A football team is the collective name given to a group of players selected together in the various team sports known as football.

Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-star team or even selected as a hypothetical team (such as a Dream Team or Team of the Century) and never play an actual match.

There are several varieties of football, with the most notable being Association football, Gridiron football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby league and rugby union. The number of players selected for each team within these varieties and their associated codes can vary substantially. In some, use of the word "team" is sometimes limited to those who play on the field in a match and does not always include other players who may take part as replacements or emergency players. "Football squad" may be used to be inclusive of these support and reserve players.

The term football club is the most commonly used for a sports club which is an organised or incorporated body with a president, committee and a set of rules responsible for ensuring the continued playing existence of one or more teams which are selected for regular competition play (and which may participate in several different divisions or leagues). The oldest football clubs date back to the early 19th century. The word team and club are sometimes used interchangeably by supporters, although typically refers to the team within the club playing in the highest division or competition.

Jonathan Simon Woodgate (born 22 January 1980) is an English footballer who plays for Stoke City in the Premier League.

Woodgate started his football career at Leeds United where he established himself in the starting eleven. However, Woodgate was sold to Newcastle United for £9 million in January 2003. He impressed at Newcastle but he also suffered a number of injury problems. His performances in Europe for Newcastle led to Spanish giants Real Madrid signing Woodgate for £13.4 million in August 2004. Injuries blighted his time in Madrid as he failed to make a single appearance during the entire 2004–05 season. He endured an awful debut for Real Madrid as he scored an own goal and was later sent off for two bookable offences.

He went on to play 14 times for Los Blancos before re-joining his home town club Middlesbrough on loan before joining the Teesside club permanently for a fee of £7million. He then joined Tottenham Hotspur for the same amount in January 2008. He scored the winning goal for Spurs in the League Cup Final against Chelsea and went on to play 44 times during the 2008–09 season. However after more injury problems he only made four appearances in the next two seasons and was released in June 2011. In July 2011 he signed on a pay-as-you-play deal with Stoke City.

Paul Charles Merson (born March 20, 1968) is an English former professional footballer, manager and current sports television pundit. As a player he played as a forward who later in his career dropped into the midfield playmaker position in a career that lasted from 1985 until 2006.

He notably played in the Premier League for Arsenal, Middlesbrough and Aston Villa, as well as appearing in the Football League for Brentford and Portsmouth. He also played for Walsall where he spent two years as player-manager before finishing his career in non-league football with Tamworth. He briefly came out of retirement in 2012 for Welshpool Town where he played in a one-off game. Merson earnt 21 caps for England, scoring 3 times.

Born in Harlesden, North West London, Paul Merson started his career at Arsenal, joining the club as an apprentice in 1984. After a loan spell at Brentford, then under manager Frank McLintock, he made his debut for the Gunners on 22 November 1986 against Manchester City, and gradually established himself in George Graham's successful Arsenal side of the late 1980s. By the 1988-89 season he was a regular on the right wing, at the end of which Arsenal secured the First Division title with a last gasp Michael Thomas goal in the final game of the season against Liverpool. Merson scored ten times that season, made his debut for the England U21 side, and was voted PFA Young Player of the Year.

Matthew William "Matt" Murray (born 2 May 1981) is an English former football goalkeeper who spent his entire career at Wolverhampton Wanderers. His career was plagued by injuries which eventually forced him to retire aged 29.

Born in Solihull, Murray progressed through Wolves academy system to sign professional forms in 1998. The five year contract he was given, aged 17, is the longest in the club's history for an academy graduate.

However, his career failed to find its stride immediately as he was largely out of contention through injury. He suffered a cruciate knee injury just twenty minutes into a loan spell at non-league Kingstonian in October 2000 where he made his first professional appearance.

He was promoted into Wolves' first team on 31 August 2002 against Wimbledon, deputising for the injured Michael Oakes, and then keeping his place through that season. The season ended with him producing a man-of-the-match performance in the Play-off final in May 2003, where he produced a number of vital saves to help the club win promotion to the Premier League, the pick being a second-half penalty save from Michael Brown.

Carlton Michael Cole Okirie (born 12 October 1983) is an English footballer who plays as a striker for West Ham United in the Championship.

Cole began his career at Chelsea in 2001, spending spells out on loan at Wolverhampton Wanderers, Charlton Athletic and Aston Villa before being transferred to West Ham United in 2006. He made 19 England U21 appearances (scoring six goals), and made his full international debut for the England national football team on 11 February 2009 in a friendly match against Spain.

Cole was born in Croydon, London and began his career as a trainee with Chelsea in 2001 making his debut in April 2002 as a substitute for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in a 3–0 victory against Everton. He made his first senior start three weeks later, scoring a goal as Chelsea beat Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium. He made one more appearance for Chelsea in the 2001–02 season, in a 3–1 home defeat against Aston Villa in May 2002.

Cole started the 2002–03 season in the Chelsea first team squad, scoring a goal and making another in the opening game of the season in a 3–2 win over Charlton Athletic after coming on as a substitute for Gianfranco Zola. He suffered a hairline fracture in his leg in August but returned to action in a League Cup tie against Gillingham in November, scoring two goals.Claudio Ranieri, the then manager of Chelsea, described Cole as being the best young player that he had ever coached, saying, "I've never coached a young player like Carlton. He's fantastic even though he hasn't really started his career yet. He has a very long contract, and, in my opinion, a very big future at Chelsea." However, with Eiður Guðjohnsen, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Gianfranco Zola available for selection, Cole's first team opportunities were limited and he was loaned to Wolverhampton Wanderers in November 2002 for one month, later extended to two months.