12th man (football) 12th man (football) The 12th man or 12th player is a term for fans of teams in eleven-a-side sports games, particularly association football (soccer) or American football. As most football leagues allow a maximum of eleven players per team on the playing field at a time, referring to a team's fans as the 12th man implies that they have a potentially helpful role in the game. Infrequently, the term has referred to individuals having a notable connection to their football team. In Canadian football, 12 players are usually on the field at one time and the term 13th man is
John Field (American football) football team compiled an overall record of 23–3–3, and has been recognized as national champions in 1909. After graduating from Yale in 1911, Field was hired to stay on at Yale as the head football coach. Field coached the 1911 Yale football team to a 7–2–1 record, outscoring opponents 191 to 16. Field continued to serve the Yale football team as an assistant coach in several subsequent seasons. During the period from 1899 to 1912, Yale had 14 different head football coaches in 14 years – despite compiling a combined record of 127–11–10 in those years. During that 14-year span,