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In some team sports such as association football and rugby, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time teams swap ends of the field of play, in order to reduce any advantage that may be gained from wind or a slope to the pitch, for example. While it exists mainly to allow competitors to rest briefly and recover from the play of the first half, half-time also serves a number of other purposes.

Contents

[edit] History of half-time

The origin of changing ends at half-time lies in the early English public school football games. One early use of a fixed half-time, and it is suggested the origin of the practice, was to allow for two football teams each used to a different set of rules to play half of the game by familiar rules, and half by the opposition rules. This was practised notably between followers of Eton rules football (closer to modern association football) and Rugby rules football (closer to modern rugby [1]). This use of half-time was unnecessary after the standardisation of football rules in 1863 [2]. Changing ends at half time (if no goals had been scored) was part of the following schools codes: Brighton, Eton, Rossall, Sheffield, Winchester. Other schools changed every time that side scored (Cheltenham, FA, Harrow, Marlborough, Rugby, Shrewsbury, Uppingham schools)[1] The 1863 Cambridge Rules state that "In a match when half the time agreed upon has elapsed, the side shall change goals when the ball is next out of play".

[edit] Overview

One benefit of half-time in a field game is to allow teams to swap their positions on the field in order that the effects of the natural conditions such as sunlight and wind direction are experienced fairly by both teams. In some sports this is achieved without the need for half-time, for example in cricket, fielding positions of players are rotated after a set passage of play. In other sports no such provision is necessary, for example in baseball, where playing positions do not change though there is frequent rotation of players in the ordinary course of play.

Half-time for spectators offers the opportunity to visit the toilet, get some food or drink, or just exercise cramped limbs, without the fear of missing any of the action. A show may be put on for the spectators to keep their attention, most famously in the case of the American football Super Bowl. As many spectators at the ground may be otherwise occupied using stadium facilities it might be inferred that the scale and spectacle of half-time entertainment is more directly related to the size of the potential television audience.

In many sports that are televised, half-time offers the opportunity to advertise, a valuable source of revenue for television companies. In addition, it allows analysis of the game so far by pundits; controversial incidents or exceptional play may be highlighted at this time. It also allows viewers to catch up with any action that they may have missed. Finally, without half-time there would be no occasion to use one of the most enduring clichés to describe football: that "it's a game of two halves."[2]

[edit] List of team sports

[edit] With half-time

Sport Length of half-time Length of a half
American football 12 (professional) or 20 (college) minutes[3] 2 periods (quarters) of 15 minutes each
Association football 15 minutes 45 minutes
Australian rules football 20 minutes 2 periods (quarters) of 20 minutes plus time on each
Basketball 10 minutes 2 periods (quarters) or 10 (FIBA, WNBA) or 12 minutes each (College Basketball is played with 2 20 minute halves)
Field hockey 5 minutes 35 minutes
Gaelic football 12 minutes 30 or 35 minutes
Lacrosse 12 minutes in NLL only 2 periods (quarters) of 15 minutes each in NLL
Netball 5 minutes 2 periods (quarters) of 15 minutes each
Rugby league 10 to 15 minutes 30 to 45 minutes
Rugby union 10 minutes 40 minutes
Soccer 15 minutes 45 minutes
Team handball 10 minutes 30 minutes

[edit] With intervals other than half-time

[edit] No half-time or equivalent

(other than to allow movement of players in the natural course of play and/or TV commercials)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Football, The First Hundred Years: The Untold Story. Adrian Harvey. Routledge, Abingdon, 2005 p. 184
  2. ^ It's a Game of Two Halves Independent, 16 December 2007, accessed 19 September 2009
  3. ^ College football gets uniform instant replay system USA Today, 5 May 2006



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