Football is a simple enough game at its heart. You put 11 people on one side, 11 people on the other and get them to try to outscore each other. Yet it doesn’t take long before people try to interfere with the simple, adding in more and more rules to the point that the sport becomes virtually unrecognisable.
The Football Association have announced a raft of changes that are being brought in for the 2025-2026 season, which are being communicated to managers, players, officials and supporters so as to mean that there will be less complaining. Obviously, there won’t be.
Eight Laws Have Been Altered
Most people are aware of the fact that there are a host of different Laws of the Game that govern how referees handle different situations. Most of the time, our opinions on such Laws are muddled by the fact that commentators and pundits will say things like ‘it’s not a penalty for me’ or ‘I think that’s soft’. Whether they personally like or dislike a decision, it is usually made with the Laws of the Game borne in mind by the match official. Generally, we can all get a bit confused because we don’t understand why it is that a decision has been made, largely because we don’t know those Laws.
If you did have a grasp on them prior to this summer, however, you will now need to go back to the classroom in order to ensure that you know exactly what you’re talking about. That is because the Football Association have decided to make tweaks to eight of the Laws of the Game, ostensibly in order to improve the sport in general. Some of the changes make little more than a material difference to the way that games will play out, whilst others could end up having quite a profound effect on the way that we all enjoy watching and playing football matches on the weekend.
The Changes That Will Have Little Impact
Firstly, a quick look at some of the changes to the Laws of the Game that probably won’t affect you much as a viewer or a player. Each of the competitions that come under the auspices of the FA will have the choice about whether or not to implement the ‘only the captain’ rule, which says that only the captain and the player or players involved in a situation will be allowed to talk to the referee. Then there is the slight alteration to how the Video Assistant Referee’s involvement in a scenario will be made clear to those watching, both in the stands and also at home on the television.
@espnfc Crowd went from cheering to booing 😭 (via @Major League Soccer on Apple TV) #mls #soccer #futbol #football #var ♬ original sound – ESPN FC
No, they aren’t going to use the VAR to reach the correct decision in any given scenario, instead allowing for massive mistakes to be made all in the name of ‘protecting the on-pitch official’s decision’. Each competition will now have the option for the on-field referee to make an announcement to the crowd about what’s happened in the wake of a VAR ‘review’ or after a long VAR ‘check’, which will at least help to clarify what on earth has been happening to the people in the stadium. This was trialled during the League Cup last season and was largely just a bit weird.
New Rules For Goalkeepers
Anyone that ever watched Luis Suárez counting on his fingers how long a goalkeeper had held the ball for will no doubt remember that there was a rule introduced that said that goalkeepers could only keep hold of it for up to eight seconds. Whilst that rule has been in place for more than a decade, it was very rarely actually acted upon by referees, allowing teams such as West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United and Arsenal to waste time through the ‘keeper holding onto the ball. Now, though, the referee will indicate when goalies have just five seconds left with the ball in their hands, awarding a corner if they go over eight seconds.
There is also a change in how offside will work when the goalkeeper is the one who throws the ball out to one of their teammates. From now on, the last point of contact will be used for the purposes of determining whether a player is offside or not. That will mean that ‘keepers will have to think more carefully about when they’re releasing the ball and who they are looking to release it to, else they might find themselves playing someone onside by accident. That will be more fun and games for the Video Assistant Referee to get involved with, wasting more time drawing lines that won’t be added back on properly.
Starting & Restarting Play
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If the ball was in the penalty area when play was stopped for some reason, a defending player will get the ball dropped for them. If it was outside the penalty area, meanwhile, the ball will be dropped for a player on the team that either had possession or would’ve won possession had the game not been stopped, presuming that is clear to the referee. If it is unclear, however, then the ball will be dropped for the last team that had possession of the ball, which will be dropped in the position that it was in when play was stopped for whatever reason the referee chose to stop it for.
Sometimes, a player, manager or member of the backroom team will touch the ball accidentally as it is leaving the field. If that happens, the referee will award an indirect free-kick but will not carry out any disciplinary action. Obviously that will not be the case if the ball has been stopped from leaving the field of play intentionally by someone who should not have been getting involved in the game. That will include a player who has been sent to the sidelines on a temporary basis, just as it would for members of the backroom staff or a player who has been shown a red card.