Gaelic Games

Key finding in experimental rules in football was a reduction in passes to goalkeepers

There were two experimental rules, drawn up by the GAA’s Standing Committee on Playing Rules, that were tested during the higher education’s Freshers Division One Football League late last year

Gaelic Stats were commissioned to compile a report on the trial rules and they collected information from 13 games between October and December. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho
Gaelic Stats were commissioned to compile a report on the trial rules and they collected information from 13 games between October and December. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho
Gordon Manning's picture
Gordon Manning
Fri Mar 08 2024 - 06:00

One of the key findings arising from the experimental rules trialled in third-level football late last year was a significant reduction in the number of passes back to goalkeepers.

There was an average of 6.6 passes per game to the goalkeeper during the trial fixtures, compared to an average of 23 passes per game in last year’s All-Ireland senior football championship.

There were two experimental rules, drawn up by the GAA’s Standing Committee on Playing Rules (SCPR), that were tested during the higher education’s Freshers Division One Football League late last year.

  1. A kickout had to travel beyond the near 45-metre line before it could be played by another player on the defending team. Penalty – A throw-in on the defender’s 20-metre line in front of the scoring space.
  2. Free kicks, sideline kicks and marks taken between the two 20-metre lines could not be played backward. Penalty – A throw-in from where the foul occurred.

Gaelic Stats, one of the foremost sports data companies analysing Gaelic games, were commissioned to compile a report on the trial rules and they collected information from 13 games between October and December.

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Over those 13 college matches, a total of 86 passes to the goalkeeper were recorded – an average of 6.6 per match.

The number of passes played back to the goalkeeper at intercounty level has increased in recent seasons. The average for the 2022 All-Ireland SFC was 12.5 per game but that shot up to 23.1 per game in last year’s championship.

There is no doubt the trial rule prohibiting frees, sidelines and marks between the two 20-metre lines from going backward had an impact on the prevalence of passes to the goalkeeper during college matches.

Also, at that stage of the third level season players on Freshers teams would still largely be getting to know each other while management set-ups wouldn’t have had sufficient time to hone game plans revolving around roaming goalkeepers acting as a plus one.

And there is a further caveat with the overall report in the fact comparing Freshers football and the senior intercounty game clearly has its limitations. Apart from everything else, college fixtures are 60 minutes in length compared to 70 minutes for senior intercounty matches.

But as there are no relevant statistics on Freshers football, Gaelic Stats used information from their intercounty database of 619 games between 2011-2023 for comparison.

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In relation to the kickout experiment, 97 per cent of all 508 restarts went beyond the 45-metre line – as required by the trial rule.

But it is in the bones of the 17 kickouts that failed to travel outside the 45 where a problem with the well-intentioned rule materialised.

Due to strong persistent wind during the Ulster University and Queens University game at Jordanstown in October, the referee removed the requirement for kickouts to travel beyond the 45-metre line. Subsequently, nine short kickouts that landed inside the 45 were won by the team taking the kickout – which under the overarching trial should not have been permitted. Those nine kickouts are included in the total of 17 that failed to travel beyond the 45.

Still, 97 per cent of kickouts did go beyond the 45. In terms of comparison, during the 2023 All-Ireland senior football championship some 51 per cent of kickouts landed inside the 45-metre line.

In the 2023 All-Ireland SFC, just 36 per cent of kickouts were contested

Of the 508 kickouts in the 13 Freshers games analysed, 58 per cent of restarts were won by the team taking the kickout. During the 2023 All-Ireland SFC, 81 per cent of kickouts were successfully won by the goalkeeper’s team – with the prevalence of short restarts acting as a significant factor in that rate of ball retention.

Because of the requirement for longer kickouts in the trial games, there was an increase in battles for possession in the middle third, with 72 per cent of restarts contested. In the 2023 All-Ireland SFC, just 36 per cent of kickouts were contested.

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The report also shows the most common number of defenders the team in possession kept inside the 45 for their kickouts was two (for 36 per cent of all kickouts). But for the attacking team they mostly deployed just one forward (for 42 per cent of kickouts) inside the opposition 45, and occasionally even none (for 27 per cent of kickouts), as their players were sent further out the field to add extra manpower at the breaks from contested restarts.

Due in no small part again to the rule on the ball not being allowed to travel backward from frees, sidelines and marks between the two 20-metre lines, 84 per cent of all 1,383 kick passes examined during the trial games went forward. In the 2023 All-Ireland SFC, 65 per cent of kick passes went forward.

Just as is the case with the report on the hurling rules that were also trialled late last year, the analysis of the football experiment is now with Central Council. They will decide whether any of the rules warrant further trialling, but GAA president Jarlath Burns has also set up a new Football Review Committee, which will be chaired by Jim Gavin.