Football Field Dimensions: How Long Is a Soccer Field?
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There are many laws of the game and regulations to design an international soccer field. There are many components in the area that the player and audience cannot ignore.
We will provide you with the latest updates on professional football field dimensions. Let’s dive in!
What Are the Football Field Dimensions?
According to FIFA regulations, the dimensions of a soccer field are 120 yards in length and 80 yards in width. For minimum, this size can be 110 yards long and 70 yards wide.
There’s a lot of flexibility around that range. However, the best football field should be 120 x 75 yards.
The soccer field must be rectangular.
Soccer pitch dimensions:
In professional competition, people will specify the pitch size according to their standards. So, how long is a soccer field? Or, how big is a soccer field?
Related: Top 10 best soccer players of all time?
Previously, the minimum and maximum lengths had to be between 100 meters and 110 meters. The minimum and maximum widths are from 64 meters to 75 meters.
In 2008, the governing body of IFAB decided to change the size of the playing field according to the size standard:
- Court length: 105 meters (115 yards).
- Courtyard width: 68 meters (74 yards).
With this standard length and width, the players can participate in a better way. They will quickly move and exercise more fit during the competition on the field.
Are All Soccer Fields The Same Size?
No, not all soccer fields are the same size. But all official soccer fields do fit inside an agreed-upon set of dimensions. An official FIFA regulation soccer field will be between 100 to 130 yards long, and 50 to 100 yards wide. A typical soccer field is 120 yards long by 75 yards wide.
As you can see there is quite a bit of lee-way in the allowed dimensions of a soccer field. Technically, a perfectly square field 100 yards by 100 yards would fit into these FIFA regulation sizes. But they actually stipulate that the field must not be square. So you will not be able to find a square-shaped regulation soccer field.
FIFA sets the overall standard for soccer field dimensions. However, many leagues have their own regulations a soccer field must adhere to. Most soccer fields will vary in dimension, but be close enough to not affect gameplay in a negative way. Aside from professional soccer fields and dimensions, there are youth, high school, and college fields that use their own set of standard soccer field dimensions.
Youth Soccer Field Dimensions
Youth football field dimensions can be more diverse. At this time, the soccer field sizes will depend on the age and fitness of the players. Playing on a professional soccer field is not suitable for players from 6 to 14 years old.
View more: Soccer ball size by age
Commonly, the standard soccer field size for youth is from 15 x 30 yards to 60 x 100 yards. Players of this age usually prefer to play at the school football field or the youth soccer field.
In addition, the soccer field dimension also depends on the player’s fitness. For example, a young player’s stride is only half that of an adult player. So they will find joy in playing in smaller yards.
If we intentionally let them play on the official soccer fields, they will quickly get bored and give up. Here is the youth soccer field table for your reference:
Age Youth Soccer Field Size
(Yards)
14+ 60 x 100 12 50 x 80 10 40 x 70 8 25 x 50 6 15 x 30
Chart of youth football field dimensions (Yards)
High School Football Field Dimensions
The high school soccer field is usually smaller than professional football fields. Usually, it is the football field for U14.
The NFHS has set the rules for high school soccer field dimensions as follows:
- Width: 55 -80 yards.
- Length: 110 -120 yards.
A large high school will set up its standard soccer field following its regulations and students.
Soccer Field Markings
Soccer field markings are the boundaries/white lines on the field. They have the task to help players, as well as referees on the field, can identify separate areas.
Soccer field lines must be uniform in width, usually no more than 12 cm. The specified paint color is white paint.
- Touch line: the line that defines the boundary of the field. It runs the length of the yard on either side.
- Endline: the lines that define the width of the field, located at the end of the area.
- Halfway line: the road helps to divide the area on the field into two regions with equal areas. This line will be right in the middle of the field.
- Center circle: this circle has a radius of 9.15 meters. Seen from above, you will quickly recognize this circle.
- Goal line.
The Layout of the Soccer Field
There are a few areas on the soccer field layout that you need to remember as follows:
Goal Box
The Laws of the Game have specific rules that apply to the goal area. The goal area will start from a defined position and be 5.5 meters away from the goalposts. From there, we will draw two parallel lines extending into the goal area. These two lines are perpendicular to the end line.
Penalty Box
FIFA also regulates penalty box standards. Those are two parallel lines from the goalpost with a length of 16.5 meters. They will also be perpendicular to the end line.
The whole part surrounded by these lines is the penalty area. It is also known as the area of 16.5 meters.
Penalty Spot
The penalty arc or penalty spot has the outside location of the penalty box. The penalty spot has a radius of 10 yards. Why this penalty spot?
When a player takes a penalty kick, all other players must stand a certain distance away from him. This half-circle will mark that distance.
Penalty Mark
In every model of the football field, there will always be a design called a penalty mark. For heavy fouls in the penalty area, the players will take penalty kicks on the penalty mark.
This mark is usually 22 cm in diameter.
Corner Arc
The corner arc will be the place where the players place the ball to take the corner kick. This position is “determined” by relying on the corner flagpole. The flag point is the center.
You draw the quarter circle into the area of the field. This quarter-circle position is the corner arc.
Corner Flag
The corner flag area will be at the four corners of the field. The standard flag cannot be more than 5 feet tall. Usually, this is also the position to determine the corner arc in football matches.
A corner arc is a one-yard drawing around the corner flags, connecting each boundary line. This quarter circle is the location from where players take corner kicks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some frequent questions about this topic:
1. What are international soccer goal dimensions?
For 11-a-side ball international matches, FIFA regulates the goal size as 7.32m x 2.44m x 1.5m (width x height x depth). The width of the goalposts and crossbars should not exceed 12 cm.
The football goal net must be “hooked” to the goal posts, edge of the crossbar, and firmly attached to the ground. The tension of the net must be appropriate to avoid hindering the goalkeeper’s ball-catching. However, the pressure must also be moderate to prevent the ball from bouncing back onto the court.
Goalkeeper nets are usually “made” of suitable materials such as fabric, jute, or nylon. The goal post and crossbar of the 11-man football goal are also in white.
2. What is the Playing Surface Material?
People usually use one of two types of grass: natural or artificial. At international stadiums, people often use natural grass. Some other training stadiums for amateurs will use artificial turf to save costs.
The Laws of the Game state that the playing surface can change between venues. Some locations have a natural grass, while others have artificial turf. The size and makeup of the field of play can vary between locations. However, soccer rules mandate the size of many distinct features on a football field needs to be the same. These distinct features include the corner area and flags, the penalty area, and even the goal line.
Final Thoughts
In general, the above is the basic information about soccer field dimensions that readers should not ignore. The size may vary depending on the region and conditions. However, people are still aiming for such standards.
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