The beautiful game – the one we all recognise today – has evolved gradually for over a hundred and fifty years. If you were to look at a match played in any decade of the twentieth century, for all intents and purposes the game would look very familiar. The main thing that would jump out would be the lack of contact, which has gradually been whittled down to the almost non-contact sport we see today. Rule changes come and go, with the offside one in particular seemingly being changed/tweaked/over-complicated every few months. The last drastic one was the banning of back passes to the goalkeeper, which amazingly was brought into effect 27 years ago. FIFA recently announced some changes that will be put in place for the 2019/2020 season.
Two Changes that Won’t be taking Place in the Scottish Premiership
Before we get to what changes will be taking place, we had better start with two that won’t, at least not in the SPFL. Despite many people reporting it – SKY we are looking at you – the proposal to stop play after a penalty kick is saved or hits the woodwork is NOT going ahead. All over the country people were discussing the possible reasons for such a change, and the implications of it. One consequence would have been there almost certainly would have been less goals, something to bear in mind when putting together your footy accumulators especially if you tend to go for both sides to score, or goals over/under. Videocelts can confirm however, that that change will not be taking place. It was something the committee discussed, but it was dropped as long ago as November.
The other change is that the controversial VAR system will not be introduced in the SPL next season. This is despite managers and refs backing its use earlier this year. There is no doubt we will see it in the not so distant future, and of course Celtic will be subject to it in European competition. No date has been put in place however and the process of implementing it, in terms of the technology and training means it will not be ready for next season.
Four laws that will be introduced…
1. Handballed Goals will Not Stand
With so many grey areas surrounding handballs, this is a positive step. From next season, any goal that is scored that comes from having struck a player’s hand will not count. This is regardless of that contact being intentional or not. The removal of the word deliberate from the law may be a precursor to a similar move for the handball rule in general. That is one law that does need to be looked at with VAR being rolled out more and more, as was evident in the Paris Saint Germain, Manchester United game.
2. Substituted Players Can Leave the Field of Play Anywhere
Once again this is a common-sense decision, made to stop the deliberate use of substitutions as a time-wasting tactic. We are all too familiar with a player, knowing he is going to be hooked, running to the furthest area of the pitch before walking slowly to the bench when he sees his number held aloft.
3. No Attacking Players in the Wall at Freekicks
This is the change that will have the biggest effect on the game. More and more it has become a tactic of attacking teams to place their players in the defensive wall. From next season onwards, they will not be able to stand within 1 metre of the wall.
4. Managers and Coaching Staff to Receive Cards
In a system that was trialled in the EFL this season, from 2019/20 onwards, managers and coaches – like players – will be liable for yellow and red cards. Seen as a way to stop the constant griping and arguing with officials, it could see more and more managers watching their team from the stands.
None of the changes are controversial, especially now the penalty one has been dropped, with the prohibiting of attacking players in the wall being the biggest one. As always, managers and players will take a while to get used to the changes, before adopting tactics and strategies accordingly. Youth players and teams will need to be brought up to speed as well, and will no doubt adopt to the changes quicker, after having less time to have become entrenched in the old way of doing things.