When we developed Statzpack and started to get users from across the globe picking up our product up we started to realize that the rules of the game are interpreted differently and applied in various ways. This set of rules mainly apply to the 11 a side game at an adult level and were formed by a group called the International Football Association Board which was formed in 1886 and is made up of representatives of the English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish boards and significantly later joined by FIFA. The date of formation and the inclusion of FIFA points toward the true origin of soccer as a British sport. You can find a great historical archive of this body here.
At Statzpack, in our time we have come across many variations in rules, for example; from the use of multiple yellow cards (and no red card ever presented) in a youth league in Denmark; the stopping of the game clock in Varsity soccer in the US; the allowance for players to substituted off and then back on again, frowned upon in the UK as ‘not traditional’, but encouraged in many parts of the US, (and challenging to ensure equal playing time for players). As for us, we simply say ‘let it be’. Soccer can be played and adjusted to meet its locality and it’s probably what makes it a truly global sport.
One rule that usually gets the soccer trivia book out is at what point in a game can a referee abandon the game if there are too few players on the pitch – say due to a high number of red cards shown and/or injuries. Well the ‘rule of thumb’ in England is that there can be no fewer than 7 players on one side for a game to continue. The infamous Battle of Bramall Lane was an English league game between WBA and Sheffield United (coincidentally the first sporting club to use the name ‘United’ in their name) where United reduced themselves to just 6 players, the referee drew a halt to the game after 82 minutes, taking the score at point as the final score, 3-0 in WBA’s favour. Not a great advert for fair play or a true code of sporting behaviour, the match analysis focussing on the disciplinary car crash that occurred.
Could that spectacle be beaten? Of course! Fast forward to 2011 and Argentina and witness a game where the referee sent off every player, sub, coach and coaching assistant. More of a fight than a game.
