Part 1
History of Football 足球运动的历史

    Football, outdoor game, played by two opposing teams with a ball of various types, usually an inflated bladder or rubber bag in a leather or rubber cover, spherical or ellipsoidal in shape. The object of the game is to score points by carrying the ball across the goal line of the opponents, or by kicking the ball through or over the goal of the opponents. The principal types of football played today are American football; association football, or Soccer; Canadian football; Australian football; Gaelic football; and Rugby football. Touch football is an informal variation of the game, with any number of players and using any kind of field. Instead of being tackled, the ball carrier is stopped by being touched.

    Football is a game of antiquity, known to many peoples. The ancient Greeks played a form of football known as harpaston, and the Romans played a similar game, harpastum. In medieval times a form of football known as calcio flourished in Italy. Natives of Polynesia are known to have played a variety of the game with a football made of bamboo fibers, and the Inuit played a form of football with a leather ball filled with moss.

    Most modern versions of football, however, originated in England, where a form of the game was known in the 12th century. In subsequent centuries football became so popular that various English monarchs, including Edward II and Henry VI, forbade the game on the theory that it took interest away from the military sport of archery. Nevertheless, football grew steadily in popularity. At the beginning of the 19th century several types of the game permitting players to kick the ball but not carry it were being played at various English schools, including Eton, Harrow, and Rugby. The modification of the game that permits carrying the ball was first introduced at Rugby in 1823 when one schoolboy disregarded the established rules, tucked the ball under his arm, and dashed across the goal of the opponents.

    Thereafter numerous football clubs sprang up in England, some playing the kicking game, others the ball-carrying game. In 1863 a number of clubs devoted to the kicking game met in London, organized the London Football Association, and adopted a code of uniform rules; this type of game was henceforth known as association football, and later soccer, a word derived from association. In 1871 a group devoted to the ball-carrying game organized the Rugby Football Union and adopted the rules then in vogue at Rugby School; that form of the game thereafter was known as rugby football. The two organizations still exist, and each exercises control over its respective game.

    Football was first played in Australia about the middle of the 19th century, based on rugby, soccer, and Gaelic football. Australian Rules football (as it is officially called) is a fast-paced game, played on an oval field with teams of 18 players. The ball cannot be thrown but can be caught; overhand catching, known as high marking, and long kicking are the two distinctive features of the game.

    In the United States, a form of football using a blown-up bladder was played in the colony of Virginia in 1609. In 1820 students at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) participated in a soccerlike game, called ballown, in which they advanced the ball by punching it with their fists. Intercollegiate competition began on November 6, 1869, with a game between Rutgers and Princeton. The game, however, resembled soccer more than modern-day American football. Columbia, Cornell, and other eastern U.S. colleges soon after sent representative teams into intercollegiate competition.

    Harvard, preferring to use its own rules, abstained from this competition. In 1874 Harvard met McGill University of Montreal, Canada, in a match played under the rugbylike rules of the Canadians. The Harvard players, impressed, altered their own rules accordingly. Harvard and Yale played a football game for the first time on November 13, 1875, using Harvard's rules.

    The following year, representatives of Harvard, Yale, and Columbia answered an invitation from Princeton football representatives to attend a parley at Springfield, Massachusetts. The result of the convention included a new set of football rules and the formation of the Intercollegiate Football Association. Although the rugbylike rules of Harvard again prevailed, certain soccer rules were incorporated. The resulting combination of rugby and soccer became popular, and as time went on the rules were constantly changed until a new game evolved. The Intercollegiate Football Association was dissolved in 1894, and in the same year a rules committee, dominated by the Yale graduate and football pioneer Walter Chauncey Camp, was formed by the influential eastern schools. In 1905 an independent association of colleges also formed a rules committee; the two committees soon merged, and since that time American collegiate football has been governed by them. The first professional football game in the United States was played in 1895.

足球运动是一项古老的体育活动，源远流长。据说，希腊人和罗马人在中世纪以前就已经开始一种足球游戏了。他们在一个长方形场地上，将球放在中间的白线上，用脚把球踢滚到对方场地上，当时称这种游戏为“哈巴斯托姆”。 
 

    到19世纪初，足球运动在当时欧洲及拉美一些国家特别是在资本主义的英国已经相当盛行。直到1848年，足球运动的第一个文字形 式的规则《剑桥规则》诞生了。

    众多的资料表明，中国古代足球的出 现比欧洲更早，历史更为悠久。 

    唐宋时期，“蹴鞠”活动已十分盛行 ，成为宫廷之中的高雅活动。1958年7月，国际足联现任主席阿维兰热博士来中国时曾表示：足球起源于中国。

    当然，由于封建社会的局限，中国古代的蹴鞠活动最终没有发展成为以“公平竞争”为原则的现代足球运动。这个质的飞跃是在资本主义的英国完成的。

    从17世纪中后期开始，足球运动逐步从欧美传入世界各国，尤其是在一些文化发达的国家更为盛行。越来越多的人走向球场，投身到这一富有刺激性和畅快感的运动中去，以至于一度将足球运动开展得好坏作为衡量一个国家文化发达与否的标志。在这种情况下，英国人率先为足球运动的发展作出了重要贡献。

    1863年10月26日，英国人在伦敦皇后大街弗里马森旅馆成立了世界第一个足球协会—— 英格兰足球协会。会上除了宣布英格兰足协正式成立之外，制定和通过了世界第一部较为统一的足球竞赛规则，并以文字形式记载下来。

    英格兰足球协会的诞生，标志着足球运动的发展进入了一个崭新的阶段。因而，人们公认1863年10月26日，即英格兰足球协会成立之日为现代足球的诞生日。

Part 2
Glossary of Football Terms 足球词汇  　　

astroturf: an artificial surface used instead of grass on many football fields.

audible: verbal commands shouted by the quarterback to his teammates at the line of scrimmage to change a play on short notice.

backfield: the area behind the line of scrimmage.

backs: the running backs; the halfback and the fullback.

ball carrier: any player who has possession of the ball.

beat: when a player gets past an opponent trying to block or tackle him.

blackout: when a regional network TV affiliate is forbidden from showing a local game because it is not sold out.

blitz: a play where the defensive team sends players rushing towards the line of scrimmage as soon as the ball is snapped to try to sack the quarterback.

blocking: the act of preventing a defensive player from getting to the ball carrier; blockers use their arms and bodies but may not hold an opponent.

bomb: a long pass thrown to a receiver sprinting down the field.

bowl game: a college football game played in late-December or early-January, after the regular season, between two successful teams.

bump-and-run: a technique used by pass defenders, where they hit a receiver once within 5 yards (1 yard in college) of the line of scrimmage to slow him down, and then follow him to prevent him from catching a pass.

call a play: instruct players to execute a pre-planned play.

clipping: blocking an opponent below the waist from behind; this illegal block is a personal foul, punishable by a 15-yard penalty.

complete pass: a forward pass to a teammate who catches it in the air.

conferences: groups into which teams are divided in professional and college football; the NFL is divided into National and American Conferences.

controlling the game clock: the use of tactics by an offensive team to either save or use up time on the game clock, which often dictates its choice of plays.

cover or coverage: preventing a player from gaining yards; in pass coverage, a defender follows a receiver to prevent him from catching a pass; in kick coverage, members of the kicking team try to prevent a long kick return.

cut back: a sudden change in direction taken by a to make it more difficult for defenders to follow and tackle him.

dead ball: a ball becomes dead when a play is over and becomes live as soon as it is snapped for the next play.

division: in the NFL, sub-groups within conferences, such as the Eastern, Northern, Southern and Western Divisions; also, a grouping of teams in college football, where Division I contains the most competitive teams and Division III the least.

double coverage: when 2 defensive players cover one receiver.

down: one of 4 chances a team on offense has to gain 10 yards; also, the state of a player who has just been tackled; also, a ball that a player touches to the ground in the end zone to get a touchback.

down the field: in the direction of the opponent's goal line.

draft choice: a player chosen by a professional sports team from a pool of college players in an annual draft.

drive: the series of plays a team puts together in an attempt to score.

drop back: when a quarterback, after taking the snap, takes a few steps backward into an area called the pocket to get ready to pass.

drop kick: a type of free kick where a player drops the ball and kicks it right after it hits the ground; rarely used today.

eligible receiver: a player allowed by the rules to catch a forward pass; all offensive players are eligible except linemen and the quarterback, who must notify the referee if they wish to become eligible and stand at least one yard behind the line of scrimmage before the snap.

encroachment: if a player (besides the center) is in the neutral zone and contact occurs prior to the snap; a foul punishable by a 5-yard penalty.

end line: the boundary line that runs the width of the field along each end.

end zone: the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines, which a team on offense tries to enter to score a touchdown.

extra point(s): additional point(s) scored by a team after it has scored a touchdown, either by a point-after-touchdown (1 point) or a 2-point conversion (2 points).

fair catch: when a kick returner decides only to catch a punt or kickoff and not advance it, protecting himself from being hit by an opponent; he signals for a fair catch by raising one hand in the air and waving it.

goalpost: a tall metallic structure that stands at the back of each end zone; consists of a crossbar and two uprights that extend upward from it, supported directly above the end line by a base; teams try to kick the ball above the crossbar and between the uprights to score a field goal or extra point.

going for it: when a team facing a fourth down decides to try for a new first down instead of punting; if it fails, it loses possession of the ball.

hand-off: a running play where the quarterback hands the ball to a back.

hang time: the length of time a punt is in the air.

Heisman Trophy: an award presented annually by the Downtown Athletic Club of New York to the best college football player in the country.

holding: a foul where a player impedes the movement of an opponent by grasping or hooking any part of his body or uniform; punishable by a penalty — 10 yards if against the offense, 5 yards (10 yards in college) plus a first down if against the defense.

home field advantage: the benefit a team gets by playing games in the area where it is based, due to fan support, familiarity with its surroundings and the lack of required travel.

home game: a game played in a team's own stadium.

in bounds: the region of the field inside the sidelines and end lines.

incomplete pass: a forward pass that touches the ground before being caught.