Special Congress to vote on new football rules - all you need to know

The GAA's latest tinkering with its football rules will be adjudicated on at Saturday's Special Congress at Croke Park.

The proposed rules changes were devised following a lengthy consultative process led by the chairman of the GAA's Football Review Committee, Dublin's six-time All-Ireland winning manager Jim Gavin.

Gavin's committee has come up with what appear to be significant rules changes after meeting on no less than 31 occasions in addition to talking to all the relevant stakeholders in gaelic football and also after setting up an online mechanism which allowed the GAA public to have an input.

As alluded to above, it's far from the first occasion that the GAA made moves to rewrite the rulebook but these proposed changes look far reaching given the lengthy list of alterations produced by Gavin's committee.

The rules were trialled as the Interprovincial Championship was staged for the first time since 2016 at headquarters last month.

The general feedback seemed positive although the proposed four-point goal was binned following the Interpros amid concerns that early majors could see games put to bed early.

This weekend should see the rule changes which do receive the necessary 60% support from delegates put in place for all grades of football in 2025 with a full review then taking place late next year with a view to their adoption in an updated rulebook from 1 January, 2026.

Why now?

Armagh fans, still exultant following their All-Ireland triumph, are unlikely to be overly excited by the prospect of a series of new football rules and their manager Kieran McGeeney has on numerous occasions made clear his opinion that gaelic football has never been in a better condition than it currently is.

But be that as it may, there nevertheless has been a groundswell of opinion that the safety-first option of managers pulling the majority of their players, in some cases en masse, behind the ball has severely affected the entertainment value of gaelic football in recent times.

As hurling has become the poster boy of the GAA in recent years, in contrast football has morphed into a problem child for many hitherto passionate watchers amid the preponderance of a no-risk, short-passing, possession-based game.

Anybody connected with the GAA knows people thoroughly disenchanted with the modern game, which in some cases has led them to almost give up on gaelic football, as they hark back to what they view as the purity of 'catch and kick'.

Thus we have the context of the committee's proposals which if speculation proves accurate, the majority of which are expected to receive the necessary 60% support to enact change.

The Special Congress will get underway at 10:30 GMT with proceedings expected to be wrapped by 13:00 before the GAA's Central Council meets to puts its seal on the morning's events at 14:00.

How many changes are proposed?

In a preparation at Croke Park in September, Jim Gavin spoke of "seven core enhancements" although a number of additional proposals will also be voted on this weekend.

Therefore this appears a significant body of work in comparison to the relative tinkering of previous rules changes.

What are the standout changes?

The proposed change that really catches the eye is the one that will reward long-range shooting with shots from outside a newly constituted 40-metre arc - bar converted 45s - which go over the bar being worth two points as opposed to one.

Going into this weekend, there appears to be a groundswell of opinion that this rule change may struggle to get the required 60% support, given that the four-point goal did not survive beyond the Interpros trial.

Another big one would see an end to short kickouts with goalkeepers having to go beyond the 40-metre arc.

Team-mates catching kickouts within the 40-metre arc will result in a free being awarded to the opposition at the point where the ball was gathered. Opposition players will be allowed to intercept kickouts inside the 40-metre arc and play on.

The committee's attempts to encourage attacking play has also seen it propose that teams should always have a minimum of three outfield players inside both halves. Thus managers wouldn't be able to pull everybody behind the ball when the opposition are in possession.

Gavin and his committee members have reacted to the emergence of 'fly' goalkeepers by coming up with a proposal where outfield players will only be permitted to pass to the keeper if they are both inside the large rectangle - or if the goalkeeper has advanced beyond their halfway.

Other motions

Other motions include the throw-ins being reduced to a one v one contest as opposed to the current scrap for possession by four players which quickly accumulates other personnel.

A 'solo and go' rule will also be debated which would permit a player who has been fouled between the two 20-metre lines to immediately go on a solo run as opposed to pausing for his side to take a free.

Tweaks to the current advanced mark would enable players cleanly fielding the ball inside the 20-metre line, after it has been kicked from outside the 45 to continue on in an attempt to score from play, but with the ball being brought back for the mark if no score accrues.

The thinking behind this rule is aimed at incentivising teams to kick long into the forwards in the hope of fashioning more goal opportunities.

Cutting out tactical fouling

Motions aimed at cutting out tactical fouling will also on debated.

These include preventing free-kicks being taken quickly, which if passed, will result in the offender receiving a black card in addition to the ball being moved forward a whopping 50 metres as opposed to the current 13.

Player dissent following refereeing decisions would also mean the ball being moved forward 50 metres with team captains the only personnel allowed to question refereeing decisions while protests from the dugout would result the ball being moved forward 13 metres.

The Special Congress will also debate a motion calling for the 'third man' in melees to be given an automatic black card unless they are attempting to extricate their team-mate from the dispute.

Additional motions include the introduction of a stop clock and a half-time and full-time hooter to end play, which have been in use in women's gaelic football for some time.

Delegates will also vote on whether to allow referees further discretion to play advantage as opposed to the current five-second limit while a further motion calls for the linesmen or women to now be described as line umpires amid additional powers which would allow them to alert referees to foul play.

The smart money suggests that the vast majority of the motions - and possibly indeed all of them - may get the green light but forecasting Congress votes has never been an exact science so there will be much interest in how events unfold at Croke Park.