How the perception regarding the greatest ever and the all-time XI has changed over time
1925. A milestone year in the history of the game. Soccer would change forever. Why? It was the year that the ‘’two-player’’ offside rule was established, making soccer faster and more tactical. The offside rule would be more relaxed once more.
The innovative ‘’W’’ formation had been already introduced by pioneer manager Herbert Chapman who dominated English soccer with the teams he created from scratch: Huddersfield and Arsenal. But the system on field remained the same with two in defense, three in midfield and five in attack, an unheard-of (to a modern soccer fan) 2-3-5 formation! Soccer might have been new back then, but it was already more than six decades old.
By the beginning of the Second World War, British superiority in terms of league competitiveness and playing quality was widely accepted by experts, specialists and journalists all over the world. Especially until the First World War England and Scotland were far superior of any other national team in the world and the quality of British players was outstanding. British clubs would tour in South America every summer and produce many great, and fine players. Billy Meredith, Steve Bloomer, Nick Ross, Ernest Needham, Jimmy Crabtree, Gilbert Oswald Smith and Bobby Walker undoubtedly stood out and were often mentioned as ‘’the best of all time’’ by fans and experts even decades after their retirement.
There was one major difference in the playing style between English and Scottish players, already established in the 1900s. English players were not encouraged to show how they can wheel and waltz with the ball. No waste of time: pass and score. Over the Scottish border the exact opposite was the case, and cleverness with the ball was the keynote of the game. Scottish crowds loved to see artistic trickery which meant that Scottish youth was encouraged to dribble and wheel and toy with the ball. And the influx of the most talented Scottish players in the English game made its league the strongest –by far- in the world before the WW I.
England against continental teams
In 1909, Second division club Tottenham beat the Uruguayan League XI by 8-0! This shows the gap between the English and overseas soccer before the First World War. A year earlier England played their first ever game against a non-British national team at the FIFA Congress in Budapest. It was the 6th of June 1908 and the Three Lions beat Austria by 6-1. Two days later England thrashed Austria again, by 11-1 this time. On June 10, 1908 they demolished Hungary 7-0 in Budapest and two more easy wins followed in 1909 (4-2 and 8-2).
Nevertheless, after the World-War I, British football saw a massive decline, especially England. The perspective of the game changed. It was no longer an entertainment for the fans to witnessing the soccer artists show their masterpieces with the ball, but rather just a game with 22 players chasing the ball for one purpose: to score a goal. This had an impact on the national team. In 1923 England travelled away to France (4-1), Sweden (4-2 and 3-1) and Belgium where they had their first ever overseas draw against the ‘’Red Devils’’ (2-2).
More comfortable wins followed in the 1920s against France, Luxemburg and Belgium, but the shock came in 1929 when England lost to Ricardo Zamora’s Spain (4-3) in Madrid. It was the first team that England would be defeated by a national team other than mighty Scotland, and away from the Isles. Furthermore, English teams, fell to the point that even continental and South American teams matched their levels in friendlies, until they rose again in 1930s.
But still, experts such as Austrian legendary coach Hugo Meisl would state in December 1933 after Vienna XI was defeated by Arsenal 2-4: ‘’You beat England then you beat the King of Football. The English footballer was still the best in the world as whole’’. This was just 3 years after the first World Cup and it would take 17 for the British national teams to participate in a FIFA competitions. In the meantime and since 1883 England would play exclusively with the other three Home Nations—Scotland, Wales and Ireland—in the British Home Championship.
Welshman Billy Meredith and Scottish Bobby Walker were undoubtedly two true legends of pre-war British soccer. In 1938 they called each other ‘’the top player in history’’ via their newspaper columns. But, were they really? By 1940 and the WW II the world had seen 3 World Cups organized by FIFA, 15 Copa America tournaments, 3 Central European International Cups, 7 Balkan Cups, 13 Mitropa Cups (club competition) and 10 soccer editions of Far Eastern Championship Games and Olympic Games respectively.
The great players emerged all over the world were numerous: Raimundo Orsi, Luis Monti, Herminio Masantonio, Antonio Sastre, Manuel Seoane, Guillermo Stábile (Argentina), Pedro Petrone, Jose Leandro Andrande, José Piendibene, Angell Romano, Hector Scarone (Uruguay), Gyula Zsengellér, Gyorgy Orth, Gyorgy Sarosi (Hungary), Leonidas, Arthur Friedenreich (Brazil), Giuseppe Meazza, Valentino Mazzola, Silvio Piola (Italy), Josef Bican, Matthias Sindelar (Austria), Ernst Wilimowski (Poland), André Abegglen (Switzerland), Bert Patenaude (USA), Lee Wai Tong (China) etc.
England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland were not part of this. Just like NBA and its American basketball fans, British public would not consider overseas players good enough for decades. Instead, whoever was playing outside Britain and more particularly England would rather be considered as a lower class player. The best players of all time could only be British for them. But, how could they? On October 26, 1938, England beat the Rest of Europe by 3-0 in London! And bear in mind that the 1934 and 1938 FIFA World Cup finals featured only European teams.
Numerous all-time XIs published in Britain
Since the mid-1920s various publications in Great Britain would present articles with the best XIs of all time. More than 60 had been published by 1950. None of them (but one) included any non-British player, all consisted of mainly English and Scottish and a few Welsh players.
In 1933, H. C. Lord published an article about ‘’The best team of all nationalities since 1900‘’, but no foreign player made either the starting XI or the alternative. By 1933 someone would think that a player like Uruguayan star Andrande might have had a chance to get included, but the British did not have as much exposure to the South Americans compared to continental football. Austrians Sindelar and Hiden Spanish goalkeeper Zamora were the first foreign players to have really strong performances against the British teams, but still did not make the cut. The only overseas player highly regarded in the eyes of British seemed to be Fritz Szepan, but after 1935. T. W. Flint published his ‘’’Greatest Ever Eleven’’ in January 1937 and the German was in it! A player among the best 11 ever, but not that much respected in his own homeland. Sam Hardy; Bob Crompton, Jesse Pennington – Ben Warren, Charlie Roberts, Ernest Needham – Billy Meredith, Steve Bloomer, Gilbert Oswald Smith, Fritz Szepan (Germany), and Alan Morton comprised Flint’s XI.
‘’Ireland’s Saturday Night’’ newspaper published the following ‘’Best Ever Team’’ in a 2-3-5 formation on May 4, 1940: Elisha Scott; John Maconnachie, Jesse Pennington – Willis Edwards, Mick Hamill, Jimmy Hay – Billy Meredith, Charlie Buchan, Jimmy Quinn, Peter Doherty, Marshall McEwan. The article noted that some great players also were: Walter Scott, Billy McCracken, Bob Crompton, Collin Veitch, Charles Thomson, Billy Wedlock, Evelyn Lintott, Dickie Bond, Alex Jackson, Hogg, Stanley Matthews, David Jack, Steve Bloomer, Patsy Gallacher, Vivian Woodward, Hughie Gallacher, Alex James, Alan Morton. As you can see again, no overseas player was mentioned.
Players from the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s still named the greatest ever by several journalists and experts by 1950 were G.O. Smith, Cobbold, Charles Buchan, Hughie Gallacher and Alex James. All forgotten in the modern era of soccer.
Charlie Buchan in his 30s was compared to Hungarian legend Gyorgy Orth, World Cup winner Hector Scarone, and some of the best players in the world at the time. Yet for many fans Steve Bloomer and Bobby Walker were considered miles above him! James was named the best player of all time by Italian World Cup winner Vittorio Pozzo, the manager of Meazza, and Piola. This speaks a lot about the level of pre-War British soccer, possibly, the highest level of soccer ever presented, at the time.
Kicker’s all-time greats in 1941
Distinguished German magazine ”Kicker” published a series of all-time greats, amidst the WW II, between July and September 1941. It was compiled by former Reichstrainer Otto Nerz, who had been a soccer observer for the past 40 years. Its focus was on continental soccer, but Nerz also incorporated the most well-known South American players: those that left a mark in the three World Cups played up to that point as well as the Olympic tournaments. Nerz was a great admirer of British soccer but he did not include British players in his series. The reason? He believed the best British players would by default be ranked as the world’s best in any position and thus he left them out of the series. Reichstrainer Otto Nerz’s list (referring to Austrian players as German, as Austria was part of Germany at the time):
*Goalkeepers: Ricardo Zamora (as the greatest of all) followed by Gianpiero Combi (Italian). Others: Hans Jakob (best German), Planicka (Czechoslovakia), Karl Pekarna (Austrian, author’s favourite), Heinrich Stuhlfauth and Theodor Lohrmann (most popular Germans), Svend Jensen (Danish), Mazzali (Uruguay, greatest outside Europe)
*Right backs: Fritz Tarp (Danish) was the greatest according to Kicker. Others: Pauls Janes (best in Germany), Rudolf Ramseyer (Swiss), Foni (Italy), Minelli (Swiss), Ahmed Salem (Egyptian), Karl Burger (Austrian), Schmidt Bumbas (German), Hans Hagen (German), Karl Kurz (Austrian), Georg Knöpfle (German), Rudi Gramlich (Danish), Mock (Austrian), Franz Wagner (Austrian), Hans Hagen (German), Janno and Pitto (Italians), Sarosi (Hungary)
*Left backs: Jose Nasazzi (Uruguayan) the greatest while Károly Fogl II (Hungarian) was the best European. Others: Reinhold Münzenberg (Tarp named him as world’s best then), Quincoces (Spanish), Caligaris and Rava (Italians), Denis (Dutch), Pepi Blum (Austrian, best in Germany), Karl Burger, Luef, Gall, Geyer and Nietsch (Austrians), Schmidt Bumbas (German), Kitzinger (German), Kolenaty (Czech)
*Centre-halves: Luis Monti (Argentina, Italy) the greatest in world and Europe. Others: Hans Kalb (German), Goldbrunner (best German), Nils Middelboe (Danish), Fritz Szepan (German, would have become the best of all centre-halves), Max Breunig (German), Fernandez (Uruguay), Schmiedlin (Swiss), Sirio Vernati (Swiss), Michele Andreolo (Uruguay, Italy), Bernardini (Italy), Kada (Czech), Mock, Hoffmann and Smistik (Austrians), Rohde (German), Münzenberg (German), Ludwig Leinberger (German), Camillo Ugi (German), Sarosi and Orth (Hungary)
*Right halves: Jose Andrande (Uruguay) was the greatest and Andreas Kupfer (German) the best in Germany and Europe. Others: George Braun (Austrian), Karl Kurz (Austrian)
*Left halves: Evaristo (Brazil) as the greatest while Walter Nausch (Austrian) was the best in Germany and Europe. Others: Albin Kitzinger (German) as world class, Van Heel (Dutch), Locatelli (Italian), Gestido (Uruguay), Lazar (Hungarian)
*Inside right forwards: Giuseppe Meazza (Italian) the greatest. Others: Andreas “Resi” Franz (German), Bernd Gschweidl (Austrian, best in Germany), Wilhelm ‘Willi’ Hahnemann (Austrian), Reidar Kvammen (Norway, best Scandinavian),
*Inside left forwards: Fritz Szepan (German), the greatest. Others: Adolf “Adi” Fischera (Austrian, unsurpassed dribbler), Richard Hofmann (German, once the world’s greatest inside left)
*Outside right forwards: Ferenc Sas (Hungarian) as the greatest. Others: Ernst Lehner as the best in Germany, Karl Wondrak (Austrian), Ernst Albrecht (German), Enrico Rivolta (Italian), Jan Říha (Czechoslovakia), Karl Wegele (German), Hussak (Austrian)
*Outside left forwards: Raimundo Orsi (Argentina, Italy) as the greatest in world and Europe. Others: Emil Oberle (German), Ernst Möller (German), Vogl I, the best in Germany
*Centre-forwards: Mattias Sindelar (Austrian) as the greatest. Others: Johann “Jan” Studnicka (Austrian, legendary by 1941), Adolf Jäger (German, a great rolemodel), Otto Fritz Harder (German), Franz Binder (Austrian), Alfred Schaffer (Hungarian, referred as ”The football King”), Samitier (Spanish)
The list of the most famous footballers of all time in 1941 included 2 Germans in the world selection (and 18 received the rank of ‘world class’). The best German XI of all time (including Austrians), and also European and World selections in a 2-3-5 formation were:
*Germany I: Jakob; Janes, Blum – Kupfer, Goldbrunner, Nausch – Lehner, Gschweidl (Austria), Sindelar (Austria), Szepan, Vogl I.
*Germany II: Pekarna (Austria); Karl Rainer (Austria), Karl Sesta (Austria) – Braun (Austria), Smistik (Austria), Albin Kitzinger – Karl Zischek (Austria), Edmund Conen, Stanislaus Kobierski, Wilhelm Hahnemann (Austria)
*Germany III: Heinrich Stuhlfauth; Sigmund Haringer, Münzenberg – Karl Kurz (Austria), Hans Kalb, Nietsch (Austria) – Wegele, Harder, Jüger, Jan Studnicka (Austria), Ferdinand Wesely (Austria)
*Europe: Zamora; Tarp, Fogl II – Kupfer, Monti, Nausch – Ferenc Sas, Meazza, Sindelar, Szepan, Orsi.
*Romanic world XI (latin players): Zamora; Caligaris, Nasazzi – Andrande, Monti, Evaristo – Alfred Aston, Meazza, Piola, Pedro Regueiro, Orsi
*Rest of the world (non Europe): Mazali; Salem, Nasazzi – Andrande, Enrique Fernández, Evaristo – Scarone, Petrose, Orsi, Leonidas, Anselmo
*World: Zamora; Tarp, Nasazzi – Andrande, Monti, Evaristo – Ferenc Sas, Meazza, Sindelar, Szepan, Orsi.
Possibly, Austrian Jewish figures (Hugo Meisl and Fuchs in particular) were censored out, but also Jewish Sindelar and Monti were too big not to be included.
Turning point: Home Nations at FIFA World Cup
FIFA was founded in 1904 and launched the World Cup in 1930. Two more tournaments followed but the four British national teams did not participate. Although England became a part of FIFA in 1908, the Britsih all left the organization in 1928 over a dispute over wages to amateur players.
The 1949 British Home Championship served as qualification tournament for following year’s World Cup in Brazil. It would be the first time that a British national team would be competing in a FIFA tournament. This decision would change British public’s perception for soccer overseas drastically and for ever. Before 1950 soccer outside Britain for the local fans simply did not exist. The launch of the UEFA European Cup in 1955 and the 1966 World Cup hosted and won by England would bring British fans closer to continental and South American soccer. Real Madrid, Benfica and Inter Milan would dominate European club soccer and world-class super stars like Pele and Eusebio would appear now on British soil.
No wonder that the World all-time best XI, elected by Daily Mirror’s readers in February 1970 featured only 4 British players! The times had changed. Daily Mirror’s XI in a 3-4-3 formation was as follows: Gilmar (Bra); Djalma Santos (Bra), John Charles (Wal), Facchetti (Ita) – Dave Mackay (Sco), D. Blanchflower (N.Ire), Di Stefano (Arg), Pelé (Bra) – Garrincha (Bra), J. Greaves (Eng), Gento (Spn). Most likely those readers had never seen Stanley Matthews or Alex James.
Match of the Century and world’s new heroes
On 25 November 1953, Hungary -then the Olympic champions and on a run of 24 unbeaten games- was hosted by England at Highbury. That historic match became known as the ‘’Match of the Century’’ after Hungary surprisingly won 6–3. Nándor Hidegkuti scored a hat-trick and Ferenc Puskas a brace. England was captained by Billy Wright, while 38-year-old Stanley Matthews was a member of the squad.
The unexpected to English fans result led to the review of the training and tactics used by the England team. Furthermore, it resulted into the adoption of continental practices at international and club level in the English game. A year later, Hungary thrashed England 7-1 in Budapest, an unprecedented humiliation for The Three Lions. It was clear that the quality of English soccer had dropped dramatically. The two back-to -back defeats to Hungary demonstrated the big gap between the level of British football post-war and pre-war.
An all-time XI, called ‘’Selecao Mundial de Futebol de todos tempos’’ was published originally in the Italian newspaper ‘’Tempo’’ in 1954, with votes from 18 countries. The selection was also published in Brazilian and Chilean newspapers. The only British selected was Hapgood who had gained high prominence in international public which helped him make it into all-time XIs several decades after retiring, and wizard Stanley Matthews. The XI of 1954 in the usual 2-3-5 formation was as follows: Zamora (Spain); Nasazzi (Uruguay), Hapgood (England) – Andrande (Uruguay), Ocwirk (Austria), Čajkovski (Yugoslavia) – Mathews (England), Meazza (Italy), Di Stefano (Argentina), Puskas (Hungary), Orsi (Argentina). It was apparent that the non-British did not know or respected much Britain’s pre-war stars, with Stanley Matthews being the exception.
When Giuseppe Meazza was interviewed in 1966 he did not hesitate to give his all-time XI: Zamora; Domingos da Guia, Facchetti – Kupfer, Sarosi, Lazar – Matthews, Eusebio, Braine, Pele, Orsi. He also referred to Raymond Braine and Pele, as the best ever at one point or another, but almost certainly he would have seen or known little if anything at all of Bobby Walker, Alex James. GO Smith and the other pre-war British legends.
Placar’s and other magazines’ all-time selections
In 1981 Brazilian magazine Placar published an all-time XI in a 3-4-3 formation with the majority of the players having played post-war: Yashin; Victor Rodriguez Andrade, John Charles, Nilton Santos – Bozsik, Ocwirk; Pelé, Puskas – Matthews, Di Stefano, Best. Interestingly enough only 2 Brazilians were picked, Nilton Santos and Pelé.
Italian Federation’s all-time XI in 1988 was quite different and included many contemporary stars in an unpopular 4-2-4 formation. The starting 11 that included 2 pre-war legends was: Gordon Banks; Leandro Andrade, Bobby Moore, Beckenbauer, Nílton Santos – Cruyff, Meazza – Garrincha, Pelé, Maradona, Puskás.
A report in a Hong Kong newspaper in 1976 cited an article from a West German soccer magazine the same year naming the best players in the history of soccer and the top five picked were in the following order: Pele, Stanley Matthews, Alfredo di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas, and Lee Wai Tong.
In the 1990s the pre-war heroes were already forgotten. In 1996, French magazine Planète Foot did not include any of them. No Andrande, no Mathews, no Meazza or Scarone, but two active players instead. It was like this: Yashin – Baresi, Beckenbauer, Paolo Maldini – Cruijff, Platini, Van Basten – Gerd Müller, Pelé, Di Stéfano, Maradona.
Quite similar was Venerdi magazine’s XI a year later, in 1997: Yashin; Djalma Santos, Beckenbauer, Paolo Maldini – Cruijff, Meazza, Schiaffino – Garrincha, Pelé, Di Stéfano, Maradona. The formation used was once again an unrealistic (3-4-4) just for the purpose of it and again an active player was selected, Italian left-back Paolo Maldini, 29 at the time. But there was no pre-war player.
In 1999 when plenty of magazines would publish all-time teams and lists of the best players of the 20th Century, Dutch publication Voetbal International gave out its ‘’Best Eleven’’ in a 4-3-3 system: Yashin; Carlos Alberto, Beckenbauer, Rijkaard, Paolo Maldini – Di Stéfano, Cruijff, Maradona – Garrincha, Pelé, Gento. AC Milan’s Madldini, still active at the turn of the Century, made the cut once again.
Fifteen years later, in 2013, Brazilian newspaper ‘’O Estado de São Paulo Newspaper’’ published the following all-time XI: Yashin; Djalma Santos, Bobby Moore, Scirea, Breitner – Cruijff, Beckenbauer, Maradona – Garrincha, Pelé, Puskás. The following years it was Marca’s turn and its selection was pretty different with 2 Spanish players in it: Casillas; Paolo Maldini, Beckenbauer, Roberto Carlos – Cruijff, Zidane, Iniesta, Maradona – Romário, Ronaldo Nazario, Pelé.
Brian Glanville’s 1997 list
Veteran English journalist Brian Glanville published a ‘’Top 100 footballers’’ list in ‘’The Times’’ newspaper in 1997 with Pele picked as the best player of all time. British players whose careers were mainly pre-1940 were placed as follows: James 9, Bastin 19, Dean 25, Gallacher 27, Hapgood 30, Buchan 38, Meredith 44, Bloomer 49, Jack 52, Roberts 57, Doherty 59, Carter 62, Cullis 65, Hibbs 75, Jackson 76, Elisha Scott 84. Only Meredith, Bloomer and Roberts were from before 1914. The non-British pre-1940 footballers in his list were: Sindelar 12, Piola 24, Meazza 26, Sarosi 41, Zamora 66 and Planicka 67 and no Latin Americans.
Glanville was English, born in 1931, and supported Arsenal. He was also writing for a traditional English newspaper with English readers of a certain age, at a time when folks were looking back at events of the twentieth century they still remembered.
FIFA Century Selection and the new era
In 1998 just before the 1998 World Cup in France, FIFA published a Century Selection with the best World Team of all time, in a 4-3-3 formation: Yashin; Carlos Alberto, Bobby Moore, Beckenbauer, Nílton Santos – Cruijff, Platini, Garrincha – Pelé, Di Stéfano, Maradona. It was called the World Team of the 20th Century and was sponsored by MasterCard. The team was selected in plurality voting undertaken by a panel of 250 international sports journalists.
Prior to that FIFA announced the best players of all time for each continent: the South American, the African, the Asian/Oceanian, the Central/North American and European Teams of the 20th Century in an attempt to include players from all over the world and give a global feel to its selection. Those XIs which included 2 American players, Tab Ramos and Marcelo Balboa, and several stars who had played in NASL and also MLS, were as follows:
*Europe: Lev Yashin (Soviet Union) – Franz Beckenbauer (Germany), Bobby Moore (England), Paolo Maldini (Italy), Franco Baresi (Italy) – Johan Cruyff (Netherlands), Michel Platini (France), Bobby Charlton (England) – Eusebio da Silva Ferreira (Portugal), Ferenc Puskas (Hungary), Marco Van Basten (Netherlands).
*South America: Ubaldo Fillol (Argentina) – Daniel Passarella (Argentina), Nilton Santos (Brazil), Elias Figueroa (Chile), Carlos Alberto Torres (Brazil) – Alfredo Di Stefano (Argentina), Roberto Rivelino (Brazil), Didi (Brazil) – Pele (Brazil), Diego Maradona (Argentina), Garrincha (Brazil).
*CONCACAF: Antonio Carbajal (Mexico); Marcelo Balboa (United States), Gilberto Yearwood (Honduras), Bruce Wilson (Canada), Gustavo Pena (Mexico) – Ramon Ramirez (Mexico), Jorge Magico Gonzalez (El Salvador), Tab Ramos (United States) – Julio Cesar Dely Valdes (Panama), Hugo Sanchez (Mexico), Hernan Medford (Costa Rica).
*Africa: Thomas Nkono (Cameroon) – Ali Shehata (Egypt), Ibrahim Youssef (Egypt), Emmanuel Kunde (Cameroon), Illunga Mwepu (Zaire) – Segun Odegbami (Nigeria), Theophile Abega (Cameroon), Abedi Pele (Ghana) – Laurent Pokou (Ivory Coast), Roger Milla (Cameroon), Rabah Madjer (Algeria).
*Asia\Oceania: Chow Chee Keong (Malaysia) – Kim Ho Kon (South Korea), Masami Ihara (Japan), Soh Chi Aum (Malaysia) – Chen Chi Doi (Taiwan), Karim Bagheri (Iran), Kim Joo Sang (South Korea) – Majeed Abdullah (Saudi Arabia), Kunishige Kamamoto (Japan), Khodadad Azizi (Iran), Cha Bum Kun (South Korea).
The century was coming to an end. By 2000 various magazines had published their own century selections and lists of greatest ever players. King of soccer, Pele, would top all but one: FIFA’s internet poll. FIFA’s election by public was a voting via internet at a time that older fans did not have access or they were not familiar with new technologies. Maradona was the winner of that poll and the debate over the greatest ever would be between them two, for the decades to come.
In very recent times it is very difficult to come across an all-time XI that does not include Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. They are also considered all-time greats and much better than Pele, Maradona or Cruyff to the younger audience that never saw them.
The Ballon d’Or Dream Team published by ‘’France Football’’ magazine in 2020 had some resounding surprise-omissions and it was as follows (3-4-3 formation): Yashin; Cafu, Beckenbauer, Maldini; Xavi, Matthaus, Pele, Maradona; Messi, Ronaldo Nazario, Cristiano Ronaldo. No Puskas, no Cruyff, and most importantly no Di Stefano, once considered the best in history before Pele arrived on the world stage. As about old time legends like true leader Alex James or evergreen wizard Stanley Matthews, world soccer seems to have forgotten its first heroes for good, but hopefully not for all.
Most important Laws of the Game
1866 – The strict rugby-style offside rule is relaxed: a player is onside as long as there are three opponents between the player and the opposing goal.
1875 – Introduction of the extra-time after a tie in a final. The 1875 FA Cup Final was the first major game to feature an additional 30 minutes.
1891 – The penalty kick is introduced, for handball or foul play within 12 yards of the goal line. The umpires are replaced by linesmen. Pitch markings are introduced for the goal area, penalty area, centre spot and centre circle.
1897 – The laws specify, for the first time, the number of players on each team (11) and the duration of each match (90 minutes, unless agreed otherwise). The half-way line is introduced. The maximum length of the ground is reduced from 200 yards to 130 yards.
1901 – Goalkeepers may handle the ball for any purpose (previously the goalkeeper was permitted to handle the ball only “in defence of his goal”).
1903 – A goal may be scored directly from a free kick awarded for handball or foul play (previously all free-kicks awarded for infringements of the laws, other than penalty kicks, had been indirect). A player may be sent off for “bad or violent language to a Referee”.
1925 – The offside rule is relaxed further: a player is onside as long as there are two opponents between the player and the opponents’ goal-line (previously, three opponents had been required).
1958 – Substitutions of injured players is allowed in competitive matches for the first time, subject to national association approval.
1970 – Introduction of red and yellow cards and of the penalty shoot-out after extra time.
1988 – The number of substitutes usable in a competitive match increases to two out of a possible five (16-member squad)
1994 –As the number of potential substitute players has already increased from five to seven (18-member squad) a further substitution for an injured goalkeeper is allowed
1995 – The number of substitutes increases to three out of a possible seven (18-member squad)
1990 – A further relaxation of the offside law: a player level with the second-last opponent is considered onside (previously, such a player would have been considered offside). A player may be sent off for an offence that denies opponents a “clear goalscoring opportunity”.
2018 – Video assistant referees permitted (but not required). A fourth substitution is permitted in extra time.
2022 – Increase in standard number of substitutions from 3 to 5 and introduction of 3 “substitute windows” teams can using during regulation play to make their changes. These two changes were introduced in a trial form during the COVID-19 pandemic to enable an easier recovery and return to football for players who contracted COVID.
