A radical new law aimed at stamping out the goalkeeper tactical timeout could be trialled in English football as soon as this weekend, with the first match set to be the Carabao Cup preliminary round tie between Tranmere Rovers and Rochdale at Prenton Park on Saturday.
The tactic — where a goalkeeper feigns injury, signals for the physio, and all other players rush to the technical area for a team talk — has become increasingly common and controversial in recent seasons. In November, Leeds United manager Daniel Farke accused Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma of feigning injury to “bend the rules” and break up play during a match at the Etihad Stadium.
“English football to trial law where outfield player must leave pitch for one minute if goalkeeper receives treatment”
“Everyone knows why he went down,” Farke said post-match. “It is within the rules. It is smart. If I like it? If it’s within the sense of fair play? … If we don’t educate our players in football what to do in terms of fair play and sportsmanship and whatever and if we just try to bend the rules and even do a fake injury in order to do an additional team talk, it is not what I like personally.”
Now English football authorities have agreed on a measure to deter the practice. Under the trial, agreed by the Football Association, Premier League, English Football League, National League and Women’s Super League, if a referee signals for the physio to treat a goalkeeper, the coach has 10 seconds to nominate an outfield player to leave the pitch for one minute, informing the fourth official of the choice. If no player is selected within that time, the captain must leave the field.
The move follows the logic applied to outfield players, who must themselves leave the pitch for one minute if the physio comes on. The trial is intended to be a proactive deterrent rather than a reactive punishment for team talks.
Permission is still needed from the International Football Association Board (Ifab), which earlier this year decided against changing the law and invited leagues to volunteer for trials. If clearance is received in time, Saturday’s tie at Prenton Park will be the first game to feature the new rule. The Australian A-League will trial a variation where the captain always has to leave the pitch.
At Ifab’s annual general meeting in February, head of referees Pierluigi Collina said finding a solution to stop the goalkeeper tactical timeout was a priority. At the 2026 World Cup, Collina told officials to prevent players from going to the technical area on all stoppages, but English football felt that measure alone would not deter coaches from using goalkeepers to break up play.
The effectiveness of the trial remains to be seen, but the message from the authorities is clear: the time for tactical timeouts is running out.