The Probert Encyclopaedia of Recreation

ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL

Association Football is a variation of football played at Cambridge in the first half of the 19th century. A code of rules forbidding the use of hands was drawn up in 1863, and officially adopted by the Football Association, the governing body of the game, which was formed in the same year.
Association football is played by teams of 11 a side with a spherical inflated leather ball 27-28 inches in circumference and about 14 ounces in weight. The ground is 120 yards long and 80 yards wide having a goal at each end 8 yards wide with a cross bar 8 feet above the ground. The match is played in two halves each of 45 minutes with a 5 minute interval at half- time.
Research Association Football