Now about Football has been playing since 1863. It was started in a similar fashion to rugby. The game of Football then and now has been changed drastically. In more than 120+ year’s journey, football has evolved and so does the game’s rule. To adapt to the modern-day world, and make football matches more interesting FIFA introduces changes in rules. However, in the history of football, there are some Weirdest Football Rules that were nothing but a pain for the teams.
Somehow those Weirdest Football Rules cause trouble over their time period and that’s why FIFA has changed these rules. Based on that, In today’s blog, we discuss the 10 Weirdest Football Rules that exist in the history of the sport.
Weirdest Football Rules
Content Summary
In recent times, football fans see a rule that has been changed. UEFA before changing the rule of “Away Goal” Before the start of the season 2021-22 in the Champions League. The rule allows one away goal to equal two goals.
Similarly, in past, there were Weirdest Football Rules that have changed with time. These are:
10). No Corner Flags, No Game
In earlier stages of games, There was a rule suggesting that a match won’t start if there are no corner flags in place. Although, for a very long nothing happened where this rule will be applicable. However, in the 1974 world cup, this particular rule came into use. Before the match between Germany and Holland, there were no corner flags on both sides. The referee delayed the game between Germany and Holland. It turned out the staff had forgotten to put the corner flags in place on the field. Once the corner flags were in their rightful place, the game started.
9). No substitutes
Imagine a modern-day game, where top teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester City, etc are competing for every major trophy, Rotation of the squad is the key here. And without substitution, a player will only add tools to his body.
But there was a time when the substitution was not allowed during matches. Even today, during the pandemic era, Pep and Klopp have often complained about only 3 subs being allowed instead of 5. However, before 1965, not a single substitution was allowed. The team had to select a squad of 11 players only. If a player got injured, the team had to play with 10.
8). NASL Penalty shootout
Football came very late in America. Although South American teams have had leagues running for years, in the USA, the official league started in the 1990s. In approach to make the league interesting. The MLS in the earlier days tried to introduce new rules into football to make the game appealing to American fans. That included the NASL penalty shootout. NASL is a shootout in which a player will start 1v1 with the keeper from 35 yards out. It was a representation of the American football penalty.
7). Fair Catch
Imagine a team playing a match, and during the match, the players decide to catch the ball, put it back on the ground, and start the game again. Sounds weird? but that’s the rule before 1865. Until around 1865, every player was allowed to catch the ball with their hands, place it on the ground and then continue with their feet. Soon, every type of ball handling was prohibited. And during this rule, the goalkeeper’s position didn’t exist before the prohibition.
6). Golden goal:
This one reminds us of the days of street football. whoever scores first will win the match. This generally states that, when a match goes into extra time, the first team to score wins the match no matter what the clock shows. It also has the silver goal rule.
Silver goal: If team ‘A’ scores in the first half of ET, team ‘B’ will only have the remaining minutes of the first half to score.
5). No cards
Playing a game, someone attempts a foul on you but there’s no rule of giving a card. Well, what will you do? start playing again or start a fight?. There was a particular rule that suggest No cards were given in the game.
There were no cards in football until 1963. The first card was introduced during Chile vs Italy in 1963. Referee Ken Aston asked Giorgio Ferrini to leave after a hard tackled but he couldn’t understand English. Later Ken Aston came up with the idea for yellow and red cards to communicate with players.
4). Backpass is offside
Offside is the golden rule that helps the team to play fair and play in position. before this, the striker probably spends their time in the opponent’s half. just picked the ball, outrun defenders, and scored.
Before 1863, there was no offside. The Strikers were allowed to stay with the opposition goalkeeper all the time and let the other 10 pass him the ball whenever they have possession. To promote build-up play, the offside rule was introduced.
3). No Crossbar
Football indeed was played in a similar fashion to rugby. It was inspired b the rugby game. So in earlier stages, the game was played with a similar set of rules. Until the 1880s, football goalpost was similar to rugby goalpost. It was defined as ‘Two upright posts 8 yards apart with no tape, bar between them’. However, if someone is shot and goes between the bar it is considered a goal. But that didn’t work in later stages. So 20 years later, a tape was added to signify where the goal ends vertically and later a bar, the crossbar.
2). Away Goal
The rule states that an Away Goal by the team is equal to 2 Goals. this rule crushed so many hearts. Over the years, since this rule was placed, football clubs have become victims of this rule. But not anymore. UEFA has recently scratched away the away goal rule, meaning only the outright winner over both the legs will win the tie. However, earlier an away goal was rewarded as two goals to the visiting team.
1). Two Points for a Win
In modern-day football, a win in a particular manner rewards 3 points, a draw 1, and a loss not at all. However, in earlier days, The rule was two points will be awarded for a win. in case of a draw, both teams will get 1 point each. However, for teams, this makes no sense. English FA noticed that in cases of a draw, the players would just stop trying because only an extra point didn’t seem worthy of the trouble. Hence, they started awarding 3 pts for a win.