The Maddest Failed Rule Changes in Football History

Football is a constantly evolving beast.

VAR, goal-line technology and the away goals rule have all revolutionised the game one way or another in recent times, but even some more of the game's most seemingly fundamental aspects aren't as old as you might think. For example, Did you know red and yellow cards weren't rolled out until the World Cup in 1970?

Still, not all changes have been for the better and not every idea is a winner.

Following Gordon Taylor floating the idea of shorter matches as English football plans its return from the coronavirus-enforced break, here's a reminder of some of the weirdest, wildest and simply worst rule changes (realised or just suggested) in the beautiful game's history...

Time for a Quickie?

PFA chief Gordon Taylor is a man of few words publicly, but when he does speak...

As the increasingly muddled 'Project Restart' continues, Taylor told the BBC this week that sub-45 min halves were a possibility, an idea met with near-universal derision.

EFL chairman Rick Parry meanwhile later admitted he was 'not aware' of the idea of truncated games.

Silver Bullet

Not content with the drama of the Golden Goal, UEFA went one better/worse in the early noughties, introducing a silver version between 2002 and 2004.

The Silver Goal was just like its predecessor except that instead of a next goal wins scenario, it was next goal wins...if you can make it to the end of the current half of extra-time.

The idea was to promote attacking play and nail-biting drama but still allowing the opposition a way back in, unlike the unforgiving Golden Goal.

It didn't work.

After Greece became the only team to win a tournament with Silver Goal in Euro 2004, the concept - widely slammed as unfair, overly confusing and illogical - was ditched.

On the Rebound

In 2019, it was reported that the rule-makers at the International Football Association Board (IFAB) had approved a law change that meant play would be stopped after a penalty save, thus preventing goals scored on the rebound.

While the rumours - widely reported across mainstream media outlets - turned out to be untrue, IFAB had apparently discussed the much-maligned idea before quietly dropping it back in November 2018.

Game of Four Quarters

Disgraced former FIFA president and one-man bad ideas machine Sepp Blatter (then the organisation's general secretary) apparently proposed splitting matches into four quarters rather than two halves ahead of the 1994 World Cup, in order to make the tournament more palatable to American audiences and TV networks.

Fortunately, this particular Americanisation of football did not come to fruition, with the worst idea implemented in the 1994 tournament Diana Ross' opening ceremony penalty miss.

Don't Walk the Line

Former FIFA technical director and three-time Ballon d'Or winner Marco van Basten had a number of radical ideas to shake up football, perhaps the most controversial of which was scrapping offsides altogether.

In an interview with Sport Bild about his vision back in 2017, the Dutch legend proposed putting linesmen and women everywhere out of business and making football 'resemble handball' where "nine players pack the penalty area and [the defence] is like a wall."

Seemingly unconcerned about the less than thrilling prospect of untamed, extreme goal hanging, Van Basten left his role with FIFA in 2018 with his dream unfulfilled.

Caribbean Cup Fiasco

The organisers of the 1994 Caribbean Cup decided that all matches, even those in the group stage required an outright winner, meaning extra time would be played in the event of a draw.

However, not only that but for extra spice, extra-time goals would count double...because, why not?

This combination of seemingly fairly innocuous rule variations led, on 27 January 1994, to perhaps the weirdest game of football ever played.

With Barbados needing to win by two clear goals to qualify for the next round, they conceded against Grenada to make it 2-1 with just a few minutes remaining of normal time.

With their tournament hopes in the balance, Barbados deliberately punted the ball into their own net to make it 2-2 and to take the game to mandatory extra time and a chance at a double-your-money goal.

For the last few moments of game, Barbados were then forced to defend both goals as Grenada tried to put a stop to their fiendish plan...one way or another.

Barbados eventually won 4-2 in extra time. The rules of the 1994 tournament have (shockingly) not endured.

Who Likes Short Shorts?

Another less than brilliant scheme from Blatter - who once described himself as the 'Godfather' of women's football - came back in 2004 when he suggested that female players play in 'more feminine clothes... [such as] tighter shorts... like they do in volleyball'.

Blatter's remarks led to unsurprising outrage and eye-rolling from those in the women's game and beyond.

Norwegian player Lise Klaveness said: "As footballers we have to think practically. If the crowd only wants to come and watch models then they should go and buy a copy of Playboy."

Fortunately, women's football - at an all-time popularity high following the success of the 2019 World Cup - has not followed Blatter's fashion tips.

MLS Penalties

One of the other plans Van Basten teased back in 2017 was to replace conventional penalties with 'ice hockey-style' shootouts, which would features players dribbling at the keeper from 25 metres out in a one-on-one showdown.

This idea was not an original from Van Basten, in reality, with the early years of Major League Soccer featuring run-up shootouts in the 90s before the concept was ditched in 1999.

Derided at the time, MLS penalties have taken on a cult appeal in recent times.

While Van Basten held his role, it was reported that the old shootouts could even return for the 2026 World Cup in North America.