# What do you consider football? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 8, 2013, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-football/662910 "2013-07-08T03:31:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Galwegian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galwegian/32/3426_2.png) [@Galwegian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galwegian)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-football/662910/41 "2013-07-10T09:02:12Z")
> [@Longshanks](#): > > But it’s not as if anyone actually plays it. Maybe not where you are. It’s pretty damned popular here. Take a look at [this](http://aardvarkian.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/croker.jpg) pic. ---
**Author:** ![Longshanks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Longshanks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Longshanks)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-football/662910/42 "2013-07-10T10:47:13Z")
> [@Galwegian](#): > > Maybe not where you are. It’s pretty damned popular here. > > Take a look at [this](http://aardvarkian.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/croker.jpg) pic. What exactly is it? ---
**Author:** ![Galwegian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galwegian/32/3426_2.png) [@Galwegian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galwegian)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-football/662910/43 "2013-07-10T11:16:13Z")
Sorry **Longshanks**. It’s a photograph of the crowd in Croke Park for one of the big matches, probably an All-Ireland final. I just meant to illustrate that Gaelic football is played more than soccer here, and has a bigger following. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-football/662910/44 "2013-07-10T11:42:09Z")
As you could have guessed by my locations, I went with “it depends.” I admit I’d probably think of Anerican football first, though, especially if referring to the object – the ball itself. A soccer ball is always a “soccer ball” to me. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-football/662910/45 "2013-07-11T05:40:29Z")
I’m American, so I think of American football, unless I’m with Europeans. However, I love Aussie Rules above all other sports. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-football/662910/46 "2013-07-11T08:44:19Z")
None of the above or “other”. I consider it to be all of the sports mentioned plus other ones as well (Gaelic football, for example). If someone (or some medium) is discussing “football” I just consider the context. Is it some dude in a bar in Chicago? American football. Some chick on TV in France? Association football. Etc. All the games mentioned are football of one type or another, but which game goes by the shorthand of “football” depends on time, place, and person. Here on the Dope? Couldn’t say for sure from a thread title or a casual mention… I would have to read more. That being said, as an American, if I think of football (quickly, without thinking), American football comes to mind first. That’s just cultural imprinting. But association football is a near second, and football is a quite sensible name for soccer. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-football/662910/47 "2013-07-11T14:02:26Z")
Association football, but I live in the US so most of the time when I say the word I mean American football. ---
**Author:** ![hende](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/aca169/32.png) [@hende](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hende)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-football/662910/48 "2013-07-11T15:00:03Z")
> [@Longshanks](#): > > A ball is round, it is kicked by the foot. So football. (association) So what is the goalkeeper doing always picking the ball up with his hands and sometimes throwing it? Why do the players always use their hands to put the ball back in play after it goes out of bounds? Why do I see players head the ball and trap the ball with their chest? I thought football was supposed to be played by kicking the ball? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-football/662910/49 "2013-07-11T15:27:11Z")
Since when did a ball have to be round, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Longshanks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Longshanks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Longshanks)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-football/662910/50 "2013-07-11T20:00:27Z")
> [@hende](#): > > So what is the goalkeeper doing always picking the ball up with his hands and sometimes throwing it? Why do the players always use their hands to put the ball back in play after it goes out of bounds? Why do I see players head the ball and trap the ball with their chest? > > I thought football was supposed to be played by kicking the ball? :rolleyes: You’re right about all those parts of the body being used, but the foot is the predominant part of the body they use to play. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-football/662910/51 "2013-07-12T01:52:41Z")
> [@Longshanks](#): > > You’re right about all those parts of the body being used, but the foot is the predominant part of the body they use to play. Same for Aussie Rules although Soccer does it more, see this can go on for ages. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-consider-football/662910.md?page=2)