The first test of English football’s crackdown on the goalkeeper tactical timeout will take place on Saturday, when Tranmere Rovers host Rochdale in the Carabao Cup preliminary round. Under a trial agreed by the Football Association, Premier League, English Football League, National League and Women’s Super League, any team whose goalkeeper requires treatment must now sacrifice an outfield player for one minute after play restarts.
The measure, backed by referees’ body Pro Ref and its chief Howard Webb, is designed to stop keepers feigning injury to break up play, deliver team talks or disrupt momentum. In November, Leeds United boss Daniel Farke accused Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma of “bending the rules” after he went down at the Etihad. Donnarumma’s theatrics allowed Pep Guardiola to gather his players in the technical area – a scene that became familiar across the Premier League last season.
“English football trials rule forcing outfield player off pitch for one minute after goalkeeper injury, starting Saturday.”
Under the new rule, once a referee calls the physio on for the goalkeeper, the coach has ten seconds to nominate an outfield player to leave the pitch. That player must stay off for a full minute after the restart. If no player is chosen in time, the captain must leave instead. The governing bodies said the aim is to “ensure genuine injuries continue to receive appropriate medical attention, while removing any potential sporting advantage associated with stoppages”.
Exceptions will apply when a free-kick is awarded for a foul on the goalkeeper, when the goalkeeper and an outfield player have collided and both need treatment, or when the keeper is bleeding. The trial runs throughout the 2026-27 domestic season, with permission granted by the International Football Association Board. The Australian A-League will trial a variation in which the captain always leaves the field.
The change follows last season’s introduction of the eight-second rule, which punishes goalkeepers for holding the ball too long by awarding a corner. This season that will be joined by a five-second countdown for throw-ins and goal-kicks, and a ten-second limit for substituted players to leave the pitch – both effective from the start of the Carabao Cup on 1 August.
Whether the new measure proves as effective as the eight-second rule remains to be seen. Fifa’s use of a mistaken identity clarification during the 2026 World Cup – where Paraguay’s Miguel Almiron and Switzerland’s Breel Embolo were both booked for simulation, leading to Embolo’s red card – has already prompted Ifab to warn that the change “may not be used as such until that review is concluded”.