The BackPage Weekly | Playing the Long Game: How is Increased Additional Time Changing Football?

By Alex Harvey & Ali Humayun

The contrasting reactions to Arsenal forward Leandro Trossard’s late equaliser during his side’s Community Shield victory against Manchester City on Sunday— which was eventually settled in a penalty shootout — showcased the value of last-gasp moments in creating a sporting spectacle. Despite being a pre-season friendly, the relief at recovering the game from the jaws of defeat was evident in Arsenal’s jubilant celebrations at Wembley Stadium.

While Trossard’s deflected effort possessed an element of good fortune, Manchester City’s players and staff seemed more perturbed by another influencing factor. Namely, the 13 minutes of second-half additional time.

A rule change — which resulted in Sunday’s fixture lasting just under 106 minutes — will be enforced from this season in English football. It will see referees add on the precise amount of time that is lost between stoppages in play, as opposed to officials adding 30 seconds for pauses after goals are scored and during substitutions.

What is the reasoning, however, behind the recent rule changes resulting in extended additional time? How have players and managers reacted? And what impact will they have on broadcasters and agents?

⚽ The World Cup Experiment

The men’s World Cup last year regularly saw additional time reach double-digit minutes. FIFA, football’s world governing body, were determined to maximise the length of time the ball was in play and tackle time-wasting, so encouraged referees to add the exact time lost during stoppages. According to research from FiveThirtyEight, the 2022 World Cup’s added-time average of 11.6 minutes was a significant 59% increase over 2018.

After the additional-time trial at the 2022 World Cup, the International Football Advisory Board (IFAB) announced their decision to introduce a similar approach to domestic football from the 2023-24 season in March. 

The England FA’s chief Mark Bullingham outlined the reasons for the changes, primarily to eradicate time-wasting, saying: “There are two fundamental challenges. One is effective playing time is really variable, you can get as much as 25 minutes’ difference. So how do you reduce that? The second thing is to ensure no incentive for time-wasting.”

However, while World Cup matches regularly broke the 100-minute mark, IFAB expects the amount of stoppage time to increase this season before returning to moderate levels, when players realise there is little benefit to time wasting or extending breaks.

The first part of the prediction already appears to be ringing true. In the EFL’s opening weekend of the season, 33 out of 35 matches lasted longer than 100 minutes compared with only six last season. Conversely, the amount of time the ball was in play was also noticeably higher — 17 games had ball-in-play time of 60-plus minutes compared with just one in the opening round of fixtures last season. 

⚽ Concerns over Player Welfare 

Some players and staff have, however, voiced scepticism over the rule changes. After his side’s defeat at Wembley, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said: “What is their opinion, we have to accept it. Now the games will be 100 minutes, that’s for sure. Imagine a 4-3 and they put on 45 seconds for seven goals. Tomorrow morning at 8am we will still be here playing.”

Manchester United defender Raphael Varane instead took to social media to express his discontent: “As a player I feel very privileged to do the job I love every day but I feel these changes are damaging our game. The managers and players have shared our concerns for many years now that there are too many games, the schedule is overcrowded, and it’s at a dangerous level for players’ physical and mental wellbeing.”

How valid are such concerns around player welfare over longer games?

While it's a small sample size, match lengths did gradually decrease at the Qatar World Cup. The average added time dropped from 12 minutes in the group stages to nine minutes by the knockout rounds. This indicates the initial period of spiked game lengths could be an adjustment to the new rules. 

The recent introduction of five substitutes could also offer fringe squad players an opportunity to increase their playing time if longer matches result in greater squad rotation.

Ultimately, the World Cup offered a brief glance into the introduction of extended matches in a short cup tournament, but uncertainty remains when peering over the horizons of their impact on players in longer domestic seasons.

⚽ The Commercial Side

For broadcasters, the picture generally offers a sense of optimism. 

While prolonged matches could cause trepidation among terrestrial broadcasters — who have strict viewing times — it could also allow for more match-defining moments and help tap into football’s entertainment factor.

According to FiveThirtyEight, there is little evidence of longer matches impacting regular-time action. For example, the actual expected goals (xG) during non-stoppage time over the last three World Cups remained broadly similar. Significantly, however, in Qatar 12.6% of all goals scored — and a record 13.8% of all expected goals generated — occurred during stoppage time. 

Similarly, BBC Sport reported how the six goals and 15 cards awarded during the added time in 64 World Cup matches would equate to 35 goals and 89 cards issued over a season of Premier League football. This raises an intriguing opportunity for broadcasters as matches could offer a more exciting — albeit longer — product, with greater attention being paid to the closing stages of games. 

For agents, the latest directives could also have an impact at the negotiation table. Many players have appearance-based incentives in both club and sponsorship contracts which are contingent upon the number of minutes played. The extended match lengths, which could see players come on after 60 minutes and still play over 40 minutes, might see agents looking to take advantage of the new rules when negotiating bonus thresholds.

As the new Premier League campaign begins on Friday, the introduction of 100-minute matches appears to have come thick and fast. Yet, for all of football’s stakeholders, it may take some time to get used to.