Pitch
The bounded outdoor playing area used for field sports such as football, rugby and hockey, including its markings and goals.
Definition
A pitch is the outdoor field of play for a family of field sports — association football, rugby, field hockey and Australian rules among them. The word describes the whole bounded area, including its touchlines, goal lines and centre markings, rather than the material it is made of: a pitch can be natural grass, artificial turf or a hybrid that stitches synthetic fibres into real turf.
Dimensions are not fixed across sports and often not even within one; association football's laws permit a range of lengths and widths rather than a single size. "Pitch" is chiefly British and international usage — in American English the equivalent outdoor area is usually called a field — which is why the term names a venue, not a surface.
Scope: Names the venue and its markings, not the surface material; distinguished from 'court' (usually smaller and hard-surfaced).
Meaning by sport
This term is used differently across sports:
- Football
- The whole grassed or turf field bounded by touchlines and goal lines, on which a match is played.
- Cricket
- Most precisely, the 22-yard prepared strip between the two sets of wickets; loosely, the whole ground.
Where you’ll hear “pitch”
Sports that use this term:
Football
The world’s most popular team sport — endless running, teamwork and community in one game.
Rugby
A physical team sport of carrying, passing and kicking an oval ball toward the opposing line.
Cricket
A bat-and-ball team sport where sides take turns to bat and to bowl and field, scoring runs.
Field Hockey
An outdoor team sport that uses curved sticks to move a ball, built on agility and teamwork.
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Facilities
- Football pitchThe large rectangular grass or artificial-turf field on which football (soccer) is played, with a goal at each end.
- The rugby union fieldThe dimensions and markings of a rugby union pitch — the field of play, the in-goal areas, the 22-metre and 10-metre lines, the goal posts, and what the Laws fix versus what they leave open.
- Multi-use games area (MUGA)A fenced outdoor hard-surface area marked for several sports, common in schools, parks and community facilities.
- The cricket pitchThe 22-yard strip at the centre of a cricket field where the bowling and batting happen — its exact dimensions, how it is bounded, and who decides whether it is fit to play on.
- Sports hallA large indoor hall with multi-sport line markings, used for court sports like basketball, volleyball and badminton.
Playing surfaces
- GrassNatural turf grown on soil — the traditional surface for many field sports and, in tennis, a fast court with a low, skiddy bounce.
- SandLoose beach sand: a soft, shifting, energy-sapping surface with no true bounce that rewards balance and footwork, used for beach sports and conditioning.
- Hard courtA rigid acrylic, concrete or asphalt court that gives a true, consistent, medium-paced bounce — the standard multi-use outdoor surface.
- Artificial turfSynthetic grass, often filled with sand or rubber, that gives a firm, even, all-weather surface. It plays faster and truer than worn natural grass.
Equipment
Tactics
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How this page is maintained
- Content type
- Term
- Provenance
- Tier A — evergreen educational
- Verified external sources
- 0
- Content updated
- 2026-09-01
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