Rules you would change about the Premier League?

[Mr. United]

1. Game Clock : I have no idea why this isn't there already! The number of times teams waste time, be it a throw-ins or corners or while getting subbed off, is insane!

2. Rolling Subs: Yes a lot of folks might be skeptical, but I think this is a good way to overcome the lack of winter break, as this would definitely reduce burnout. Maximum of 8 times a team can use rolling subs. 4 per half. Each rolling sub batch change should take no longer than 30 secs. It's on the team to make sure they have 11 playing and not more. The Referee, with the help of VAR, can ensure that.

 

[beergod]

If you go down and don't get back up in a few seconds, you have to leave the pitch and can only come back when there's a break in play and ref says so.

You're either injured (in which case you need to go off) or you're not. Would stop the pampered babies thinking that staying down/holding your leg/wincing will influence the ref into making a decision in your favour and/or carding someone.

An example (though not a PL game) was that Inter player after Wan Bissakas recovery tackle (fair). Get up you tart.

Agreed, few things infuriate me more than some wanker lying on the floor then hopping up immediately once players put the ball into touch or the referee reacts.

The game badly needs a head injury assessment protocol similar to rugby where the player is replaced for 10 minutes with an independent doctor doing an assessment.

 

[Wumminator]

You’re allowed to give Fernandinho a yellow card.

 

[Dannic]

Some of these are obviously unreasonable/ impractical but I think they are interesting areas.

If you're not the last person to touch the ball, then you aren't "in control" of it if you aren't within touching distance. You are guilty of obstruction/ a foul if you are just pushing someone away from the ball without any attempt to play it (I hate shepherding the ball out of play when the defender is just showing the attacker)
If the physio has to come on to look at you, then you need to be off the pitch for a few minutes to make absolutely sure there's nothing seriously wrong. Physio is automatically called onto the pitch if the problem does not resolve itself quickly
Longer advantage periods to actually see if an advantage occurs
Penalties given for denying clear goalscoring opportunities even if outside the box (e.g. when a player would be clear through on goal). Currently there can be a real imbalance in punishment and crime
Penalties only given for yellow card worthy fouls. otherwise it's just a free kick in the box. See above
In red card situations, defending team can choose to take the red card or a penalty kick. See above, plus this allows the defending team to choose what their advantage giving them the benefit vs the offender being able to accept a red card to avoid a goal and a match changing event.

 

[Bullhitter]

Presumably they don’t pay the referees enough to warrant relocating them to the U.K.?

That would be true for some definitely. PL refs are very well paid though and I think added exposure benefits too?

 

[BolehLand]

Some version of FFP. A net spend cap. I seriously think clubs might invest more and better in academies/youth.
The cap could be reviewed each season.

are you a Spurs fan?

 

[Fıstıkçı Şahap]

You’re allowed to give Fernandinho a yellow card.

Came here to say that. Also punish sly bastards like him, Sissoko, Alli etc. retrospectively more.

 

[Danny Roberts]

Not a bad idea, would be more logical if there is a playoff between the FA cup winner and the 4th place to decide who should play in CL. That way you don't undermine the team who has done well for 38 games to be 4th, but also make FA cup more valuable.

Think that's a great idea. Or have a play-off system between 4-7th for the CL spot.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

1. Game Clock : I have no idea why this isn't there already! The number of times teams waste time, be it a throw-ins or corners or while getting subbed off, is insane!

2. Rolling Subs: Yes a lot of folks might be skeptical, but I think this is a good way to overcome the lack of winter break, as this would definitely reduce burnout. Maximum of 8 times a team can use rolling subs. 4 per half. Each rolling sub batch change should take no longer than 30 secs. It's on the team to make sure they have 11 playing and not more. The Referee, with the help of VAR, can ensure that.

Wouldn't work in football, and wouldn't want it anyway. Unlike Rugby, American football, Basketball etc, football is fluent with no real set break in play. You try getting 3 players off and 3 players on with a team taking a quick throw in, would be an absolute cluster feck and the poor ref having to keep tabs on it all.

The game clock? Time wasting is part of football, its a tactic the ref has the power to stop it.

 

[Nick7]

Stop the clock. You'd have to reduce the length of a match though.

Extra sub in case of major injuries, like leg breaks, head injuries etc.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

Stop the clock. You'd have to reduce the length of a match though.

Extra sub in case of major injuries, like leg breaks, head injuries etc.

I think the talk was 30min halfs.

 

[RobinLFC]

I think the talk was 30min halfs.

This would be great but can't see it happening unfortunately.

 

[fergosaurus]

Bring in the 50+1 ownership rule.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

This would be great but can't see it happening unfortunately.

I am just a grumpy sod, I like the game how it is .

 

[Lentwood]

Easy to implement - could happen without much fundamentally changing

1. No subs allowed after 80mins (stop time wasting)
2. Stop clock when ball goes out (stop time wasting)

Easy to implement - probably won't happen, too much fundamental change

3. Yellow cards mean a 10mins sin bin (stop tactical/cynical fouling)

Hard to implement - won't happen!

4. A minimum of three homegrown players in each line-up defined by being at the club pre-17th Birthday

 

[ArmandTamzarian]

Larger squads available from the bench with a minimum of 4 academy players & 5 Subs allowed
Players yellow carded immediately if they dispute a VAR decision
Clock stops for injuries, goal kicks and subs, also players must leave the field by the nearest touchline with time only added for VAR
Referee wears a mic and its turned on when he is explaining decisions
Both selling and buying clubs must publicly declare transfer fees & structure of payment/addons once a player has signed and both get fined if they differ.
The attacking team can move a freekick anywhere within a 10 yard radius if opposition players dispute a decision too aggressively.

 

[poleglass red]

if your defensive midfielder doesn't track runners, his wages are not paid for that game and donated to charity.

 

[matt10000]

I think there is a strong case for increasing the goal size which is nearly 150 years out of date.

In order to align the goal size to the average size of the modern footballer the width should be increased by about 1.5 feet and height by about half a foot.

The width was not specified at all until 1863 at which point the width of 24 feet was established, but with no upper crossbar and anything passing between (or over) the span between the goal posts counted as a goal (the goal was effectively infinite height). In 1882 the rule setting a crossbar at 8 feet was established, which is the goal configuration we have today.

However the average height of men has increased since then which means that the goal size has decreased in relation to the size of the average footballer.

A BBC news article:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23896855
.....reported that the average height of men has risen by almost 11cm since the mid-19th century.

Data was collected on hundreds of thousands of men from 15 European countries.

For British men, the average height at age 21 rose from 167.05cm (5ft 5in) in 1871-75 to 177.37cm (5ft 10in) in 1971-75.

This is an increase of about 6%.

Therefore, to make the goals the same size relative to the size of the footballer the width should increase by about 1.5 feet and height by about half a foot.

This would inevitably result in more goals which you could argue is good for the game. Some may think you cant mess with things like this buy hey they increased the points for a win from 2 to 3 back in 1981 in England and the rest of the world followed in 1994 world cup
finals!

 

[711]

This would inevitably result in more goals which you could argue is good for the game. Some may think you cant mess with things like this buy hey they increased the points for a win from 2 to 3 back in 1981 in England and the rest of the world followed in 1994 world cup
finals!

I'm not sure more goals would actually be good for the game. Football is primarily a league game that depends on weaker teams having a genuine chance of a draw or even a win against stronger teams, and the more you increase the number of goals then the less likely it is that they could achieve anything, to the point where you couldn't have a league at all, as there would be no point the weaker teams being in it. The same applies to the earlier suggestion about doing away with draws completely, it might work in a cup but not in a league, where a hard-fought draw, even a nil-nil one, is an achievement. The players and match-going fans know this even if they haven't thought about it, coming home from a nil-nil away to a top team is a satisfying day out for many, and rightly so!

 

[rcoobc]

For everyone talking about stopping the clock, I think it should work like this.

Ball goes out for throw-in - clock continues for 15 seconds but then stops if throw not taken.

Ball goes out for corner - clock continues for 25 seconds but then stops if corner not taken.

Ball goes out for goal kick - clock is stopped immediately.

The thing with throw-ins and corners - is that although the ball is out, the game continues. Players pushing and shoving and trying to find space - the action is on-going.

After 15 seconds of so though... yeah it's just time-wasting.

 

[drdoityourself]

Just stop using a single match ball.
Clearance into the stands can take forever to return, with fans holding on to the ball. Just have another ready, like in the Champions League.

 

[AaronRedDevil]

First two might not be liked but I'd prefer them myself.

1. Not allowed to shield the ball in the corner to waste time(it's a scummy move imo, i absolutely hate it. )
2. If the whichever team has the Ball, it must not be in their own half for more then 1 min. (Making it more faster game and not dilly dallying around). Kinda like the NBA rule.
3. Play the usual 90mins, but stop the clock whenever the ball is out of play or there's an injury.
4. More subs, maybe 5 instead of 3. To take care of fatigue.
5. No more draws. ET with golden goal and make up to 1 more sub, no goal after 30mins. Straight to pens.

 

[SadlerMUFC]

I would want the offside law changed. I think a player should be onside unless their is daylight between the attacker and second last defender. This way we would be saying "he was onside by a toe" rather than "he was offside by a toe". I would also change the rule on where you receive a pass. So you can start in an offside position as long as you receive the ball in an onside position

 

[matt10000]

I think we should have ‘goalie when needed’,

 

[SadlerMUFC]

First two might not be liked but I'd prefer them myself.

1. Not allowed to shield the ball in the corner to waste time(it's a scummy move imo, i absolutely hate it. )
2. If the whichever team has the Ball, it must not be in their own half for more then 1 min. (Making it more faster game and not dilly dallying around). Kinda like the NBA rule.
3. Play the usual 90mins, but stop the clock whenever the ball is out of play or there's an injury.
4. More subs, maybe 5 instead of 3. To take care of fatigue.
5. No more draws. ET with golden goal and make up to 1 more sub, no goal after 30mins. Straight to pens.

I'm more worried about rule #3 than the first two. Stop clock would bring in commercials and the next thing you know we have 3 hour games...

 

[Chipper]

I'd be up for stopping the clock, but only for the things that they're supposed to add time on for now anyway. It would be to get an accurate measurement of time added on. Wouldn't want to see it every time the ball goes out of play.

If someone's injured the VAR people (might as well make it them since we'll have them from now on) pause the clock when the ref waves on the physio, it starts again when he blows his whistle for play to resume or restarts with a drop ball. They could also stop it for time wasting and I think time is supposed to be added on for subs and goals.

Clock would be displayed prominently around the ground and each half is over as soon as you hit 45:00. I don't think you'd need reduce the lengths of halves if you're not stopping it for every throw in, free kick, penalty, corner or goal kick. Might be wrong, and if I'm sad enough to remember I might whip out a stop watch next time I watch a game to see how it would pan out. I'd imagine games might last marginally longer, as in 3-5 minutes but not dramatically so.

 

[heinze58]

Whoever gets fouled in the penalty area has to take the penalty - unless it’s a handball or the like in which case the attacking team can choose.

 

[tony54]

A good thread, perhaps the top suggestions could be sent to the FA or not.

I would like more english players in every team , crowding of the referee to be penalised severely and an enforced transfer limit to create a level playing field in each league.

 

[Chipper]

Think I've said it before once or twice, but I'd quite like a return to teams having 2 subs on the bench or 2+1 goalie.

Couldn't have it for the premier league only though, it would have to be a worldwide thing or at least a European wide thing. Otherwise PL clubs would likely carry smaller squads than their counterparts in the CL/EL and they'd be disadvantaged.

 

[tony54]

Instead of var, use invisible lasers which obliterates whichever part of the player has strayed offside

A good idea but instead of obliterating the offside player you could get technology to mark up the offending player. Bear with me, if players wore a transponder on the same part of their torso then technology could be used to accurately pinpoint their positions with video and transponder play back.
Just saying!

 

[Handsome Devil]

Abolish throw-ins*. Have a kick pass from the touch line instead. It is FOOTball after all.

*and we are consistently clueless at those.

 

[RochaRoja]

- No points for a 0-0
- Goals scored replaces goal difference
- VAR
- Liberalise the offside rule ("daylight" between defender and attacker needed, offside only applies in the final thirds of the pitch)
- Transfers and managerial changes can only be made during the off season
- Ban shirt sponsorship
- Players boots can only be black, white, or the colour of the team's strip

- Introduce direct free-kicks in the box so penalties are only given for more serious offences.
- Allow dribbling from free-kicks and corners.
- 10 minute sin bin for deliberate fouls to prevent counter attacks.
- Reduce the league to 16 teams. The bottom half is full of absolute dross every year.
- Taking the ball to the corner flag is an immediate yellow card for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Abolish throw-ins*. Have a kick pass from the touch line instead. It is FOOTball after all.

*and we are consistently clueless at those.

If you had kick-ins you’d have to make it so that they can’t go over waist height. Otherwise, three quarters of the league would do a Stoke and start playing for them.

 

[duffer]

Think I've said it before once or twice, but I'd quite like a return to teams having 2 subs on the bench or 2+1 goalie.

Couldn't have it for the premier league only though, it would have to be a worldwide thing or at least a European wide thing. Otherwise PL clubs would likely carry smaller squads than their counterparts in the CL/EL and they'd be disadvantaged.

I agree 100%

 

[golden_blunder]

Every 10 mins the pitch shrinks.

 

[Danny Roberts]

Bring back/implement the 6 seconds keeper rule.

 

[Wal2Fra]

I would bring back the foreigners rule. SO must have minimum 6 homegrown players in the match day squad. I would put a cap on spending in a 12 month period, say 100m. I would bring in NFL draft once per season which would further add to the excitement.

Agree withall except the draft thing.

Capping the spending to 100m leaves all clubsin the same position and with the money in the league, most could go zbout using that before sales.

The draft wouldn't work in European football because we have more than 10 teams. Draft pick #1500 accrington stanley choose...

 

[Gio]

I think there is a strong case for increasing the goal size which is nearly 150 years out of date.

In order to align the goal size to the average size of the modern footballer the width should be increased by about 1.5 feet and height by about half a foot.

The width was not specified at all until 1863 at which point the width of 24 feet was established, but with no upper crossbar and anything passing between (or over) the span between the goal posts counted as a goal (the goal was effectively infinite height). In 1882 the rule setting a crossbar at 8 feet was established, which is the goal configuration we have today.

However the average height of men has increased since then which means that the goal size has decreased in relation to the size of the average footballer.

A BBC news article:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23896855
.....reported that the average height of men has risen by almost 11cm since the mid-19th century.

Data was collected on hundreds of thousands of men from 15 European countries.

For British men, the average height at age 21 rose from 167.05cm (5ft 5in) in 1871-75 to 177.37cm (5ft 10in) in 1971-75.

This is an increase of about 6%.

Therefore, to make the goals the same size relative to the size of the footballer the width should increase by about 1.5 feet and height by about half a foot.

This would inevitably result in more goals which you could argue is good for the game. Some may think you cant mess with things like this buy hey they increased the points for a win from 2 to 3 back in 1981 in England and the rest of the world followed in 1994 world cup
finals!

All true but I would factor in other elements if we are comparing to the 19th century. At that time boots would have been three times as heavy, while the ball was both heavier and vastly less responsive than a modern equivalent. Because the ball, footwear and pitches have become so much more responsive and conducive to attacking play and shooting at goal, the rise in height of the average keeper, as well as their far greater agility, has largely been cancelled out.

 

[FootballHQ]

Guest team from europe every two years, have Bayern Munich or Barcelona playing here week in week out. Send Man. City to Bundesliga.

 

[Apokalips]

I'd like to see there be a larger number of players on the bench. That would definitely increase the chances of youngsters getting games.

Teams are reticent to give young guys a bench spot when they're so limited.

 

[Nevilles.Wear.Prada]

Diving is reviewed retrospectively and given a three game ban if player deemed to have dived.

If they didn't, nothing happens. If it's 50/50, leave. Anything else is a ban, no appeals. Panel of two ex refs, two ex footballers, one other... majority vote. Panel chosen from larger pool and no links to old clubs allowed.

Hate diving.

Good call. Make that a pool of every referee in the country, footballing people one each from every club in the country. Randomly select 11 of them. Show them all the diving videos for that particular match week. Get votes separately.
Ban 3 games without appeal.
If more than 2/3rd majority fine that weeks wage.
3rd offence onwards ban 10 games.