it is a goal kick.

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.

Offside
A player, usually a striker, is called offside when he is nearer to the other team's goal than both the ball and the second last opponent. The second last opponent usually being the last defender from the opponent team, an offside occurs when the striker is closer to the opposing team's goal than that team's last defender.

One more thing to look after in an offside: it doesn't matter if Team B's striker is over this line when he receives the ball. The moment to look after is the moment the midfielder passes the ball, which will trigger an offside if the striker is over the last defender line.

HISTORY OF SOCCER

the official rules of soccer were founded in England, Yet from what we know of the history of soccer, the earliest forms of soccer were seen in Asia close to 3,000 years ago. Finally, in the year 1863 a man from England named Ebenezer Cobb Morley, called a meeting for the founders of many soccer clubs to decide the official rules of soccer. On the 8th of December of 1863 the official rules of soccer were established

After much growth in popularity and the invention of many soccer clubs, in 1904 the first international match outside England in the history of soccer was played in Paris between France and Belgium. This led to the founding of FIFA, Fédération International de Football Association, the international soccer organization, on May 22, 1904.

This international football community grew steadily, and in 1912, 21 national associations were already affiliated to the(FIFA). In 1930 the year of the first World Cup took place. At present, after the 2000 Ordinary FIFA Congress, FIFA has 204 members in every part of the world Soccer had recently been established as an Olympic sport. It had seen its first Olympic match in the year 1900. From there soccer continued to gain popularity and is now unquestionably the most popular sport in the world.