# Are soccer rules really this silly, or is there more to this story? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 22, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soccer-rules-really-this-silly-or-is-there-more-to-this-story/318181 "2005-08-22T21:39:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soccer-rules-really-this-silly-or-is-there-more-to-this-story/318181/1 "2005-08-22T21:39:31Z")
Via Fark is this news item [With goalie at a concert, Belgian girls football team suffers 50-1 defeat](http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050822/od_afp/belgiumbelfbloffbeat_050822130002;_ylt=AtJJuP13fg0rbxKq2Hh7q2ms0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3NW1oMDRpBHNlYwM3NTc-) > [@](#): > > BRUSSELS (AFP) - A third-division provincial girls football team entered the annals of Belgian soccer on Saturday after suffering a crushing 50-1 defeat because of the absence of a single but crucial player: their music-loving goalkeeper. > > SK Berlaar’s goal was left unguarded in a match with FC Malines after its goalie opted instead to go to a rock festival, Het Laatste Nieuws reported Monday. > > “Kick-off, move upfield and in it goes. That was repeated without a halt. At half-time, it was already 27-to-0,” the Flemish newspaper said, describing how 16-year-old Charlotte Jacobs tried in vain to defend the goal in the absence of the usual goal-keeper. This seems bizarre. In most sports if there’s a critical position open someone will try to substitute. Is this not allowed in soccer? If the goalie’s missing no one else can substitute? ---
**Author:** ![deevee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@deevee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deevee)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soccer-rules-really-this-silly-or-is-there-more-to-this-story/318181/2 "2005-08-22T21:42:52Z")
I have no idea but it certainly would be more interesting to watch than the typical 3 hour nothing nothing match. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soccer-rules-really-this-silly-or-is-there-more-to-this-story/318181/3 "2005-08-22T21:47:34Z")
> [@](#): > > SK Berlaar’s goal was left unguarded > [@](#): > > 16-year-old Charlotte Jacobs tried in vain to defend the goal in the absence of the usual goal-keeper Which was it? Was the goal wide open, or did they just have an inexperienced (and ineffective) substitute goalie? ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soccer-rules-really-this-silly-or-is-there-more-to-this-story/318181/4 "2005-08-22T23:00:59Z")
You can definitely play whoever you like in goal in soccer, so I’d imagine whoever substituted just wasn’t very good, and the opposing team was excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soccer-rules-really-this-silly-or-is-there-more-to-this-story/318181/5 "2005-08-22T23:18:30Z")
Maybe the coach wanted to send the team and particularly the goalie that went to the concert a message about showing up. It sounds like he deliberately played without a goalie. > [@](#): > > SK Berlaar’s goal was left unguarded… ---
**Author:** ![rayh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@rayh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayh)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soccer-rules-really-this-silly-or-is-there-more-to-this-story/318181/6 "2005-08-22T23:22:57Z")
Sounds like they were crap. Even assuming they played 10 against 11, you can always have one of your outfield players become the goalkeeper. A situation which can occur in the professional game when a goalkeeper is sent off. If they chose to play with no player acting as goalkeeper this seems like a strange move but even under those conditions 50-1 seems to be a bit much, all you need do then is keep possesion of the ball. If they couldn’t even do that I don’t see how having a goalkeeper would have helped. I think they were just crap and if the goalkeeper was any good, she just got pissed off playing with a crap team and decided to have a fun night instead. ---
**Author:** ![Neptunian\_Slug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Neptunian\_Slug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptunian_Slug)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soccer-rules-really-this-silly-or-is-there-more-to-this-story/318181/7 "2005-08-23T00:32:38Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Via Fark is this news item > > [With goalie at a concert, Belgian girls football team suffers 50-1 defeat](http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050822/od_afp/belgiumbelfbloffbeat_050822130002;_ylt=AtJJuP13fg0rbxKq2Hh7q2ms0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3NW1oMDRpBHNlYwM3NTc-) > > This seems bizarre. In most sports if there’s a critical position open someone will try to substitute. Is this not allowed in soccer? If the goalie’s missing no one else can substitute? Anyone can play goal if the goalkeeper is out. It is not at all unusual to have a keeper ejected with no substitutions left. In that case, as rayh said, an outfield player puts on the keepers jersey and plays in goal. And they are indeed allowed to use their hands. A team in that case would play defense to hold the score and hope for a mistake by the other side. Sounds like that had one player attempting to defend the goal without using their hands. Very odd strategy, unless Lamar was right in which they were trying to send a message. Although I think utter humiliation of the players that did show is a less than effective motivational tool. Perhaps Belgians are just incredibly sadistic. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soccer-rules-really-this-silly-or-is-there-more-to-this-story/318181/8 "2005-08-23T16:31:46Z")
How bad does a team have to be to allow the opposition to score one goal when you have already put 50 past them ? 50 goals ? How is it actually possible to do this ? Just under 2 minutes a goal ? There has to be more than meets the eye on this, even the a bunch of five year olds could do better, That means a total of 52 spot kicks, even if you hoofed it out of play every time you could not lose by that much, it seems to me a very much manufactured result. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soccer-rules-really-this-silly-or-is-there-more-to-this-story/318181/9 "2005-08-23T16:35:49Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > How bad does a team have to be to allow the opposition to score one goal when you have already put 50 past them ? > > 50 goals ? How is it actually possible to do this ? > > Just under 2 minutes a goal ? > > There has to be more than meets the eye on this, even the a bunch of five year olds could do better, That means a total of 52 spot kicks, even if you hoofed it out of play every time you could not lose by that much, it seems to me a very much manufactured result. I dunno. Our high school boy’s soccer team beat another school 20-0 in the _playoffs_, and this was 11-on-11 ball with an ostensibly functional goal keeper, so 50-1 isn’t near beyond the realm of possibility. One of our plays only _tied_ the Illinois high school record with 10 of the 20 goals. It was considered in somewhat bad form to utterly humiliate an opponent in this way. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soccer-rules-really-this-silly-or-is-there-more-to-this-story/318181/10 "2005-08-23T17:15:29Z")
It says in the article that the other team let them score. The girl says something about how it was nice of them. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soccer-rules-really-this-silly-or-is-there-more-to-this-story/318181/11 "2005-08-23T17:30:17Z")
> [@E-Diddy](#): > > Sounds like that had one player attempting to defend the goal without using their hands I don’t see where you’re getting this from - this sounds like they were using a normal stand-in goalie: > [@](#): > > 16-year-old Charlotte Jacobs tried in vain to defend the goal in the absence of the usual goal-keeper Here’s what the [team’s site](http://www.sk-berlaar.be/teksten/skb_dames_en.htm) says: > [@](#): > > A group of girlfriends didn’t want to stay passiv and watch the game…So, this season, they decided to take part in a competition, in which they could compare themselves with teams, that are playing at the same level. But, if you enter in any competition, you also must participate in kind of a regional tournament, called “Beker van Antwerpen”.(Cup of Antwerp) In this tournament teams of different levels meet each other. > …On saturday … they had to cope with KV-Mechelen, a team that is much stronger and has a lot more experience. So yes, it was a hopeless mismatch - a bunch of women & girls who’d hardly played before, against a decent team. Such mismatches would easily produce a 10-0 or 20-0 result without anyone raising an eyebrow. Take it down to 10 vs 11 with no capable goalie, then 50 is not too surprising. (I also note that the Yahoo article seems to name the wrong opposition team.) ---
**Author:** ![fortytwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f9ae1b/32.png) [@fortytwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fortytwo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soccer-rules-really-this-silly-or-is-there-more-to-this-story/318181/12 "2005-08-23T17:56:04Z")
> [@deevee](#): > > I have no idea but it certainly would be more interesting to watch than the typical 3 hour nothing nothing match. I don’t know what you were watching but a game of football lasts for 90 minutes. Last season in the premiership, Manchester City played part of the game with 2 goalies on the pitch. Pearce (the manager) moved David James (his first choice goalie) upfield to support the strikers in an effort to score a goal, and took off a defender to bring on his substitute goalie. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soccer-rules-really-this-silly-or-is-there-more-to-this-story/318181/13 "2005-08-23T20:41:24Z")
Most youth league games run less than the full 90 minutes. Under 8 = 20 minute half. Under 10 = 30 Under 12 = 35 etc until you get to the older ages. Different countries vary this somewhat. Depending on how the league enforcement the the FiFa laws, it may not be this way but at least one member of a team must be designited as a goal keeper and have a dinstictive jersy from all others on the pitch. ( May be regional youth laws as to promote the prevention of just the results we are talking about. ) > [@](#): > > A match is played by two teams, each consisting of not more than eleven players, one of whom is the goalkeeper. A match may not start if either team consists of fewer than seven players. — Law 3 ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soccer-rules-really-this-silly-or-is-there-more-to-this-story/318181/14 "2005-08-23T21:00:08Z")
It doesn’t appear that this was a youth competition ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soccer-rules-really-this-silly-or-is-there-more-to-this-story/318181/15 "2005-08-23T22:29:25Z")
The biggest win/defeat in a real match was when [Arbroath](http://www.arbroathfc.co.uk/Misc/36_0_Team.htm) beat Bon Accord 36-0 in a Scottish FA Cup tie in 1885. I don’t think anyone has come anywhere near that since. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soccer-rules-really-this-silly-or-is-there-more-to-this-story/318181/16 "2005-08-23T22:40:21Z")
Don’t forget the biggest international defeat: Australia vs American Samoa, 31-0. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soccer-rules-really-this-silly-or-is-there-more-to-this-story/318181/17 "2005-08-24T03:29:57Z")
> [@](#): > > “We came back in the second half. We only took 23 goals and we even made one at the end. They let us score, that was nice,” the _ **teenager** _ said. > > “If you subtract the time needed to get the ball from the net and bring it to centre-field, we can say that the girls from Malines scored almost every minute,” she remarked. > > “Luckily, there’s no return match,” team captain Julie Lemmens said more bitterly. > > But SK Berlaar’s secretary, Jan Verbinnen, _ **was unmoved by the loss and saw a way of inverting the outcome, noting that the other team had registered 16 instead of 15 players for the match.** _ > > “If I tell the Federation, they will have lost the match 5-0 and will be eliminated from the championships,” he told the newspaper. These two items are what got my interest. See bolding above. What team would be silly enough to play without a player of anysort designited as goalie? A team REGISTERED too manny players??? This must have been one fun tourny… ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soccer-rules-really-this-silly-or-is-there-more-to-this-story/318181/18 "2005-08-24T06:45:23Z")
Registering too many players could be an easy mistake to make. Like pro golfers forgetting to sign their card, or not checking it for errors…it happens. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-soccer-rules-really-this-silly-or-is-there-more-to-this-story/318181/19 "2005-08-24T13:35:23Z")
As has been noted, a score of 50-1 requires a lot more than a non-functioning goalkeeper. In a game with two teams that are anywhere near evenly matched, it would be unusual for there to be 50 shots on goal. And even a unskilled goalkeeper would be able to stop some of them.