Average 'ball in play' time has increased across the EFL following a clamp-down on time-wasting this season.
Last season, Championship matches had an average of just 52 minutes of ball-in-play time out of a 90+ minute game, with time-wasting robbing paying supporters of match action.
This was just 50 minutes and 12 seconds in League One, and 48 minutes eight seconds in League Two.
⏱️ This season has seen an increase in ball-in-play time across all three EFL league competitions.
— EFL (@EFL) December 21, 2023
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Improving across the board, the Championship is now at over 57 minutes while League One is at 55-and-a-half minutes per match.
The increased minutes comes after EFL officials were tasked with applying a more accurate calculation of additional time and stronger measures to reduce timewasting.
Mike Jones, National Group Director at PGMOL, said: "Effective playing time had been significantly reducing over a number of years, to the point where it was under 50 minutes effective playing time.
"We have a duty to the paying public to ensure we maximise playing time. So the approach has been a robust approach to kicking the ball away and delaying the restart of play, enhancing the actual time the ball was in play. That’s a combination of stricter management as well as resorting to formal discipline where it was a clear, deliberate and impactful act by a player.
"On the first two match rounds the additional time, particularly in the second half, quite often was in double figures. There was an educational piece with match officials, re-affirming what actual time was required for - actual time is not for cautions or for players going down without physio treatment.
"So that recalibration of time actually took place in early August and what we’ve seen is players understanding that time will be added on and a more accurate recording of actual time by match officials, meaning the reduction from double figures added on time to six, seven or eight minutes, which is appropriate."
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