About:: Introduction to Gaelic Football

Gaelic Football is the national game of Ireland. Gaelic Football could be described as a mixture of Australian Rules Football, Soccer and Rugby. It is played with a ball similar to a Soccer ball, on what looks very much like a Rugby pitch, yet it is played in a similar fashion to Australian Rules. Gaelic Football is played by both men and women and is a very fast and enjoyable game.

Traditional Gaelic Football teams are made up of 15 players in the following positions: 3 full-forwards, 3 half-forwards, 2 mid-fielders, 3 half-backs, 3 full-backs and a goal keeper. Gaelic Football is also played with teams consisting of anywhere from 7 to 13 players. In South Australia, there can be up to 5 interchange players with an unlimited number of substitutions during a game.

A Gaelic Football field is rectangular, approx. 140m long by 90m wide. For teams of less than 13 players, the pitch is reduced to approx. 100m long by 80m wide. The goal posts are similar to Rugby goals, except there is a net similar to a Soccer goal. A goal, under the crossbar, is worth 3 points and a point, over the crossbar, is worth one point.

A Gaelic football is round, similar to a Soccer ball although slightly heavier. The ball can be caught just like in Australian Rules, but there are no marks. You can handpass the ball or kick the ball from your hands or on the ground.

A game is played as 2 halves, usually between 20 and 30 minutes per half. There is one referee, two linesman and 4 goal umpires.

There are a few rules which make Gaelic Football particularly unique. In men's Gaelic Football, the ball can not be picked up directly off the ground. Instead, a player must use his foot to raise the ball into his hands. In both men's and women's Gaelic Football, once a player has the ball in their hands, they can hold it for 4 steps before they must either pass it to another player, bounce it or do a toe-to-hand, which is the action of dropping the ball onto your foot and kicking it back into your hand. A player is allowed any number of consecutive toe-to-hands but the ball can not be bounced twice in a row.

In men's Gaelic Football, there are only two legal tackles. The first is a 'shoulder-to-shoulder' tackle which is making fair contact with your shoulder to an opponent’s shoulder to try and unbalance them. The second is attempting to knock the ball out of an opponents hand by using an open palm of one hand to hit the ball. The only legal tackle in women's Gaelic Football is attempting to knock the ball out of an opponents hand which makes women's Gaelic Football a non-contact sport. 

Gaelic Football is a very easy game to learn and is played by men and women of almost any age.