Football Review Committee (FRC) proposals

Some of the recommendations:

- Public clock to be introduced in Croke Park and all grounds used for provincial and All-Ireland series matches (similar to Ladies football)

- A 'mark' to be awarded for any clean catch of a kick-out on or beyond the 45-metre line

- Players issued with a yellow card to be replaced (substituted) for the rest of the game

- After a team receives three yellow cards, no substitution of further yellow-carded players (i.e. team will be down a player)

- Duration of all adult matches to be 70 mins (currently 60 for club games)

Don't agree with the yellow card rule, for a guy to make one reckless challenge his game would be finished.

Apart from that I'd have no problem with the other recommendations.

PDF from GAA.ie

I agree Taibi, yellow card rule is OTT IMO as some Refs can give them out like parking tickets.And it dosent have to be a reckless challenge, could be for back chat, a couple of harmless fouls etc, we have all seen them.

Sort out the tackle and you go a long way to sorting out a lot of problems. How a game can evolve without specifying exactly what constitutes a tackle is beyond me. Every ref has a different opinion on how to officiate the tackle area, what some say is a free and possible yellow others let go.
They tried it a few years ago and nobody knew what was going on, on the pitch and in the stands.

The Clock and time keeping is a bigger issue and should be prioritised over any yellow card rule.

Proposals for changes to the game;

Proposal 1: The FRC proposes that with regard to club fixture making, the CCC rather than the County Board shall have ultimate control in each county, thus mirroring the CCCC at national level.

Proposal 2: To protect the club and club players, the FRC is proposing that the existing Manager’s Charter become a formal agreement, submitted to Croke Park by 1st week in January each year, with Croke Park reserving the right to audit the agreement to ensure compliance.

Proposal 3: The FRC proposes the phased introduction of mandatory coaching qualifications, particularly for managers/coaches of adult teams at club and county level. The appropriate mandatory coaching qualification should be set by Croke Park. A reasonable time period should be allowed for implementation but by 2015 at the latest.

Proposal 4: The FRC proposes that a distinction between Accidental and Deliberate fouls be written into the Rules, with only Deliberate fouls invoking a card punishment.

Proposal 5: The FRC proposes the publication of a laypersons guide to the playing rules which aims to explain the most common rules but which would not carry legal or formal standing. This publication would incorporate any changes arising from this report. As an aid to bringing clearer understanding of playing rules to the wider audience, individual rules should be published in match programmes throughout the 2013 Championship.

Proposal 6: The FRC proposes that in the interest of improving refereeing standards at all levels the direct link that currently exists between the head of referees in each province and county and the Chair of the Referees Committee should be considerably strengthened, to work towards greater consistency on a national and local basis through communication/discussion/seminars etc.

Proposal 7: The FRC proposes full and proper enforcement by referees of the rule governing field incursions. This is absolutely essential for the good of the game and such proper enforcement would go some way to address the issue of time-wasting.

Proposal 8: The FRC proposes that a recruitment drive for referees among recently retired players be pursued with some urgency.

Proposal 9: The FRC proposes that before all club and county games, referees should go to each team dressing room to introduce themselves to the players, in the interests of building rapport and respect.

Proposal 10: The FRC proposes that:

• Players issued with a Yellow Card should be subject to mandatory substitution for the remainder of the game
  
  
• After a team has been given three Yellow Cards, any further Yellow Card will mean the player going off with no substitution
  
  
• For inter-county competitions a cumulative total of three Yellow Cards for an individual player in any one grade in the same year should lead to a two-match suspension
  
  
• To be fair to all concerned, the number of substitutes permitted should be increased from the present five to six, to coincide with the introduction of this proposed change

The above proposed changes should be introduced within the current rules and implemented
from 2014.

Proposal 11: The FRC proposes that all offences currently attracting a 13-metre sanction should attract a 30-metre sanction. The FRC also proposes that, in addition to the existing rules, if the player who commits a foul has the ball he must place the ball on the ground immediately and retreat the required distance. Failure to do so should attract a 30-metre sanction.

Proposal 12: The FRC proposes that correct tackling be promoted and emphasised as a key skill of Gaelic football within all GAA coaching manuals. Also, the FRC recommends a fuller definition of the tackle rule be introduced which will reduce misinterpretation among players, spectators and referees.

Proposed new definition of the Tackle: “The tackle is a skill by which a player may dispossess an opponent or frustrate his objective within the rules of fair play. The tackle is aimed at the ball, not the player. The tackler may use his body to confront the opponent but deliberate bodily contact (such as punching, slapping, arm holding, pushing, tripping, jersey pulling or a full frontal charge) is forbidden. The only deliberate physical contact can be a Fair Charge i.e. shoulder-to-shoulder. More than one player can tackle the player in possession.

Proposal 13: The FRC proposes the following new Advantage Rule to replace Rule 4.36 and Rule 5.35, for implementation in 2013: “When a foul is committed the referee may allow the play to continue if he considers it to be to the advantage of the offended team. He shall signal that advantage by raising an arm upright. If he deems no advantage to have occurred he may subsequently award a free for that foul, from where it occurred. The referee shall allow the advantage to run by maintaining his arm in the upright position for up to 5 seconds after the initial foul or for less time if it becomes clear that no advantage has accrued. He shall apply any relevant disciplinary action.”

Proposal 14: The FRC proposes, for implementation in 2014, that:

• The Mark should be introduced for any catch from a kick-out where the ball is caught cleanly on or past the 45 metre line.
  
  
• The referee will blow his whistle to signify the player has caught the ball cleanly and earned the Mark. The player has the option to play on immediately or if he intends to avail of the Mark he must indicate this to the referee.If he elects to take the Mark he must then kick the ball from his hands
  
  
• Once he indicates he is taking the Mark, the opposition must retreat 10 metres to allow the player space to take the kick.
  
  
• If an opposition player deliberately blocks or attempts to block the kick within 10 metres, or if an opposition player impedes the player while he is taking the kick the referee will penalise the opposition and bring the ball forward 30 metres.
  
  
• Once the player indicates he is taking the Mark the Referee will allow up to 5 seconds for the player to take the kick.
  
  
• If the player delays longer than 5 seconds the referee will cancel the Mark and throw the ball up between 2 players.
  
  
• If the player gets injured in the process of taking the Mark, and is unable to take the kick, his nearest teammate may take the kick but cannot score directly from the kick.

Proposal 15: The FRC proposes that in addition to the existing rules on picking up the ball, a clean pick-up should be permitted, subject to the player being in an upright position, with at least one foot on the ground, while making the pick-up. Implementation date: 2014.

Proposal 16: The FRC proposes the amendment of rule 3.1 to allow a point to be scored with the open hand as well as the fist, with implementation in 2013.

Proposal 17: The FRC proposes that a public time clock be introduced in Croke Park and in all grounds used for Provincial and All-Ireland series games in 2013 and rolled out thereafter as practicable. The clock should be stopped for injuries, with the clock stopped and re-started as indicated visibly by the referee and also audibly where possible (if wired up) to the official in charge of the clock. When the game time has elapsed this would be signalled by a hooter, with any ball in flight allowed to complete its journey, and if that resulted in a score, that score would stand.

Proposal 18: The FRC proposes that the duration of the adult club game be changed from 60 minutes to 70 minutes for all adult club competitions. It is believed this time period is more in keeping with the fitness level of the modern-day adult club players. Implementation date: 2014

Other areas of the game reviewed;

Consideration 1: The FRC is not recommending any limit to the number of hand-passes but as stated earlier, we believe this is one aspect of the game that should be carefully monitored

Consideration 2: The FRC concluded that it is not necessary to seek to give additional reward to long-range points because of other proposed changes to make the game more positive. The FRC had also asked in the survey whether a free kick put over the bar should attract two points. This was strongly rejected by respondents so the FRC is not recommending it.

Consideration 3: The FRC is not proposing the introduction of a tap-and-go option.

Consideration 4: The FRC is not proposing the mandatory introduction of 13-a-side games.

Spreading the word;

Recommendation: The FRC strongly recommends that the issues raised above be addressed by all the relevant parties.


Good to see them looking to address and define the tackle. Think that introducing the tap and go option might give the benefit back to an attacking team though when a lad is deliberately pulled back when through on goal, a 13 yard free and time to for the defence to get back and pack the square is hardly fair for a goal scoring chance cynically taken away.

Not sure on the idea of introducing a mark, could slow down games a good bit more, overall though only fair that a player winning possession gets a chance to play it away without being crowded out or surrounded.

The clock / timing issue is something that probably should have been copied from ladies football a while ago, would prefer the rugby approach whereby the ball needs to go dead before the game is over rather than waiting for it to land or its flight to end.

Increasing the 13 metre sanction to 30 metres would see a lot less arguing with refs but 30 metres seems a bit harsh, players mightn't be able to place the ball down and retreat immediately, surely there'd be a grey area here?

The yellow card proposal is a bit of mess, not exactly fair that one lad who makes a bad challenge misses the rest of the match and his team are down to 14.

To be honest I don't think there's a lot wrong with the game as it is. Sort out the cynical fouling, time wasting and define the tackle and you'd go a long, long way to doing pretty much all you can to improve things. It's clear that people want to change / introduce a handpass rule but how exactly would that make it a better game? As the report says; "Gaelic football is much more of a possession game than in the past. The average time for a team to hold possession of the ball is now around twenty seconds, double what it was thirty years ago. The change has been achieved through more hand-passing and a consequential reduction in long kicking."

Teams should hardly be forced to kick the ball long now should they? All that'd do is shorten the time of possession and more often than not gift the ball to the opposition. Then again you're likely to get it back within 10 seconds or so...

Proposals for the sake of proposals as far as some of these go.

Any mention of the biggest ill in Gaelic football ? The handpass ?

people giving out about the handpass drive me mad, some of the best passages of play in the gaa have involved handpassing and when done at speed can be brilliant to watch.

tomcruise wrote:

Any mention of the biggest ill in Gaelic football ? The handpass ?

Consideration 1: The FRC is not recommending any limit to the number of hand-passes but as stated earlier, we believe this is one aspect of the game that should be carefully monitored

Perhaps you should take time to actually read the proposals and recommendations or are you one of these geriatric brigade who bemoan the lack of FOOTball in FOOTball....get over it gramps, football has evolved funilly enough since the 70's.

I would have liked the handpass to allow any sort of striking action instead of the current rule which half the refs dont even understand, or half the players.

Maybe this is what tom meant?

The change to the advantage rule has great potential to improve the game imo, the mark could actually speed things up if the 5 sec rule is enforced ad now when a ball is caught the fielder is invariabley surrounded result in a free which could go either way. I don't see the yellow card system working if for no other reason than a lot of teams wouldn't have 3 subs. No need either to extend game time in club matches

I see in the cindo that the black card proposals is looking like it will be defeated at congress. Not surprised at most of the counties going against it but maybe if refs used the rules like in Mayo on sat there would be no need to introduce it.

Really hope this does not go through. It is hard enough to get refs to deal with the rules they do have without bringing this one into play. Also the blocking of a runner would see you off the field of play which is fine, but how many times have we seen the runner run into the blocker and get his free!!!
Leave it the way it is and try get refs to be consistant.

Really hope it's not blocked. Cynicism is a disaster in football right now, even Brigid's against Cross were experts at fouling far enough out of the field, blocking the runner after the pass, standing in front of the free-taker and happy to take 13 metres in order to allow defence to set and game to slow. Even this weekend Cadogan on Murphy and Sean Cavanagh towards end of Dublin match were perfect examples of the sport rewarding the team doing the fouling and not the fouled. Less likely to happen if it meant the end of a guys day. But then again, same as a couple of years back with sin bin, managers claim to care about the game yet their words are simply geared to what suits their team (not really surprising really).

Every player worth his place would have done what Cadogan done. Not just in the GAA either.

You'd think cynical play was a new thing. youtube video here of Mayo v Kildare in 1935 I was just watching. About the 55 seconds in, a Mayo lad is running for the ball and one of the Kildare players in what can only be described as an elbow come closeline, assaults him to stop the break up field. It's always happened and will continue to no matter how misty eyed McGee is or how the modern media think. Continually changing the rules on a whim or current trend is ridiculous. Enforce the current rules consistently whether it be the first or last minute.
I

Great clip Rex and your right always has and always will be cynical play of one type or other but if you took a guy out with a tackle like that now you'd get the line and rightly so. The game evolves all the time and just as the law makers or enforcers caught up with the hatchet men now they are trying to deal with the modern cynical stuff which adds nothing to the game

Fair point about the sending off. I just think with social media and the huge growth of twitter where every man and his dog has a say and uses it to continuously hammer the negatives of the game then it gets blown out of proportion and change is introduced for change sake.

The old hand passing was a bit loose too!!!! What a clothesline tackle at 55sec. WWF STUFF!!!

Rex wrote:

Every player worth his place would have done what Cadogan done. Not just in the GAA either.

You'd think cynical play was a new thing. youtube video here of Mayo v Kildare in 1935 I was just watching. About the 55 seconds in, a Mayo lad is running for the ball and one of the Kildare players in what can only be described as an elbow come closeline, assaults him to stop the break up field. It's always happened and will continue to no matter how misty eyed McGee is or how the modern media think. Continually changing the rules on a whim or current trend is ridiculous. Enforce the current rules consistently whether it be the first or last minute.

Course things are better, the pure violence has gone out of it but cynicism is now the issue. Can't agree on it being not just GAA. If Cadogan did that in soccer (and I don't mean the rugby tackle, but even the last man tackle) it would have been a penalty, probably a goal in a low-scoring sport and a red card in a sport of just 11. In basketball, it would be three free-throws for a flagrant foul, a foul against the player, a foul against the team and quite possibly an ejection of that player. Indeed I'm wondering what you mean by not just GAA either, as if it's done and caught in almost any other sport there will be punishment on the scoreboard and to the team.

However I do agree with you about things being overly negative at times. Indeed I'd maintain that the 2010 championship was the best there has ever been and I've written about how the modern game is the best we've ever had in terms of the way it is player and the number of competitive teams. But that doesn't mean we back off and say we've reached this level, let's ignore the ugly stuff. It's great now but doesn't mean it cannot be even better.

It would not have been a penalty because it was outside the box. The player may have walked depending on where the other defenders were but a goal 99% of the time would have been prevented and since it was in the last minute the game the perpetrators would still have been won even though it would have been 10 v 11
It's done in a great deal of sports and it's called professionalism. For a sports journalist I'm surprised you don't grasp that. Bodyline bowling in cricket, dodgy injuries giving uncontested scrums in rugby, black arts at the breakdown. Just because there are rules there doesn't mean a player won't sacrifice himself or herself for the team.
If I'm not mistaken the Cadogen foul resulted in a free, which led to point and he was booked. What more do you want. If Donegal where any good they would have won the game before that, they didn't.

Rugby is a sport that I'm not an expert in (granted, cue the jokes) and I'm not even sure the experts know what goes on at the breakdown and in front-rows. Bodyline is an age ago and long gone from the game, and as I say, in any other sport when there is cynicism, there is punishment in terms of a sending off or a score. That's often not the case in GAA, to the extent that if you are clever in how you foul, the team that fouls actually gets the benefit from the play, rather than the team fouled. Football is unique in that as other than a yellow card, there is no punishment while the other team is denied a goal chance or something else. As long as there is great rewards with little risk, it will continue. Thus the sin-bin a few years back was a great idea in my view as it would have a) made players think twice and b) if not there was a huge risk to the player committing the foul and a cynical act could hurt the team. It got that risk-reward balance right, as would black cards to a lesser extent.

While risking boring you to death, I don't think people really the extent of this. Last year, this was the second half of Kerry-Tyrone and how Kerry went about winning that game...

On 40 minutes, after Declan O'Sullivan kicked his third point in a fantastic attacking display, a short kickout was taken to Conor Gormley but Kieran Donaghy's attempt at a tackle was awkward, and Paul Galvin followed it up by hauling the centre-back to the ground and then hung onto him.

On 45 minutes, Donaghy's goal stretched the lead to five and in a commanding position, Kerry clearly decided to slow the game still further. From the resulting kickout, Declan O'Sullivan lazily wrapped his arms around Joe McMahon and then stayed in front of him for the free.

On 48 minutes, after James O'Donoghue pointed and Darran O'Sullivan came on, the new arrival pulled Colm Cavanagh down with another tackle that was lazy from another quick kickout. It was obvious O'Sullivan had no intention of turning over the ball and once the free was awarded, he again obstructed the kicker.

On 52 minutes, following a turnover, Joe McMahon was taken down by Darran O'Sullivan who stood in front of him for a full 11 seconds as he tried to take the free. Finally, McMahon did get to play a short pass to Mark Donnelly but Galvin, Anthony Maher and Shane Enright combined to bundle him over well outside the 45 and well outside shooting distance. From that free, as Tyrone looked for the open man in scoring range, Declan O'Sullivan was hanging out of Stephen O'Neill but the incident went unpunished.

On 54 minutes, Ryan McMenamin turned over a ball in defence and looked to break only to have his legs clipped by Colm Cooper while Donaghy was in quickly to slow play further and laughed in the faces of opposition player as he succeeded.

On 56 minutes, Brian McGuigan finally had enough. From a free out of defence he was taken down high and cynically by Declan O'Sullivan. The Kerry player complained to the referee about his arm, was hit from behind, went down easily and a minute and a red card later he was up laughing at Owen Mulligan. It was stupid from McGuigan and deserving of a red but Tyrone had finally been fouled to breaking point.

On 59 minutes, Enright dragged down Donnelly after a quick free for a square ball. In the next phase of play Maher did the same to Cavanagh. In the next phase of play Aidan O'Mahony did the same to Mulligan. There were no bookings and the ball was still short of the 45. Moments later as Stephen O'Neill went to take a lineball, the ball was kicked away by a Kerry substitute. Nothing happened but when Ryan McMenamin did the same moments later, the ball was moved forward.

On 63 minutes, there was more of the same after Cooper's point as, from a short kickout, Maher fouled, Galvin took off with the ball which led to him being shoved to the ground by Gormley.

On 68 minutes, after Kieran O'Leary's wide, Cavanagh from a short kickout was taken down, and Patrick Curtin's lunge was far more dangerous than that of McGuigan, although the player hit didn't stay down on this occasion.

Rex wrote:

It would not have been a penalty because it was outside the box. The player may have walked depending on where the other defenders were but a goal 99% of the time would have been prevented and since it was in the last minute the game the perpetrators would still have been won even though it would have been 10 v 11
It's done in a great deal of sports and it's called professionalism. For a sports journalist I'm surprised you don't grasp that. Bodyline bowling in cricket, dodgy injuries giving uncontested scrums in rugby, black arts at the breakdown. Just because there are rules there doesn't mean a player won't sacrifice himself or herself for the team.
If I'm not mistaken the Cadogen foul resulted in a free, which led to point and he was booked. What more do you want. If Donegal where any good they would have won the game before that, they didn't.

I must admit I didn't see the Cadogan incident but I think for blatant professional fouls that prevent possible goalscoring opportunities the player should get a red card instead of a yellow. Getting a yellow card towards the end of the game to prevent a goal scoring opportunity isn't really a sacrifice if you haven't been booked already.

A straight red card and the mandatory suspension that entails would be more of a sacrifice and might be more of a deterrent.

bag of white wrote:

Rex wrote:

It would not have been a penalty because it was outside the box. The player may have walked depending on where the other defenders were but a goal 99% of the time would have been prevented and since it was in the last minute the game the perpetrators would still have been won even though it would have been 10 v 11
It's done in a great deal of sports and it's called professionalism. For a sports journalist I'm surprised you don't grasp that. Bodyline bowling in cricket, dodgy injuries giving uncontested scrums in rugby, black arts at the breakdown. Just because there are rules there doesn't mean a player won't sacrifice himself or herself for the team.
If I'm not mistaken the Cadogen foul resulted in a free, which led to point and he was booked. What more do you want. If Donegal where any good they would have won the game before that, they didn't.

I must admit I didn't see the Cadogan incident but I think for blatant professional fouls that prevent possible goalscoring opportunities the player should get a red card instead of a yellow. Getting a yellow card towards the end of the game to prevent a goal scoring opportunity isn't really a sacrifice if you haven't been booked already.

A straight red card and the mandatory suspension that entails would be more of a sacrifice and might be more of a deterrent.

Can't argue with that.

I'm sorry but the Gaelic football is not unique. Every soccer game I watch a player will be booked or a foul given in midfield or in the opposition half as he prevents an attack by puling a jersey, obstructing the run or a blatant trip. The result is a goal scoring chance is prevented, the defending team can set themselves and away they go. The attacking team has been disadvantaged, attacking threat gone and they are back to square one. It happens every game multiple times. but you don't see a campaign to award a free close to goal or a penalty
Time wasting, in soccer is rampant, from ball boys keeping the ball to running the ball into corners.

Instead of using blackcards the best thing they can do is total yellow cards like in Soccer. Eventually a team will begin to lose important players for important matches and they will think twice about puling a lad back if they miss the next game. It won't stop it but it will cut the serial fouling back. 3 yellows one match ban. Another 3 two match ban.

Lastly, I would not trust any of the GAA refs to administer black cards. The can't get the yellow and red ones right at the moment, giving them another colour is a disaster waiting to happen. Even if it was brought it, managers would find a way of using ti to their advantage and to the oppositions detriment. then we'd all be back here looking to change the rules again.

Rex I agree with that and as for using it to your advantage take this for an example - Team A plays against Team B, team B have one really good forward. Team A starts a defender that maybe would not normally start the match. The defender from team A starts a tussle with the really good forward from team B this tussle ends up on the ground. I can bet 9 times out of 10 the ref will come over and show two black cards. Now team A replace the defender with the one that would have started anyway but team B have to replace the really good forward with one not so good. Who benifits in that one!!!!!
Yes you can say the ref might not give two black cards but I bet he does, how many times does he give out two yellows for the same thing now?????

Leave the rules alone and get refs to be consistant.

Agree with that Rex. The only way to deter the cynicism is more yellow cards and bans for acumulating them. The bans would have to run onto the next competive game even if its the following season. A yellow card should be given for slowing down frees plus the 30 yard penalty. I can't believe Mcgee couldnt come up with this solution, no instead just complicate things and cause more frustration and another review (I wonder was this review voluntary or a job for the lads).
Seen Joe Canning give a clare hurler a little slap on the wrist with the hurl as he tried to slow him down taking a 65 he let go very quickly, technically he should have been sent off but refs in hurling seem to be able to use common sence.

It's the rules and their application that allows what occurs. It is the nature of a professional to push the boundaries and I would expect nothing less. They had the answer a few years ago. The sin bin eradicated it all. Then, you had to decide were you willing to do the time. And guys pulled out of the third man tackle, stopped pulling jerseys. There was more space and more scores. The solution was there. Look up the averages. Right now, you don't even think about it. When it comes to the end of the game, I'd expect my man to do it - Peter Canavan on Gooch in the All-Ireland. So much is made of that. It was a no-brainer.

I'm no fan of Luis Suarez (although he's a very talented player) but the villification he got for handling the ball on the line and basically martyring himself to give Uruguay a chance to qualify for the World Cup semi-final made no sense to me at all. If it had been Robbie Keane he'd be a national hero. And if he hadn't done it against Ghana, there wouldn't have been a word about it. Gyan had a penalty kick to put Ghana through and missed. Suarez missed the World Cup semi-final. He paid a price but the team advanced. As I say, just what I'd expect.

But right now, in football especially, it's easy so lads who want to win will do what it takes.

Two words.

Sin Bin.