Strange rules in the GAA - past or present

[blanketattack]

When a free off the hands came in first, if you hopped or soloed the ball while waiting to take the free it was a hopball, even if you were waiting a few minutes while an injured player received treatment.
Also, only the player fouled could take the free of their hands, if anyone else took the free they had to take it off the ground. Again a hopball if they took it off their hands by mistake.
For 45s it was the luck of the draw ofor whether you had a ref that allowed 45s off your hands or off the ground. Again, it was a hopball if you took a 45 off your hands with a ref who only allowed it off the ground.
It was a confusing time all round and hopballs were the order of the day. A dozen or more hopballs in a game was quite common.

[This Years Model]

Yeah, the free out of the hand had shaky beginnings alright! While it is a joy to watch a good free-taker off the ground (like Mickey Newman), the free out of the hand is still a good skill. Watching Sean McCormack in Longford on Saturday night, that man has developed the skill into an art form ...

This one though must be the least well known of all the Football rules. I had a huge argument with a Galway man in a pub while watching a match, trying to convince him it was legitimate to do this:

1.2 When the ball is on the ground, it may be played by any part of the body except the
hand(s). It may be lifted off the ground with the feet.
Exceptions
(i) The goalkeeper may play the ball on the ground with his hand(s) inside his own small rectangle.
(ii) Any player who falls or is knocked to the ground while in possession of the ball may
fist or palm the ball away on the ground, and may score by so doing.
(iii) The ball may not be lifted off the ground with the knees.

[macdanger2]

Yeah, the free out of the hand had shaky beginnings alright! While it is a joy to watch a good free-taker off the ground (like Mickey Newman), the free out of the hand is still a good skill. Watching Sean McCormack in Longford on Saturday night, that man has developed the skill into an art form ...

This one though must be the least well known of all the Football rules. I had a huge argument with a Galway man in a pub while watching a match, trying to convince him it was legitimate to do this:

1.2 When the ball is on the ground, it may be played by any part of the body except the
hand(s). It may be lifted off the ground with the feet.
Exceptions
(i) The goalkeeper may play the ball on the ground with his hand(s) inside his own small rectangle.
(ii) Any player who falls or is knocked to the ground while in possession of the ball may
fist or palm the ball away on the ground, and may score by so doing.
(iii) The ball may not be lifted off the ground with the knees.

Never knew that, you'll often see players being penalised for that.

The piece about scoring like that must hark back to when you could fist the ball into the goal? (cue Joe Sheridan reference)

[deiseach]

The early years of the Association are like a foreign country. While researching the results in Waterford GAA I found out that the earliest recorded county final is exactly that - earliest recorded. There probably was an earlier one, but it wasn't written about at the time or the reports were lost so it might as well have never happened. With that in mind, does anyone have any insight into the pattern of games when a goal trumped any amount of points which in in turn trumped any amount of forfeit points (a 45/65)? Sounds like a game of Quidditch. What was the, uh, point of going for a point?

[Rossfan]

 Points decided if the teams had the same amount of goals.
Also the goal was a bit like the Shinty goal with two side posts as in Aus rules so a point was over,right or left of the goal !!

[theticklemister]

Yeah, the free out of the hand had shaky beginnings alright! While it is a joy to watch a good free-taker off the ground (like Mickey Newman), the free out of the hand is still a good skill. Watching Sean McCormack in Longford on Saturday night, that man has developed the skill into an art form ...

This one though must be the least well known of all the Football rules. I had a huge argument with a Galway man in a pub while watching a match, trying to convince him it was legitimate to do this:

1.2 When the ball is on the ground, it may be played by any part of the body except the
hand(s). It may be lifted off the ground with the feet.
Exceptions
(i) The goalkeeper may play the ball on the ground with his hand(s) inside his own small rectangle.
(ii) Any player who falls or is knocked to the ground while in possession of the ball may
fist or palm the ball away on the ground, and may score by so doing.
(iii) The ball may not be lifted off the ground with the knees.

Never knew that, you'll often see players being penalised for that.

The piece about scoring like that must hark back to when you could fist the ball into the goal? (cue Joe Sheridan reference)

I have heard of that. I thought however in recent years it was got rid of. Every ref in the country blows that a foul.

[deiseach]

Points decided if the teams had the same amount of goals.
Also the goal was a bit like the Shinty goal with two side posts as in Aus rules so a point was over,right or left of the goal !!

I get that. The question is - why would you ever bother going for a point? I'm sure you would have done, the scores are there. I just find it hard to picture the flow of a game where everyone - didn't teams originally have 21 players? - was going for goal but points were still possible. Did teams start firing over the points in the last few minutes when they realised the goal wasn't going to come?

[From the Bunker]

Points decided if the teams had the same amount of goals.
Also the goal was a bit like the Shinty goal with two side posts as in Aus rules so a point was over,right or left of the goal !!

I get that. The question is - why would you ever bother going for a point? I'm sure you would have done, the scores are there. I just find it hard to picture the flow of a game where everyone - didn't teams originally have 21 players? - was going for goal but points were still possible. Did teams start firing over the points in the last few minutes when they realised the goal wasn't going to come?

Gaelic footballs roots are from association football (Soccer). So Goals were what it was all about. A goal out weighed any amount of points. This was later diluted to 5 points (I Think!) for a goal and then down to three. If you look at very early clips of GAA. The game more resembles Soccer, with the hands used just to knock the ball to the ground so you could hoof it!

[jodyb]

Yeah, the free out of the hand had shaky beginnings alright! While it is a joy to watch a good free-taker off the ground (like Mickey Newman), the free out of the hand is still a good skill. Watching Sean McCormack in Longford on Saturday night, that man has developed the skill into an art form ...

This one though must be the least well known of all the Football rules. I had a huge argument with a Galway man in a pub while watching a match, trying to convince him it was legitimate to do this:

1.2 When the ball is on the ground, it may be played by any part of the body except the
hand(s). It may be lifted off the ground with the feet.
Exceptions
(i) The goalkeeper may play the ball on the ground with his hand(s) inside his own small rectangle.
(ii) Any player who falls or is knocked to the ground while in possession of the ball may
fist or palm the ball away on the ground, and may score by so doing.
(iii) The ball may not be lifted off the ground with the knees.

Never knew that, you'll often see players being penalised for that.

The piece about scoring like that must hark back to when you could fist the ball into the goal? (cue Joe Sheridan reference)

I have heard of that. I thought however in recent years it was got rid of. Every ref in the country blows that a foul.

Not gone AFAIK tickle. Checked the book bout 18 months ago an its still there. Another one of the rules that our refs dont even know. Cracks me up

[jodyb]

Yeah. Just checked again. Still in the official rules 2013, pasted exactly as quoted by This Years Model (Rule 1.2, exception ii)
'1.2   When the ball is on the ground, it may be
played by any part of the body except the
hand(s). It may be lifted off the ground with the
feet.
Exceptions
(i)  The goalkeeper may play the ball on the
ground with his hand(s) inside his own
small rectangle.
   (ii)  Any player who falls or is knocked to the
ground while in possession of the ball may
fist or palm the ball away on the ground,
and may score by so doing.
   (iii)  The ball may not be lifted off the ground
with the knees.'

[jodyb]

Yeah, the free out of the hand had shaky beginnings alright! While it is a joy to watch a good free-taker off the ground (like Mickey Newman), the free out of the hand is still a good skill. Watching Sean McCormack in Longford on Saturday night, that man has developed the skill into an art form ...

This one though must be the least well known of all the Football rules. I had a huge argument with a Galway man in a pub while watching a match, trying to convince him it was legitimate to do this:

1.2 When the ball is on the ground, it may be played by any part of the body except the
hand(s). It may be lifted off the ground with the feet.
Exceptions
(i) The goalkeeper may play the ball on the ground with his hand(s) inside his own small rectangle.
(ii) Any player who falls or is knocked to the ground while in possession of the ball may
fist or palm the ball away on the ground, and may score by so doing.
(iii) The ball may not be lifted off the ground with the knees.

Never knew that, you'll often see players being penalised for that.

The piece about scoring like that must hark back to when you could fist the ball into the goal? (cue Joe Sheridan reference)

Sheridan didn't knock the ball along the ground into the net, he dived across the line a la Brian O' Driscoll and then threw the ball 

[Hardy]

Sheridan's goal shouldn't have stood on two separate counts...

1. He carried the ball in possession over the goal line in his hands. This isn't a valid score and is a free out to the opposition.
2. Even if he hadn't taken the ball over the line and assuming that he hadn't done so, he failed to effectively play the ball away when he released it therefore deemed to still be in possession. Sheridan made an attempt to kick the ball whilst on the ground, into the net but failed to connect with the ball completely (again hypothetically, before going over the line). Had he made a striking connection with the ball with his foot* before all of the ball crossed the line, the goal would count as at the moment of the ball being struck he would have been deemed to have played the ball away from himself - again emphasising that we're assuming that it hasn't already crossed the line.

* Indeed it wouldn't have had to strike the foot, any part of the leg below the knee would have been fine. However it it was struck off the knee or the thigh I would not be so sure, while on a solo run the toe-tap states that the ball must be dropped down towards the toe and you can't use your knee or thigh, there's isn't such clarity about playing the ball away with such a part of a players leg. I would make the call that as long as the attacking player connected with an attempt to strike the ball the goal would stand, but some refs might not.

That's the nearest to a correct statement of what happened that I've seen, Fionntamhnac. I suggest a slight modification - Joe didn't carry the ball across the line in the sense of running across the line in possession. (Nor, of course, did he dive across the line, as the great unwashed have it.) He fell across the line as the result of a foul by the Louth No. 10, who hand tripped him. The goalkeeper then sat on him momentarily, but that's neither here nor there.

In the meantime, the referee blew for a penalty for the foul, but nobody seemed to hear the whistle. When the ref saw the ball was over the line, he erroneously cancelled the penalty and awarded the goal.

The other myth favoured by the hygienically challenged is that he "threw the ball into the net". What really happened was that when the goalkeeper got off Joe, he found himself in possession of the ball lying on his back and decided to try to kick it into the net, not knowing he was already over the line. Normally, to kick the ball, you drop it onto your foot. If you drop the ball while lying on your back it falls, not on your foot, but on your chest. Joe knows his physics and so tried to throw the ball onto his foot, while swinging his leg in a kicking motion. He missed his foot completely, of course, due to lack of practice in this rarely required skill. (We're quick learners, though, and visit any under-ten training session on a Saturday morning these days and you'll see little lads practising shooting from the 13-metre line from the prone position.)

Just for the record, like.

Interesting post about the old rules, but I have to dispute the suggestion that the throw-in restart after goals was around in the seventies. Definitely not - nor even the sixties.

[jodyb]

Sheridan's goal shouldn't have stood on two separate counts...

1. He carried the ball in possession over the goal line in his hands. This isn't a valid score and is a free out to the opposition.
2. Even if he hadn't taken the ball over the line and assuming that he hadn't done so, he failed to effectively play the ball away when he released it therefore deemed to still be in possession. Sheridan made an attempt to kick the ball whilst on the ground, into the net but failed to connect with the ball completely (again hypothetically, before going over the line). Had he made a striking connection with the ball with his foot* before all of the ball crossed the line, the goal would count as at the moment of the ball being struck he would have been deemed to have played the ball away from himself - again emphasising that we're assuming that it hasn't already crossed the line.

* Indeed it wouldn't have had to strike the foot, any part of the leg below the knee would have been fine. However it it was struck off the knee or the thigh I would not be so sure, while on a solo run the toe-tap states that the ball must be dropped down towards the toe and you can't use your knee or thigh, there's isn't such clarity about playing the ball away with such a part of a players leg. I would make the call that as long as the attacking player connected with an attempt to strike the ball the goal would stand, but some refs might not.

That's the nearest to a correct statement of what happened that I've seen, Fionntamhnac. I suggest a slight modification - Joe didn't carry the ball across the line in the sense of running across the line in possession. (Nor, of course, did he dive across the line, as the great unwashed have it.) He fell across the line as the result of a foul by the Louth No. 10, who hand tripped him. The goalkeeper then sat on him momentarily, but that's neither here nor there.

In the meantime, the referee blew for a penalty for the foul, but nobody seemed to hear the whistle. When the ref saw the ball was over the line, he erroneously cancelled the penalty and awarded the goal.

The other myth favoured by the hygienically challenged is that he "threw the ball into the net". What really happened was that when the goalkeeper got off Joe, he found himself in possession of the ball lying on his back and decided to try to kick it into the net, not knowing he was already over the line. Normally, to kick the ball, you drop it onto your foot. If you drop the ball while lying on your back it falls, not on your foot, but on your chest. Joe knows his physics and so tried to throw the ball onto his foot, while swinging his leg in a kicking motion. He missed his foot completely, of course, due to lack of practice in this rarely required skill. (We're quick learners, though, and visit any under-ten training session on a Saturday morning these days and you'll see little lads practising shooting from the 13-metre line from the prone position.)

Just for the record, like.

Interesting post about the old rules, but I have to dispute the suggestion that the throw-in restart after goals was around in the seventies. Definitely not - nor even the sixties.

Fouled, and then sat on by the keeper, my hole Hardy(pardon the pun - or whatever that qualifies as), He and every man around him was scrambling and rolling and there wasn't an intentional foul committed except the blatant cheating move that Joe himself made. You can revisionise til you're ninety, but the facts are clearly shown on the clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxq6SofU_38

[ONeill]

Is "showing the ball" still penalised? I remember being blown for that in Cabragh in the early 80s.

[theticklemister]

Is "showing the ball" still penalised? I remember being blown for that in Cabragh in the early 80s.

Yeah seen it called a few times. Still laugh at club matches when all the oul boys shout "He's showing the ball ref" and all the young boys look around say "what the fcuk are them oul boys shouting about!" lol

What about picking the ball up when it is rolling; "ffs ref it was rolling."lol