Editing Goalkeeper (section)

===Football codes===

==== Association football ====
{{Main|Goalkeeper (association football)}}
[[File:Soccer Youth Goal Keeper.jpg|thumb|Youth-football goalkeeper]]
In [[Association football|football]], each team's goalkeeper (GK) defends their team's goal and has special privileges within the game. The goalkeeper's main job is to stop any penetration of the ball into the goal. The goalkeeper is the only player in the side who may use their hands and arms to catch, throw, and save the ball, but only within their own [[penalty area]]. Goalkeepers are required to wear a distinctive color jersey, separate from the [[referee]]'s jersey color and either team's regular jersey color, so the referee can easily identify them. There are no other specific requirements, but goalkeepers are usually allowed to wear additional protective gear, such as padded clothing. Most goalkeepers also wear gloves to protect their hands and enhance their grip on the ball. Like every player on the pitch, they are required to wear shin guards.

The goalkeeper is allowed to catch the ball and is also allowed to punch or deflect the ball away from the goal. The goalkeeper generally has a significant advantage on a ball high in the air by raising their arms and play the ball before an attacker can attempt a header. When the keeper picks up the ball, they are allowed to kick it or throw it, or to place it on the ground and play it with their feet. The official [[Laws of the Game (association football)|Laws of the Game]] stipulate that the goalkeeper must redistribute the ball within six seconds after picking it up; however, referees often use their discretion as long as the goalkeeper is not obviously attempting to waste time. Once the keeper establishes possession of the ball, opposing players are not allowed to attempt to play the ball and must give the goalkeeper room to attempt a kick.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}} Referees usually give an advantage to an unprotected goalkeeper if a ball is in the air and both the goalkeeper and a field player of the opposing team are challenging for the ball.

The 1936 death of [[Sunderland A.F.C.]] goalkeeper [[Jimmy Thorpe]] shaped the development of the rule by which players were no longer allowed to raise their foot to a goalkeeper with control of the ball in their arms.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2006/10/04/soinve04.xml|title=On the run with dogs and a long-dead goalkeeper|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311055415/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fsport%2F2006%2F10%2F04%2Fsoinve04.xml|last=Inverdale|first=John|website=The Telegraph|archive-date=11 March 2007|access-date=5 July 2020}}</ref> Despite winning the league that season, Sunderland's season was marked with tragedy after the young goalkeeper died as a result of a kick in the head and chest after he had picked up the ball following a [[backpass]] in a game against [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]] at [[Roker Park]]. He continued to take part until the match finished, but collapsed at home afterwards and died in hospital four days later from [[diabetes mellitus]] and heart failure 'accelerated by the rough usage of the opposing team'.<ref name="Goalkeeper's Death">{{cite news |date=14 February 1936 |title=Goalkeeper's Death |website=The Times |url=http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/viewArticle.arc?articleId=ARCHIVE-The_Times-1936-02-14-16-001&pageId=ARCHIVE-The_Times-1936-02-14-16 |url-status=dead |access-date=2020-08-29 |archive-date=2023-09-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230907134135/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/ }}</ref>

Though the goalkeeper is generally allowed to use their hands in the penalty area, they are not allowed to use their hands on balls that have been deliberately kicked to them by a teammate (it does not have to go backwards). In such situations, the goalkeeper may play the ball with their feet but cannot pick it up. The rule applies only to a ball that is kicked. A ball that is headed or otherwise not kicked may be picked up by the goalkeeper without penalty. An infringement of this rule results in an indirect kick for the opposing team. A ball that is merely deflected by a teammate may still be picked up by the goalkeeper since a deflection is not a deliberate play. The "back-pass" rule has been followed in international football and in most professional and amateur leagues since the early 1990s, but leagues for younger players may choose not to enforce the rule {{citation needed|date=August 2023}}. The back pass rule is listed in Law 12 of the Laws of the Game.

As the goalkeeper is usually the team's only player who can see the entire field, they often act as the organizer of the team when it is defending, such as on a free kick or a corner kick. This means the goalkeeper needs to be loud, with a voice that can project over the defensive area of the pitch. In turn, the players on their team need to be able to listen and respond to directions given to them.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}} Some of the greatest soccer/ football goalies include [[Petr Čech|Petr Cech]], [[Peter Schmeichel]], [[Manuel Neuer]], [[Oliver Kahn]], [[Edwin van der Sar]], [[Lev Yashin]], [[Gianluigi Buffon]], [[Jean-Marie Pfaff]], [[Ricardo Zamora]] or [[Michel Preud'homme]].

==== Gaelic football ====
In [[Gaelic football]], the goalie's main task is to prevent a goal from being scored against his side by directly defending the team's goal. A goal occurs when the ball passes through the goal; the attacking team is awarded 3 points. The goalie is the only player who may handle the ball on the ground, and only inside the small rectangle. <ref name="GAA Rules">{{cite book |url=https://www.gaa.ie/api/pdfs/image/upload/ry3kyypphlwrgfsxvwgg.pdf |title=OFFICIAL GUIDE - PART 2 |date=27 Mar 2022 |publisher=Gaelic Athletic Association |pages=66–103 |chapter=The Playing Rules of Gaelic Football |access-date=8 Aug 2023}}</ref>

==== International rules football ====
In [[International rules football]], a hybrid game between [[Australian rules football]] (which does not have a goalkeeper) and [[Gaelic football]], the goalkeeper's main task is to prevent a goal from being scored. A goal occurs when the ball comes off any part of an attacking player and passes through the goal; the attacking team is awarded 6 points.

==== Gridiron football ====
The term "goal-tend" was used in early descriptions of [[American football positions]] to describe the defensive position farthest back from the [[line of scrimmage]]. Eventually the term became obsolete and was replaced by the term ''defensive [[fullback (gridiron football)|fullback]]'', then to its modern term ''[[free safety]]'' (or ''[[return specialist|punt returner]]'' in kicking situations) {{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}. Unlike in soccer or Gaelic football, the goal-tend/safety does not physically protect the goalposts, as they are elevated above the ground and mostly out of the reach of any player (the [[National Football League]] also explicitly outlawed goaltending in [[1985 NFL season|1985]]; no such rule exists in other levels of the game {{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}). Also, unlike other codes of football, goal-tends have no special ball-handling privileges.

One situation in which a goalkeeper-like responsibility can arise is in [[Canadian football]], where a [[single (football)|single point]] is awarded for a kicked ball that is not returned out of the [[end zone]]. While standard practice is for defending teams to concede the single point, situations often arise where conceding that point could jeopardize a lead. A goal-tend can thus be employed to recover the ball and either return it out of the end zone or, generally if it is in the closing seconds of a game, [[punt (gridiron football)|punt]] the ball back into play or [[out of bounds]] to ensure the point is not conceded.