Field Handball
A look at the vanished era of 11-a-side field handball, as played during the 1956 European tour.
This video clip is from the 1959 Field Handball World Championship in Austria. At that time, the game was played on a football (soccer) field with football-sized goals, and each team had 11 players on the pitch. The goal area was a semicircular line with a 13-meter radius, and the penalty mark was at 14 meters (instead of the 6 and 7 meters used in modern handball). The game length was the same: 60 minutes.
It was a very different game compared to today’s handball. You can see the goalie jumping and fully extending to save shots in the large goal. A player dribbles the ball, stops, and then dribbles again—rules that are far different from the modern game.
During the 1959 Israeli handball season, the league alternated between modern (7-a-side) and field handball matches. The 1964 season was the first to switch exclusively to modern handball. All matches during the 1956 European tour were played as field handball games.
Leave a Comment
Do you recognize a player, a location, or have a story about this tour? Please share your knowledge below. You can comment using just a nickname—no account required.
