In many professional sports, teams and athletes compete against the clock, and there is something dramatic about the last seconds of a game being counted down to zero. The game is over when the clock reaches 90 in soccer, which begins at zero.
However, things could be more straightforward, and in this article, we’ll explore why the soccer clock never stops ticking.
Why does the clock in soccer not stop? Because the referee and their assistants control the idling time, the clock never stops in soccer. This is added after each half as stoppage time. The referee may stop the clock in some amateur leagues to manage time more effectively.
- The Timeline of a Soccer Game
Around the world’s clock starts ticking up from the opening whistle for both professional and amateur soccer matches.
1. 45 Minutes (First Half)
2. Half-time (15-Minute Break)
3. 45 Minutes (Second Half)
A 15-minute half-time break separates two 45-minute halves of a 90-minute game. That’s the fundamental framework. However, overtime will be played in a knockout event if a champion has not been determined after 90 minutes, which lasts for 2–15 minutes, after which, dependent on the circumstances, a time-free penalty shootout might take place.
There is no option to pause the clock during such scheduled segments so players can be replaced or have injuries attended to. Instead, the clock starts counting from zero and goes up. Are those instances counted down and discarded?
In no way. They are counted and added during stoppage time, which comes at the end of each half.
- What Is Stoppage Time?
This is the total time the game clock was running, but no one was playing. The International Football Association Board (IFAB), the sport’s global governing body, has provided guidelines for game officials about what counts as stoppage time.
These include player substitutions and injuries, as was previously mentioned, as well as when disciplinary sanctions (yellow and red cards) are given when players are idling, any competition-protocol medical stoppage, interruptions on the field like stray animals or fans entering the field, and delays associated with checking and reviewing a game with VAR (more on that below.)
It is prohibited for a referee to add extra time to the end of the game to make up for less time allocated at the end of the first half because stoppage time is allotted per half in both regulation and extra time. They are tracked separately and added to the ends of the halves.
- Who Keeps Stoppage Time Records?
When timing is crucial to the game, especially at the professional level, a dedicated individual may be designated only to keep a record of the time.
Unfortunately, this is not the case, and it is the game referee’s responsibility to keep track of stoppage time and their numerous other duties throughout the play. This can be due to the referee’s latitude in deciding when and what should be included in the stoppage time total.
That might differ from what a dedicated timekeeper would record because they are probably not as close to the action as the referee is and have a different level of discretion.
The number that some referees hold up after each half is just the minimal amount of time that the assistant has calculated. However, some officials do have assistance that assists with tracking. The referee has the final say in how much time is added and when the game is declared over by blowing the whistle.
The statistical website FiveThirtyEight used a team of timekeepers to track stoppage time during the 2018 World Cup and discovered that, except for one game, it was drastically under-awarded for every game. Nevertheless, many fans may feel that the times added onto the end of halves and matches need to be more accurate and fair.
- Why Did This Happen So Often?
The fact that time management plays a significant role in many sports’ strategic play is no secret to sports enthusiasts. In other sports, the match’s most thrilling moments occur when the clock is counting down to zero. However, in soccer, neither players nor managers are permitted to control the clock, eliminating that strategy component.
The clock is simply facing the other direction instead. The winning team frequently makes up ailments and wastes time in other ways to gain an advantage. It’s a really powerful tactic that will only cease once they fix this because time never stops.
In 1891, during a game between Stoke City Football Club and Aston Villa Football Club in England, it became clear that something needed to be done to stop relying solely on the 90-minute clock. Stoke City was given a penalty kick with 90 minutes remaining and trailed 1-0. When the ball was recovered after the Aston Villa goalie kicked it off the playing field, the full 90 minutes had already passed, and Stoke City was not permitted to take their penalty kick.
We can only imagine that similar tricks and techniques were used long before this rule change. Still, we can all applaud Aston Villa for indicating that action needed to be taken because this was an egregious example of a rule change.
When there are few officials, adding minutes at the conclusion is much easier than having a referee repeatedly pause, resume, and signal to the players. This is why the clock ticks up. Since soccer is played worldwide, a streamlined system makes play much more accessible and lessens the workload on referees who oversee smaller matches.
- What Happens to VAR?
Soccer is and has always been a game that moves quickly. It’s crucial to maintain pressure, keep the ball under control, and avoid depending on technical regulations, frequently used in other sports since the clock doesn’t stop. Players and management alike are unsure when they will receive the prescribed 45 minutes per half. Soccer is not exempt from how technology transforms sports as we know them.
A Video Assistant Referee (VAR) was formally implemented in IFAB games in 2018, despite goal-line technology being used in IFAB play since 2012. Similar to the goal-line technology, it was included to lessen human mistakes. But there is a significant difference between a sensor signaling a goal right away and a referee taking their time to analyze various parts of the game on a screen. There were worries that it would undoubtedly affect the stoppage time.
Even though VAR has only been used in major competitions for a short while, there isn’t much evidence to suggest that it is impacting the games in that way, with FiveThirtyEight noting that video review made up just 0.5% of all play in the 2018 World Cup and averaged at just 31 sec. One of the biggest concerns about the VAR technology was that it would add excessive game time.
Comparing soccer to other professional sports, timekeeping may appear to be more simple overall, and in some ways, it is. However, it is a complicated timekeeping method with drawbacks and heavily depends on the referee in charge. We might observe changes in how soccer clocks are handled as the game and the global change. But for now, press “Play” to continue!
