Midfielder

A midfielder is an association football position. Midfielders are generally positioned on the field between their team's defenders and forwards. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders on the team and their assigned roles depends on the team's formation; the collective group of these players on the field is sometimes referred to as the midfield.

Most managers assign at least one midfielder to disrupt the opposing team's attacks, while others may be tasked with creating goals, or have equal responsibilities between attack and defence. Midfielders are the players who typically travel the greatest distance during a match.

Central midfielder

Central or centre midfielders are players whose role is divided roughly equally between attack and defence. These players will try to pass the ball to the team's attacking midfielders and forwards and may also help their team's attacks by making runs into the opposition's penalty area and attempting shots on goal themselves.

Australian rules football positions

In the sport of Australian rules football, each of the eighteen players in a team is assigned to a particular named position on the field of play. These positions describe both the player's main role and by implication their location on the ground. As the game has evolved, tactics and team formations have changed, and the names of the positions and the duties involved have evolved too. In total there are 18 positions in Australian rules football, not including 4 (sometimes 6 - 8) interchange players who may come onto the ground at any time during play to replace another player.

The fluid nature of the modern game means the positions in football are not as formally defined as in sports such as rugby or American football. Even so, most players will play in a limited range of positions throughout their career, as each position requires a particular set of skills. Footballers who are able to play comfortably in numerous positions are referred to as utility players.

Rugby union positions

In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench". Jersey numbers 16–23 differentiate them. Players are not restricted to any single position on the field, although they generally specialise in just one or two that suit their skills and body types. Players that specialise in over three positions are called "utility players". The scrum (an assemblage used to restart play), however, must consist of eight players: the "front row" (two props, a loosehead and tighthead, and a hooker), the "second row" (two locks), and a "back row" (two flankers, and a number 8). The players outside the scrum are called "the backs": scrum-half, fly-half, two centres (inside and outside), two wings, and a fullback. Early names, such as "three-quarters" (for the wings and centres) and "outside-halves" (for fly-half) are still used by many in the Northern Hemisphere, while in the Southern Hemisphere the fly-half and inside centre are colloquially called "first five-eighth" and "second five-eighth" respectively, while the scrum-half is known as the "half-back".