Eight Second Rule: Aimed to Tackle ‘The Dark Arts’ in football
A football manager says the eight-second rule in the women’s game, to tackle “the dark arts”, has been a big success.
AFC Fylde Women’s boss Danny Murphy, who’s been in charge at the club for just over 12 months, is a big fan of the change, which was implemented at the start of the season.
The rule says any keeper who doesn’t get rid of the ball within eight seconds is penalised – first by giving the opposition team a corner.
If it happens again, a warning will be given, along with another corner.
If it happens a third time, a yellow card is given to the keeper, and another corner awarded to the opposition.
Murphy said: “We call it the dark arts, so learning how to cheat at times, but within the rules, and that you can kind of not get punished for what you do.
“When it gets to that latter stage of a game, and teams try to kind of waste time a little bit, it’s really stopped that, and really kept the tempo and pace a lot higher.
“It’s definitely made the game more exciting now, and people know now, and there’s a fear that if we do waste time, we’re going to give away a corner, and it could lead to a goal.”
Recently, in the WSL, Manchester United’s goalkeeper went down against Arsenal, asking for medical attention, which many people are referring to as a time-wasting tactic.
Phallon Tullis-Joyce United’s keeper, was down for a total of seven minutes, following a red card that was given to Jayde Riviere.
During that time, Marc Skinner, United’s manager, was able to talk to the rest of the team behind his hand.
With seven minutes wasted, it left fans bored and disappointed, the keeper was eventually booked for time-wasting, showing why many fans think the eight-second rule is needed to prevent this from happening.
Despite the 8-second rule not being used in the WSL yet, it has been used twice in high-profile games in the men’s Premier League by Burnley’s keeper, Martin Dúbravka, who breached it first in March.
As well as Caoimhin Kelleher, Brentford’s goalkeeper who was penalised with a corner against Liverpool after having control of the ball for 13 seconds.
And even AFC Fylde goalkeeper Pharyn Ashton adds that although it makes it trickier for her, there’s no doubt the rule change will be popular with fans.
She said: “The game’s moving a lot faster, it’s a lot more exciting, there’s more attacks happening… from a goalkeeper’s point of view, it’s not as good, you don’t get to waste as much time.
“I think for the fans it definitely makes it a bit more exciting.”
Goalkeepers in the WSL 2025/26:
- Phallon Tullis-Joyce (Manchester United)
- Daphne van Domselaar (Arsenal)
- Hannah Hampton (Chelsea)
- Khiara Keating (Manchester City)
- Ayaka Yamashita (Manchester City)
- Courtney Brosnan (Everton)
- Chiamaka Nnadozie (Brighton)
- Kinga Szemik (West Ham United)
- Lize Kop (Tottenham Hotspur)
- Janina Leitzig (Leicester City)
