Midfield

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Midfield" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hockey it is the part of the field that is between but roughly equally far from the two goalies. In association football, a player who is a "left midfieler", "center midfielder", or "right midfielder" plays much of the game in the midfield, whereas an "attacker" or "forward" plays closer to the opponent's goalie and a "defender" or "back" plays closer to the player's team's goalie.

In these sports, center field is the part of the sports field that is near the line that connects the midpoints of the end lines. That is, in association football or field hockey, it is the part of the field near the line that could be drawn to connect the two goalies; in American football it would connect the two uprights. In association football, a player who is a "center forward", "center midfielder" or "center back" plays much of the game along this line, whereas, from the perspective of the player's goalie's view, other players will be "left" or "right".

In association football, the terms can be combined to give "left forward", "center forward", "right forward", "left midfielder, "center midfielder", "right midfielder", "left back", "center back", "right back", and even subtler combinations such as "left defensive-midfielder", "right-center back", and "center attacking-midfielder".

In contrast, the term midfield in baseball and cricket is used to describe the area between the infield (within the bases or near the wickets) and the outfield.^[1] In baseball, center field is the part of the outfield between left field and right field, and can be reached by going in a line from home plate past second base into the outfield.