Centre-Half/Back Position

[billyireland]

Could somebody plase tell me how the centre-half position got it's name? It annoys the hell out of me, since I've always referred to it as the 'centre-back' position, even though both are used... it's obvious that centrebacks are at the centre of the backline... but centrehalf? What the hell is that about?

[skipshady]

It's from the old, old 2-3-5 formatioin from way, way back.

The 2 in the back were the fullbacks (2 and 3).
The 3 in the back were the left half, right half and the center half (4, 5 and 6)
The 5 up front were the two wingers (7 and 11), center forward (9) and inside right and left, (8 and 10)

The center half later became a full-time defensive position between the 2 fullbacks, and eventually, teams line up two center halfs. They're no longer "halfs", but the name remained.

[usscouse]

From "what was the 2, 3, 5. formation

Funny 1-2-3-5 was the way everyone played before and after WWII. It didn’t start to change until about the 50’s.

……………………1
….….….…..3……………2
..…..…6………….5……………4
11……..10……….9……….8……….7

This was also in the pre-sub days and your shirt number was the position you played in for the full 90 minutes.
Example:- If you played left back you wore number 2, always.
The main striker was the centre forward, number 9.
The forward line could be played in a W or an M. The W dropped the inside forwards back.
The M would play the inside forwards up as a 2 striker team with the wingers hanging back and the centre (#9) as target man and feeder for them. The 2 wing halves (4 and 6) would move up and down in support of attack or defense, the centre half (#5) could drop into a 3 man back line or play stopper.
Lots of variations on the theme.