1. Introduction
This report analyses different indicators regarding the fluidity in matches played since the 1st of July 2019 in a total of 37 European competitions: 30 top divisions of UEFA member associations, the five second divisions of the countries hosting the big-5 leagues, as well as the Champions League and the Europa League. The data used are sourced from our partners InStat.
The study first looks at the percentage of effective playing time, i.e. the time during which the ball was in play, in each of the 37 competitions taken into account, and then analyses in more depth the underlying reasons for stoppage time: the interruptions due to the ball going out of play, as well as resulting from fouls committed by players.
Figure 1: study sample
Matches played between 01/07/2019 and 03/03/2021
2. Effective playing time
On average, the effective playing time recorded in the 37 competitions analysed was 61.3%. The highest values were observed in Israel (66.9%), the Netherlands (65.6%) and Russia (65.4%). The effective playing time in the Champions League (64.7%) and the Europa League (62.5%) is also relatively great. The Spanish Liga (59.3%) is the only big-5 league competition with a value below the European average.
Matches in the second divisions of countries hosting the big-5 leagues, as well as in the Czech, Greek, Portuguese and Scottish top divisions are quite frequently interrupted. With an effective playing time of just 55.9%, the Spanish second division stands out as the competition among the 37 surveyed where the matches are the least fluid.
Figure 2: % of effective playing time
Matches played between 01/07/2019 and 03/03/2021
On average, a match of the competitions analysed lasts 96’14”. Referees in the Turkish top division add the most extra time: nine minutes on average. Conversely, in Slovakia, the extra time added by referees is only 4’25”. At big-5 league level, the values vary between 7’26” in the Premier League and 6’22” in Ligue 1. The extra time for the Champions League (6’12” on average) and the Europa League (6’00”) are lower compared to the major championships.
Figure 3: total match time
Matches played between 01/07/2019 and 03/03/2021
Contrary to expectations, there is no correlation between the percentage of effective playing time and the total length of matches. This result shows that level of fluidity in the game is not taken into account by referees when it comes to adding extra time. This could therefore encourage players of teams in difficulty, or having gained an advantage, to disrupt the rhythm of the game, knowing that the stoppage time will not have much influence on the amount of minutes added.
Figure 4: % of effective playing time and total match time
Matches played between 01/07/2019 and 03/03/2021
3. Ball out of play
The main reason for the game stopping is that the ball goes out of play. On average, for the 37 competitions analysed, this situation represents a little over a fifth of the total match time. In this case also, the differences between competitions are quite marked, with values varying between almost 25% in the English top division or the Scottish Premiership and less than 18% in the Israeli Ligat ha’Al or the Italian Serie A.
In the case of the ball going out of play too, the Spanish Liga (20.6%) is the only big-5 league where the percentage of stoppage time is above the average measured on a European level. The value recorded for the Champions League is, however, the fourth lowest (18.3%), while that observed in the Europa League is slightly higher (20.1%).
Figure 5: % of match time with the ball out of play
Matches played between 01/07/2019 and 03/03/2021
A statistically significant correlation was measured between the proportion of stoppage time due to the ball going out of play and the average length of passes made by teams from the 37 competitions surveyed. Logically, the more the latter have a short passing game, the less likely for the ball to go out of play.
Figure 6: % of match time with the ball out of play and average length of passes
The analysis of residuals is particularly interesting here. This allows us showing that, relative to the average length of passes, the time lost is particularly high in England, both in the Premier League and the Championship, and in Italy. This result reflects a cultural dimension according to which players from clubs in these countries tend to take their time before putting the ball back into play.
A positive correlation also exists between the proportion of stoppages due to the ball going out of play and the percentage of successful passes made by teams. In this case also, the analysis of residuals highlights, on one hand, the championships where players are not inclined to quickly put the ball back into play (England, Scotland and Italy in particular), and on the other, leagues where footballers have the opposite attitude (Austria, Russia, Israel, Belarus, Serbia).
Figure 7: % of match time with the ball out of play and % of successful passes
4. Stoppage time due to fouls
Fouls constitute the second most important reason for interrupting the game. On average, they represent 14.8% of the total match time in the 37 competitions covered in the study. The differences between championships are remarkable. Indeed, the values vary between almost one-fifth in the Greek Super League (19.0%) and slightly more than one-tenth in the Dutch Eredivisie (11.5%).
The championships of North and Western Europe are among those where time lost due to fouls is the lowest, while the championships of the South and East of the continent find themselves in the opposite situation. The Champions League (13.6%) and the Europa League (13.9%) are below the European average, as well as the English Premier League (12.5%) and the German Bundesliga (13.0%).
Figure 8: % of stoppage time due to fouls
Matches played between 01/07/2019 and 03/03/2021
Logically, the time lost and the number of fouls committed are positively correlated (r2=68%). We find thus the same geographical differences as those highlighted above. The average number of fouls per match for all the competitions analysed is around 28, with a maximum in the Serbian top division (35.6) and a minimum in the English Premier League (21.5). Differences in the refereeing style also explain these gaps.
Figure 9: average number of fouls per match
Matches played between 01/07/2019 and 03/03/2021
On average, a foul results in a stoppage time of 30.6 seconds. In this case too, the differences between competitions are important. At one extreme, the restart of the play after a foul is particularly slow in Turkey (35.1”), in Spain, as well as in England, while it is particularly rapid in the top divisions from Belarus (25.5”), Serbia, Sweden and Israel.
Figure 10: seconds lost per foul
Matches played between 01/07/2019 and 03/03/2021
5. Conclusion
A first very interesting result of this study is the absence of correlation between the effective playing time and the total length of matches. This indicates that the fluidity of the game only has a small influence on the choice of referees to add extra time. The discrepancies observed between countries are therefore more linked to national traditions than to an actual consideration of the rhythm set by players during matches.
For more uniformity, as in other sports, the question of the transition to effective playing time is relevant also in football. However, with respect to the current context where the interruptions to the game are only partially compensated, such an innovation would risk giving a further advantage to dominant teams, which also raises issues insofar as competitive balance is already a problem in many competitions.
The report also reveals that the fluidity of the game depends on geographical and cultural logics. Thus, for example, the number of fouls and time lost due to them tends to be higher in Southern and Eastern European leagues than in championships from the North and West of the continent. England is a stand-alone case as the number of fouls is particularly low, but the number of seconds lost per foul is rather high.
The Turkish Süper Lig stands out as a competition in which the time taken to restart play after a foul is the longest: 35.1” of stoppage time on average as opposed to an average of 30.6” for the 37 competitions studied as a whole. The lowest value recorded was in the Belarus top division (25.5”), while the average number of fouls varies between 35.6 in the Serbian Super League and 21.4 in the English Premier League.
The proportion of stoppage time due to fouls in comparison to the total length of matches is also very different according to the competition. It is almost one-fifth in the Greek Super League (19.0%) and just over one-tenth in the Dutch Eredivisie (11.5%). The values regarding the effective playing time oscillate, on the other hand, between 66.9% in the Israeli Ligat ha’Al and 55.9% in the Spanish Segunda División.