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A kid with a ball is a happy kid. Every football-lover began falling in love with the game in the street, in the school yard, in the village square. We created our own language and our own unwritten laws by which street football is governed. We all accepted and adopted those rules that have stayed with us since our earliest years. Here we revisit some of the most important rules of street football and their peculiarities:
The 'Law of the Bottle': if you kick it out, you go and fetch it
Possibly the first article of the Constitution of Street Football. Whoever sends the ball outside the boundaries of the playing area must go and retrieve it — whether it's on a roof, in a river or in the neighbour's veg patch.
Sometimes the goalposts were two stones or two jackets
When proper goalposts weren't available, stones, jackets or even lampposts did the job. Nothing stood in our way. Worth noting that one goal was almost always smaller than the other.
The two best players play on opposite sides
Your Oliver Atom and your Mark Lenders couldn't be on the same team. They played on opposite sides and were responsible for picking their squads. This was a crucial moment — being picked last was essentially a public humiliation. The least technically gifted player on each side usually ended up in goal.
There's no referee
Matches were played without a referee — obviously. Whoever shouted loudest or claimed the throw-in first tended to get their way. Football has always been a game for the clever, and street football even more so.
Even if it's 12–1, next goal wins
No matter how one-sided the game had become — even if it was a re-run of Spain vs Malta — someone would always shout "next goal wins", and whoever scored it would celebrate as if they'd just won the World Cup final. Football in its purest form.
If the ball owner falls out, takes his ball and goes home, the game's over
A cardinal rule of street football. The owner of the ball couldn't be allowed to get upset, because there was a very real risk of being left with no ball and no game. A sad day indeed.
If a goal was disputed, it was settled with "goal or penalty"
Without a referee, street football operated by its own rules. When a goalscoring situation was deemed doubtful, it was typically settled with the classic "goal or penalty" call.
There's no offside
In street football, offside was simply non-existent. You could lurk right next to the opposing keeper with no defenders around, receive a long ball and score without any problem whatsoever.
It's only a foul if it's blatantly obvious
Unless a player was writhing in agony and on the verge of tears, the challenge wouldn't normally be given as a foul. We liked our football fast and continuous. Play on, play on…
Depending on where you grew up, there may be small variations on some of these unwritten laws. Here we've revisited some of the ones we hold with particular fondness in the memory — the ones that kept us company throughout our childhoods.
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