If you ask football fans what number they primarily associate with football, number 11 will be in the top of most popular answers. Firstly, this is the number of players on the field, secondly - the distance to the ball during the penalty, and in third, 11 is the game number of many famous football players. Of course, it is not so popular as number 10 among football legends.

Number of players on the field.

The first football rules were created in 1863 and naturally there was a paragraph about how many players should be present on the field during the match because before the adoption of common rules, there were occasional situations when 8 players of the one team came out against 12 people in another, and both teams referred to their own "rules" saying they play in our village like that, but if you have different rules is not our problem. In the first edition of the rules it was written that 11 people in each team can be present on the field. There are several versions, why it was such a solution:

1. Because of Rome dekury – group of 10 people + chief

2. The reason is Cambridge tradition to play football in format room vs room. In that times 11 people lived in usual room in Cambridge.

3. cricket analogy. There were 11 players in cricket team.

It is difficult to say what legend is true but fact is that quantity of players are not changed since very beginning during 150+ years.

It is interesting that substitutions were absent in football and word “substitution” meant that player who was in squad before game can not take part in match and other player substitute him before start whistle. It was permitted to substituted 1 injured goalkeeper and 1 injured field player only in 1958. Since 1995 coach can make any 3 substitution during the game. And recently forth substitution appeared. It is possible in extra-time.

It is remarkable that any player and goalkeeper can change their position without limitations and they only need to inform referee about such kind of exchange. So now I understood that our often changes in goalkeeper position in childhood is totally compliant to football rules.

Penalty

In this case I should recognise that 11 is not 11, but 12. First rules accepted in the end of 19th century told that 12-yard (10.97 meters) penalty kick should be assigned in case of some fouls eg. tackle or handball. Later penalty rules were changed several times including goalkeeper position, teams positions and players behaviour in penalty execution process.

By the way according to one of the version author of the idea of penalty belongs to John Penalty. The compete version says that his author is goalkeeper William McCrum.

Soccer / 11

The most football number

The most football number

The most football number