English Football League added time: All but two matches go beyond 100 minutes
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There were 14 minutes of added time in total in Saturday's League Two game between Stockport and Gillingham
Football fans might need to consider revising their travel arrangements and rescheduling post-match plans if the opening weekend of EFL football is anything to go by, as games are going to last longer than ever.
This first English Football League programme of 2023-24 was the first to be affected, with all 35 matches featuring at least eight additional minutes of action and several 15:00 kick-offs on Saturday finishing way after 17:00.
Match officials are being told to add on the exact time taken for certain events - like goals and substitutions - rather than the "nominal" amount they have previously used.
The second half of Stoke's 4-1 Championship win over Rotherham did not kick off until 16:13 - in part due to the fact two goals were scored by the hosts in time added on to the opening 45 minutes.
Presenter Mark Chapman even had to announce on BBC Radio 5 Live's Around the Grounds: "Sports Report has always started at 17:00 for 75 years… I have a sense that this season it will be starting at about a quarter past."
Fans at Sixfields watching Northampton against Stevenage, two teams newly promoted to League One, had to stay put for an incredible 22 minutes and 36 seconds of time added on, eight minutes in the first half and more than 14 in the second, as Borough ran out 1-0 winners.
The shortest match across the first 35 fixtures of the campaign came at the Riverside where Middlesbrough's 1-0 home defeat by Millwall in the Championship saw 'just' eight minutes and 45 seconds added on across the two halves.
The only other game that lasted less than 100 minutes was Bristol City against Preston where there was a total of nine minutes and 55 seconds extra.
Adam Idah scored a 96th-minute winner for Norwich on Saturday
Of course additional time also paves the way for additional drama. Norwich came from 1-0 down against Hull in the Championship to win 2-1 courtesy of an equaliser in the third minute of first-half stoppage time and then a 96th-minute winner.
Across the leagues, 15 goals were scored in additional time including Crysencio Summerville's 95th-minute leveller for Leeds against Cardiff on Sunday.
Outside of the EFL, Arsenal's Leandro Trossard netted an equaliser in the 101st minute against Manchester City in Sunday's Community Shield.
The measures will also be seen in the new Premier League campaign which starts with Burnley against Manchester City on Friday.
Why is it happening?
Well, in short, to try to get back closer to seeing 90 minutes of actual football.
The average amount of time the ball spent in play during the 2022-23 season drops as you go down through the leagues.
The Premier League average was 55 minutes, the Championship was three minutes fewer, League One came in at 50 minutes and League Two matches averaged just 48 minutes with the ball in play.
In an attempt to alter this trend, the game's law makers - the International Football Association Board (Ifab) - announced earlier this year that it aimed to "create fairer conditions for both teams in terms of the amount of time available in a match" and those guidelines form the basis for the EFL's initiative.
"In line with the most recent Ifab guidance, the EFL and PGMOL (Professional Game Match Official Limited) are committed to ensure a more accurate calculation of additional time alongside an improvement in the amount of time the ball is in-play from the start of the new season," the EFL said in a statement.
Along with goals and substitutions, the exact time taken to deal with injuries, penalties and red cards - both from the moment of the offence to either the whistle of the spot-kick or the player leaving the field - will also be added on.
In a further effort to limit the amount of time lost, the EFL said match officials will take a more "robust approach" to dealing with players time wasting.
Yellow cards will be issued to anyone delaying the restart of play or not retreating the necessary distance at a free-kick.
Weekend's longest EFL matches
Northampton v Stevenage - League One - 112 mins 36 secs
Shrewsbury v Cheltenham - League One - 110 mins 47 secs
Accrington v Newport - League Two - 110 mins 47 secs
Sutton United v Notts County - League Two - 110 mins 41 secs
Barnsley v Port Vale - League One - 110 mins 33 secs