Gaelic Football…basic rules and history

Gaelic Football can be described as a mixture of soccer and rugby, although it predates both of those games. It is a field game that has developed as a distinct game similar to the progression of Australian Rules. Indeed it is thought that Australian Rules evolved from Gaelic Football through the many thousands who were either deported or emigrated to Australia from the middle of the twentieth century. Gaelic Football is played on a pitch approximately 137m long and 82m wide. The goalposts are the same shape as on a rugby pitch, with the crossbar lower than a rugby one and slightly higher than a soccer one. The ball used in Gaelic Football is round, slightly smaller than a soccer ball. It can be carried in the hand for a distance of four steps and can be kicked or "hand-passed", a striking motion with the hand or fist. After every four steps the ball must be either bounced or "solo-ed", an action of dropping the ball onto the foot and kicking it back into the hand. You may not bounce the ball twice in a row. To score, you put the ball over the crossbar by foot or hand / fist for one point or under the crossbar and into the net by foot or the hand / fist in certain circumstances for a goal, the latter being the equivalent of three points. Each team consists of fifteen players, lining out as follows: One goalkeeper, three full-backs, three half-backs, two midfielders, three half-forwards and three full-forwards. The actual line out on the playing field is as follows:

Players wear a jersey with their team colours and number on the back. Both teams must have different colour jerseys. The goalkeepers' jerseys must not be similar to the jersey of any other player. Referees normally tog out in black jerseys, socks and togs. Goalkeepers may not be physically challenged whilst inside their own small parallelogram, but players may harass them into playing a bad pass, or block an attempted pass. Teams are allowed a maximum of five substitutes in a game. Players may switch positions on the field of play as much as they wish but this is usually on the instructions of team officials. Officials for a game comprise of a referee, two linesmen (to indicate when the ball leaves the field of play at the side and to mark '45'' free kicks and 4 umpires (to signal scores, assist the referee in controlling the games, and to assist linesmen in positioning '45' frees). Raising a green flag placed to the left of the goal signals a goal. Raising a white flag placed to the right of goal signals a point. A '45'/'65' is signalled by the umpire raising his/her outside arm. A 'square ball', when a player scores having arrived in the 'square' prior to receiving the ball, is signalled by pointing at the small parallelogram. There are many competitions run throughout the year. Club competitions work on a basis of underage through to adult, with the adults being divided into three levels Junior, Intermediate and Senior, organised primarily on club size rather than ability. Any club can progress through the different levels to compete at the highest level and become the county Senior champions. Winners of a county championship can then progress through to the provincial championships, with the four provincial winners meeting annually on a knockout basis to compete for the honour of being the National Club Champions in a final traditionally held at Croke Park on St. Patrick's Day. The best players in each county are chosen to compete in inter-county competitions. One of these is the National League. Four divisions see the county teams compete on a league basis, the first part being from October to the end of November, and then resuming in February for completion of the programme. The top two teams from each of the premier divisions then progress to semi-finals and final to determine the National League champions However the main competition is The All-Ireland Championship. The format is for each county to compete in their respective Provincial championship, with the four winners eventually progressing to the All-Ireland semi-finals, the victors then going on to compete for the Sam Maguire trophy on the third weekend of September. This is a matter of huge prestige to the counties involved, the matches always attracting huge crowds in excess of 60, 000 supporters, as well as countless thousands watching on TV around the world…about 200 or so here in Abu Dhabi. This match is traditionally preceded by the Minor (U-18) final and is indeed one of the great days in Irish sport.