Football, also known as soccer, is undoubtedly the most popular sport in the world, with 4.0 billion estimated global followers around the globe. 2018 UEFA Euro reached 58 million viewers in total, while the 2020 Euro cup received 5.23 billion viewers.
But there isn’t just one type of football. There are many football types that are not as popular but are equally interesting. Some of them gained a fair amount of popularity and formed their own associations and even competed at the Olympics.
5 Different Football Types
Let’s take a look at the football types that you probably never heard about, but should definitely check out!
1. Bubble Football
Bubble football is a fairly newly invented type of football. It was created in Norway by Henrik Elvestad and Johan Golden on their comedy show in 2011. What started out as a joke in Norway gained recognition and spread to the UK and US, and made its way to New Zealand as well.
The name of this football type is pretty self-explanatory. Each player must wear an inflatable bubble, and the bubble color of each team must be the same. It can be played on a turf pitch as well as indoors. The basic rule of hitting the ball into the opposing team’s goal is the same with association football, but some rules are unique to bubble soccer.
Each team has 5 players and there is no goalkeeper. There is also not a set duration, it might change from 10 minutes split into two halves to an hour with 5-10 minutes intervals. While you might laugh off the duration, it is quite a tiring sport since bubble suits make it hard to catch your breath.
But hey, as intended with its debut, it includes a lot of fun, laughing, and bumping. Just don’t bump your opponent from behind, as it is not permitted.
2. Amputee Football
Amputee football was discovered by Don Bennett accidentally. Bennett was watching his son playing basketball when the ball began rolling down the driveway, and Bennett ended up kicking the ball back to his son while on his crutches. This accidental discovery later gained recognition, and since 1984 the game has been played at the World Cup.
There are seven players on each team, six being outfield players and one being the goalkeeper. According to the rules defined by FIFA, outfield players may have two hands but only one leg, whereas the goalkeeper may have two legs but only one hand. But how do they play? Just like Bennett, players use crutches, they are generally not allowed to use a prosthesis.
Like regular football, it is played on a grass field, but one rule that differentiates amputee soccer from association football is that offside rules do not apply in this type of soccer. It also lasts 50 minutes in total, split into two halves.
You can check out the highlights from the recently played final match between Turkey and Spain at the 2021 European Amputee Football Championship.
3. Blind Football
Blind football is a type of soccer that is adapted specially for blind or partially blind athletes. It has seen growing popularity around the world with national teams, an international federation (IBSA Football), and a Paralympic competition.
The match is played in two halves of 20-25 minutes. 4 outfield players of each team must all wear a blackout shade to ensure that they compete on equal grounds. The goalkeeper, who is the fifth member of a team, can be sighted or partially sighted. The pitch can change from cement to artificial turf and, like amputee football, there are no offside rules.
Along with the goalkeeper, the two sighted coaches on each team communicate with their teams to direct the course of the play. So if you ever go to watch a blind football match, you should shake off the habit of cheering for your team and stay as silent as possible so that the players can hear the sound of the ball and their coaches.
4. Rugby Football
Silence gives its way to a bit of a violent rumble and chaos with Rugby football, but this does not mean it doesn't have its own rules. It is just that Rugby football defied the conventions at the time it came to being, and it has been played as violently and fervently since then.
It is said that a pupil at Rugby School picked the ball up and ran straight with it. The authenticity of the story remains dubious, but it is for sure that Rugby School played an important role in the development of the game, giving the sport its name.
Rugby is distinctive for its ball, which is oval in shape, and its equipment, which involves, along with a uniform, a mouthguard and a headgear (As mentioned before, it involves some chaos).
Rugby is played mostly with hands, but there is a decent amount of kicking as well. The most basic rule of the game is that you cannot throw the ball forward to a teammate. A Rugby player must pass the ball sideways or backward.
Players tackle the opponents by wrapping their arms around them, bringing them down. However, tackling must be done in a certain way, players are not allowed to tackle opponents above the shoulder or use their legs.
5. Association Football
Surely, we cannot but talk about the most popular one.
You already know that association football, or more widely known as football or soccer, is usually played for 90 minutes between two teams, each of which consists of 11 players. So let’s dig a bit deeper into its more unknown parts.
Its roots can be found in Han Dynasty China in 3rd–2nd century BC. Similar games existed in Ancient Greece and Rome too, but the modern version has its origin in medieval ball games and English public school games.
The first football league was created in 1888, while the first international football match was considered to be played between Scotland and England in 1872 by FIFA. As football gained more and more popularity, the need to oversee this worldwide game grew, and that is how FIFA came into existence in 1904.
From there, football became a richer game each year with women’s and men’s cups, Olympic Games, and different and exciting types, some of which we tried to cover in this blog post.
Çam Thermal Hotel gives you an opportunity to play this wonderful ancient game at their exceptional facility. Our field is designed in accordance with FIFA standards. Many football clubs camped at our facility and trained on our football field.
We offered services to national teams as well, such as Turkish and Bulgarian national football teams. Why shouldn’t your club be the next one to benefit from our professional services while enjoying the beautiful atmosphere of the hotel? Get in contact with us to have the best training experience!
