Golden goal

The golden goal is a method used in association football, ice hockey and field hockey to decide the winner of games in elimination matches which end in a draw after the end of regulation time. It is a type of sudden death. Golden goal rules allow the team that scores the first goal during extra time to be declared the winner. The game finishes when a golden goal is scored. Introduced formally in 1992, though with some history before that, the rule was abandoned from the majority of FIFA authorized games in 2004. The similar silver goal supplemented the golden goal between 2002 and 2004.

The golden goal is still used at the Beach Soccer World Cup, in NCAA matches and by FIH sanctioned field hockey games. A related concept is used in National Rugby League games. A similar golden goal rule is also used in all National Hockey League (NHL) overtime games (followed by a shootout if needed, in the regular season and preseason), however the term 'golden goal' is not used. A golden goal rule is also present in the National Football League, although again, the term itself is not used.

Historical context

The first recorded use of the golden goal rule was during the final of the Cromwell Cup, the world's second ever football competition, at Bramall Lane, Sheffield in 1868, although the term golden goal was not used. The deciding goal was scored by the then newly formed team called The Wednesday, now known as Sheffield Wednesday. The golden goal was introduced due to perceived failings of other means of resolving a draw (tie) in round robin or knock-out tournaments where a winner is required. In particular, extra time periods can be tense and unentertaining as sides are too tired and nervous to attack, preferring to defend and play for penalties; whilst penalty shootouts are often described as based upon luck, and non-representative of football. The Golden Goal's public origins can be traced to a letter published in the Times newspaper in London on 16 April 1992 , and FIFA introduced the golden goal rule in 1993. It was hoped that the golden goal would produce more attacking play during extra-time, and would reduce the number of penalty shootouts.

Rules

Association Football

Following a draw, two fifteen-minute halves of extra time are played. If any team scores a goal during extra time, that team becomes the winner and the game ends at once. The winning goal is known as the "golden goal." If there are no goals after both periods of extra time, a penalty shootout decides the game. If the teams are still tied after a penalty shootout then the game goes to sudden-death penalties, where each team takes one penalty each, until only one team scores, resulting in that team winning the game.

Field hockey

International field hockey tournaments such as the Hockey World Cup and Champions Trophy use golden goals to decide the winners of elimination matches. During these matches, golden goal extra time of 7½ minutes per half is played and if no golden goals are scored after both periods of extra time, a penalty stroke competition decides the game.

Ice hockey

The golden goal rule comes into use at the end of regulation of every regular season National Hockey League game where the score is tied. Five minutes of four-on-four sudden death overtime are played, with the first goal winning the game. Despite the fact that this is exactly how the golden goal rule usually works, this term is not used. If, however, neither team scores after this period, a shootout determines the winner. There is no shootout during the NHL playoff games, as multiple 20-minute OT periods of five-on-five hockey are played, with whomever scoring winning it.

The Winter Olympics ice hockey tournament uses the golden goal rule only in the gold medal game, with a full 20 minutes of overtime. The game ends if a goal is scored; however, if no goals are scored, a penalty shootout will determine the winner. This method was used to determine the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics men's final, where Sidney Crosby scored the game winning goal. As this goal won Canada the Gold Medal, it has become known as "The Golden Goal."

American football

The National Football League introduced sudden death during the regular season in the NFL in 1974 and had always had it in its playoffs. Like the NHL, the NFL's rule comes into use at the end of regulation of any regular season game. Until 2011, it applied for playoff games as well. A new "quarter" is started, with a kickoff. Whichever team scores first-- either through a field goal or through a touchdown, or far more rarely a safety-- wins the game and the game ends. In the preseason and regular season, teams are given a "fifth quarter" of fifteen minutes to decide the game; if no scores are made during that time, the game ends.

Because this presents a significant advantage to the team winning the coin toss to decide who receives the first overtime possesion, the NFL moved in 2011 to require that if both teams have not had possession of the ball prior to the first score, then the team who does have possession must score a touchdown to end the game, preventing the team winning the coin toss from making a much shorter drive down the field and kicking a "golden goal" without the other team having a chance to touch the ball. Making the longer drive downfield and scoring a touchdown still ends the game immediately. This rule only applies in the postseason. During the postseason, multiple 15-minute overtime "quarters" can be played until either team scores. The record for a number of overtimes in a professional football game is three, set by the 1983 United States Football League Championship Game.

The NFL is the only American football league that currently uses the golden goal. Most levels of football, including high school, college, most indoor leagues, and Canadian football, use a system known as the "Kansas Playoff" that more closely resembles baseball innings. Some professional leagues, such as the modern United Football League, use a system that guarantees each team has a possession before switching to sudden death.

Use in association football

The term golden goal was introduced by FIFA in 1993 along with the rule change because the alternative term, "sudden death", was perceived to have negative connotations. The golden goal was not compulsory, and individual competitions using extra time could choose whether to apply it during extra time. The first European Football Championship played with the rule was in 1996; the first World Cup played with the rule was in 1998.

The first golden goal recorded was in March 1993 by Australia against Uruguay in a quarter-final match at the FIFA World Youth Championships. Huddersfield Town's Iain Dunn became the first British player to settle a match in this way - his 107th-minute goal beat Lincoln City 3-2 in the Auto Windscreens Shield on 30 November 1994. The first major tournament final to be decided by such a goal was the 1995 Auto Windscreens Shield Final where Birmingham beat Carlisle United 1-0 with a goal from Paul Tait, followed by the 1996 European Football Championship, won by Germany over the Czech Republic. The golden goal in this final was scored by Oliver Bierhoff.

The first golden goal in World Cup history took place in 1998, as Laurent Blanc scored to enable France to defeat Paraguay in the Round of 16.

In the Preliminary Round of the 1994 Caribbean Cup, Barbados deliberately scored an own goal in a successful attempt to advance to the Final Stage by forcing golden-goal extra time against Grenada, as an unusual tournament rule awarded a two goal victory to a team that won in overtime. Needing a two goal victory to advance, Barbados found themselves up 2–1 with three minutes left in regulation time. After Grenada realized what had happened, they in turn tried to score against their own net while Barbados defended both goals for the final three minutes of the match. Barbados won the game in extra time and advanced to the next round.

In 2001, Liverpool F.C. overcame Deportivo Alavés in the UEFA Cup Final with golden own goal by Delfí Geli, to make the score 5-4 to Liverpool.

In the 2002 season UEFA introduced a new rule, the silver goal, to decide a competitive match. In extra time the team leading after the first fifteen minute half would win, but the game would no longer stop the instant a team scored. Competitions that operated extra time would be able to decide whether to use the golden goal, the silver goal, or neither procedure during extra time. The only major competitive match to be decided by a silver goal was the semi-final match of Euro 2004 between Greece and the Czech Republic, when Traianos Dellas scored for Greece after a corner kick in the last two seconds of the first period of extra time. This was also the last ever professional silver goal.

Abolition in football

The golden goal rule was introduced to stimulate offensive flair and to effectively reduce the number of penalty shootouts. However, it was widely thought that golden goal rules encouraged teams to play more defensively to safeguard against a loss. Teams often placed more emphasis on not conceding a goal rather than scoring a goal, and many golden-goal extra time periods remained scoreless. The silver goal also failed to please the IFAB, as it denied the losing team the chance of saving the match simply by virtue of when the goal is scored. The Euro 2004 semi-final best illustrated the point; if the Greek goal had been scored 15 seconds later, that is immediately after the extra-time interval (instead of the last two seconds of the first period of extra time), the Czechs would have had nearly 15 minutes to attempt to score the equalizer. Furthermore, one team could benefit unfairly if conditions, such as a strong wind, favoured attacking in one direction.

In February 2004, the IFAB announced that after Euro 2004 in Portugal, both the golden goal and silver goal methods would be removed from the Laws of the Game. The 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany did not employ the golden goal in the event of a tied match during the knockout stage, but reverted to the previous rules: In the event of a tied game after the original 90 minutes, two 15-minute halves of extra time were played. Then, if a tie remained after the 30 minutes of extra time, the winner was decided by a penalty shootout.

Major international tournaments decided by golden goal

Other major international tournament finals decided by a golden goal include:

• 2000 UEFA Super Cup (Galatasaray beat Real Madrid)
• UEFA Euro 2000 Final (France beat Italy)
• Women's Gold Medal Game at the 2000 Summer Olympics (Norway beat USA)
• 2001 UEFA Cup Final (Liverpool beat Deportivo Alavés)
• 2002 U-20 Women's World Cup (USA beat Canada)
• 2003 Confederations Cup (France beat Cameroon)
• 2003 Gold Cup (Mexico beat Brazil)
• 2003 Women's World Cup (Germany beat Sweden)
• At the 2002 World Cup, three games were decided by a golden goal - Senegal over Sweden and South Korea over Italy in the last 16, and Turkey over Senegal in the quarter-final.
• 2003 UEFA Cup Final (Porto beat Celtic) (Silver goal)