Football pitch

Because of the role of the British football associations in the history of the game, the dimensions of the field of play were originally formulated and expressed in imperial units.

Because the actual values have, in general, not changed since the early twentieth century, they tend to be round numbers in imperial units (for example the width of the goal, unchanged since 1863, is 8 yards (7.32 metres)).

[7] These consist of two upright posts placed equidistant from the corner flagposts, joined at the top by a horizontal crossbar.

[citation needed] Goalposts and crossbars have to be white and made of wood, metal or other approved material.

Despite this, injuries due to goalpost collisions are still quite common, and not much research goes into this aspect of player safety.

[10] The first reference to scoring a goal is in John Day's play The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green (performed circa 1600; published 1659).

Similarly in a poem in 1613, Michael Drayton refers to "when the Ball to throw, And drive it to the Gole, in squadrons forth they goe".

Football nets were invented by Liverpool engineer John Brodie in 1891,[11] and they were a necessary help for discussions about whether or not a goal had been scored.

Similar to the penalty arc, this indicates the minimum distance that opposing players have to keep at kick-off; the ball itself is placed on the centre mark.

The intersections between the half-way line and the touchline can be indicated with flags like those marking the corners – the laws consider this as an optional feature.

Artificial turf pitches are also increasingly common in the Nordic countries, due to the amount of snow during the winter months.

The strain put on grass pitches by the cold climate and subsequent snow clearing has necessitated the installation of artificial turf in the stadia of many top-tier clubs in Norway, Sweden and Finland.

The latest artificial surfaces use rubber crumbs, as opposed to the previous system of sand infill.

Some leagues and football associations have specifically prohibited artificial surfaces due to injury concerns and require teams' home stadia to have grass pitches.

[citation needed] In the winter the pitch may be used for bandy (similar to ice hockey) by being filled with water which is allowed to freeze.

Standard pitch measurements, with permitted ranges for length and width. The preferred size for many professional teams' stadiums is 115 by 74 yards (105 by 68 metres).
Association football pitch (1898)
The goal line at the Stretford End of Old Trafford in Manchester (1992)
A football goal
The penalty area is the large marked rectangular area. The smaller rectangle within it is the goal area (here, the yellow-shirted goalkeeper is the only player in the goal area). The penalty arc is the curved line adjoining the "top" of the penalty area (here, the red-shirted referee is standing near the arc).
Sido Makmur SP II Field turf located in Indonesia