How long does a senior football game last?

Play or Match?

When someone asks, what is the length of an AFL match, it can be answered in two ways. The person asking the question could be wondering how long does play go for in the game or they could want to know if they were going to a game, how long would they be there for. This would produce two totally different lengths of time. To answer these two questions we have to first look at how a game of Australia rules football is structured.

What is ‘Time On’?

While the playing time of a quarter is 20 minutes, unlike something like soccer, the clock doesn’t count up and also doesn’t just continue to run. The timekeeper will stop the clock for stoppages.

Stoppages occur frequently and for a number or reasons including goals and behinds being scored, injuries, the ball going out of bounds and the umpire call for a ball (throw) up.

This means that while a quarter will contain 20 minutes of play, in real-time it can fluctuate significantly. On average a quarter will last around 30 minutes.

Interestingly, while the timekeepers count the time down, the scoreboard at the ground will display a clock that counts up and will run continuously from the start of the quarter, so fans in the crowd won’t know how long is left in the quarter. This that will the clock counting up, any time after 20 minutes appears to be time that is added on, known as ‘Time On’.

Stoppage Time

Stoppage time, or injury time, is the time added onto the end of each half of a football game. The duration of this is at the discretion of the referee but is roughly proportional to the length of delays in the match.

The delays may be caused by injuries, general time wasting, and time lost through substitutions. While these may seem insignificant, stoppage time can allow the losing team to equalise or even win the game.

Typically, the stoppage for substitutions is 30 seconds per substitute. As each team is allowed three subs, this could be as much as 3 minutes.

Extra Time

If the score is equal after 90 minutes, in some competitions the game may go into extra time. Typically, this consists of two further 15-minute halves.

Goals scored during the added time are considered part of the final score. If the score is still equal after added time, the game moves onto a penalty shoot out. This is known officially in the Laws of the Game as “kicks from the penalty mark”.

The outcome of this shootout will determine the winner. Kicks from the penalty mark are not added to the final score of the game; instead, they are used to decide which team progresses to the next stage of the competition.

Two-Legged Ties

In some competitions, each team will have to play each other twice. Known as two-legged ties, the winner is determined by the aggregate score over the two games.

If the result is a draw, the ‘away goals rule’ is applied to determine which team wins. This means that the goals scored by each team away from their home venue is compared.

If the results are still equal after this calculation, the game will go into extra time. If it’s still a tie after extra time, the game will move onto a penalty shootout. Occasionally, a tied game may need to be replayed; however, this is exceptionally rare.

Penalties

If the score is equal after added time, the game will move onto a penalty shootout. Typically, players will take it in turns to take a shot on goal from a specific spot.

Each team takes it in turns to shoot with the only defender being the goalkeeper. The winner is determined by the largest number of successful goals after a specific number of attempts. If the score is still equal, the shootout will continue on a “goal-for-goal” basis.

In this circumstance, the teams will take shots alternatively and the one that scores a goal unmatched by their opponent is the winner. If every player has taken a shot, certain players may need to take extra shots until the tie is broken.

This process is known as “sudden death”. As soon as one team misses a shot while the other team scores, they’re out of the competition.

Fergie Time

Fergie time is a phrase used in English football. It refers to an excessive amount of time at the end of a match to allow a team more time to equalise or win the game.

The phrase is named after Sir Alex Ferguson, the previous manager of Manchester United, and the perception that during matches in which Man United were not winning, there would be excessive time added for United to score an equaliser or win the game.

Whether or not this really exists is another question, but opposing fans certainly believe it does!

In Summary

A standard football match is 90 minutes made up of two 45-minute halves. In the middle of the game, there is a 15-minute break known as ‘half-time’. There are some exceptions to this duration including youth games and games with additional time and/or penalty shootouts.

For the most part, however, a standard football game will always be 90 minutes to adhere to the FA’s official rules.

For more information on the length of a football match, visit the Laws of the Game and FA Rules page on the FA’s official website.

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