Arena soccer, or indoor football as it commonly known to those in the UK, is a game that is practically the same as normal soccer but played on a much smaller pitch, usually with fewer players and has walls surrounding it rather than touch lines. Closely resembling a hockey pitch, the arena soccer pitch is usually an indoor one with astro-turf but can be covered in other things as well.

Indoor football in the UK is very much a boy’s game. There are mini leagues dedicated to it usually with teams from local public houses and is enjoyable to both watch and play. Occasionally the games take up less time than an average soccer game with many five a side or six a side games only playing on twenty minutes per half rather than 45.
Travelling across the water, arena soccer has become a firm favorite in both Canada and also the United States with many mini leagues now available for professional footballers and amateur footballers alike. Of late, the game has travelled some more, now becoming increasingly popular within Mexico and the indoor arena soccer games are usually played outside, perhaps due to the nice weather!

There are several governing bodies of arena soccer and the rules will differ slightly within each one. In the UK, the games are usually 40 minutes long but crossing the water the games can usually be played as quarters with 15 minutes in each or for the amateurs, 25 minutes and halves rather than quarters. Again, there are other differences between UK indoor football and US arena soccer – there are more players in the US. Five a side is very popular in the UK but in the US, it tends to be six per team with one of those being the all important goal keeper!

There are many benefits of arena soccer and these ensure almost constant game play with no stoppage for things such as throw ins as the ball simply hits the boundary walls and comes back into play rather than going over the line and making play restart so to speak. Of course if the ball touches the roof of the arena or goes over the walls, usual stoppage time occurs and usually, there will be no offside rule to stop play even further.
The same kind of contact rules occur in arena soccer as it does with usual soccer games. Sliding tackles are usually banned within arena soccer leagues especially on those with “fake” grass as some rather painful injuries can arise! Also, because the pitch is generally much smaller than that of outdoor soccer pitches, there is less room to maneuver in such risky tackles and are therefore best avoided.

There are many benefits to playing arena soccer as well as the ones mentioned already. It gives a chance for smaller teams to compete and generally have a good time and without the pressure of having to run around for a full ninety minutes. It also means the game play is very exciting as there is less play space and more chances for a good goal!