The Athletic FC

Hello and welcome to the Athletic FC tactics podcast.

I'm Duncan Alexander.

This week, we're discussing football's new rules,

or more accurately, football's new laws. We're going to talk some VAR, we're going to talk

throwing countdowns, and maybe have a throw around some suggestions for our own new laws.

With me are two men who love laws. They're Michael Cox. Hi, Duncan. And Mark Carey. Hello. So, last week,

the International Football Association Board, much better known as IFAB, approved a number of proposals

at his annual general meeting. The changes are set to come into force from June 1st, so before

the start of the World Cup and apply for the 2026-27 season.

Today we're going to go through some of those proposals that relate to tactics and debate

if they're any good. We should start by saying that changes to the laws are part of the very

fabric of football. From the very beginnings of football in the 19th century through to things

like the 1925 of side law change to

the 2018 change to goal kicks football is always kind of changing it's never that constant

but one thing that probably is quite constant is that people generally don't like change

Michael do you want to give a quick sort of overview of the history of the laws of football

yeah I think is in a minute yeah Yeah, I think it's in a minute.

I mean, I think it's worth pointing out that right from the outset, when the FA was formed

in the 1860s, they were very clear about shaping the rules to create a particular type of

sport.

So the first FA meetings, one of the big debates is that. shaping the rules to create a particular type of sport.

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