Premier League Trials 3 New Anti-Timewasting Rules: What Changes in 2026-27 Season

English football is about to test three new ways to stop players running down the clock.

The International Football Association Board (IFAB), the body that writes the Laws of the Game, has approved a trial, and the Football Association confirmed it for the English game, developed jointly with Pro Ref, the Premier League, the English Football League (EFL), Women’s Super League Football and the National League.

The trial runs across the men’s and women’s professional game in England in 2026/27, spanning the Premier League, EFL, WSL, FA Cup, League Cup and Community Shield, down to National League Step 2 in the men’s pyramid. It is a trial, not a permanent change, and it applies to English competitions only, explicitly not UEFA competitions such as the Champions League.

The first and most eye-catching measure targets goalkeeper stoppages. If play halts for a goalkeeper injury, the manager must nominate an outfield player to leave the pitch immediately, and that player must stay off for a minimum of one minute after the restart.

According to a report from World Soccer Talk, the coach gets 10 seconds to name that player, if he does not, the captain must go off.

There are several exceptions: no one has to leave if the keeper was fouled and needs immediate treatment, is bleeding, collides with an outfielder who also needs attention, waves off the physio without play having stopped, or suffers a serious injury or suspected concussion requiring a full substitution.

The second measure is a five-second countdown tool for officials, used when players unfairly delay a throw-in or goal-kick. It is the same system trialed at the 2026 World Cup.

The third is simpler: a substituted player gets 10 seconds to leave the field, in effect from the first whistle of the season, at the Carabao Cup on Saturday, August 1.

Major League Soccer already leans on a countdown clock for restarts and stoppage-related delays, but the goalkeeper-injury swap is new territory, a numerical penalty for a team whose keeper goes down.

One rule not on this list: the existing eight-second limit on how long a goalkeeper can hold the ball is a separate IFAB rule, successfully implemented last season, and is not part of this trio.