Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
The EFL (English Football League) have announced that they are to trial the ABBA format of penalties in all of their competition this seasons. Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 40 years or so you will now that shoot outs are carried out in an A, B format.
Meaning that quite simply after a coin toss one team takes a penalty which is then followed by the second one, but the notion is that there is too much pressure on the team going second with the advantage believed to always be with “Team A”
But that is all to change with the new format as the new system sees team A followed by team B – before team B goes again. Team A would then get two successive penalties, a little like the tie-break in tennis, and so on until there is a winner.
In a statement, EFL chief executive Shaun Harvey said: “We welcome innovation at the EFL and I am pleased to see that the EFL is able to play its part in an important development for football.
“IFAB have identified a theory that the current arrangements for penalty kicks potentially provide an unfair advantage to the team taking the first kick so we are keen to see if the new system has an impact on one of the most discussed issues in football.
“We all want football matches to be decided in a fair and consistent manner and I am sure the new system will add an interesting dynamic to the conclusion of matches in our competitions if required.”
It will be implemented in all ties in the Carabao Cup, Checkatrade Trophy and EFL play-offs. With the first potential viewing of this change in penalty format being as early as next week the League Cup kicks off under it’s new sponsorship guise.
