Portal:Ireland/Selected article archive/34

Gaelic football (Irish: Peil, Peil Ghaelach, or Caid), commonly referred to as "football", "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland. It is, together with hurling, one of the two most popular spectator sports in Ireland today.

Gaelic football is played by teams of 15 on a rectangular grass pitch with H-shaped goals at each end. The primary object is to score by kicking/striking the ball with your hand and getting it through the goals. The team with the highest score at the end of the match wins.

Players advance the ball up the field with a combination of carrying, soloing (dropping and then toe-kicking the ball upward into the hands), kicking, and hand-passing to their team-mates.

Football is one of four Gaelic games run by the Gaelic Athletic Association, the largest sporting organization in Ireland. It has strict rules on player amateurism and the pinnacle of the sport is the inter-county All-Ireland Football Final. The game is believed to have descended from ancient Irish football known as caid which dates back to medieval times, although the modern rules were not set down until 1887. Read more...