Is time-wasting in the Premier League getting worse?

Is it finally time to get serious about time-wasting?

Away from thrilling battles at the top and bottom of the Premier League table, it has been one of the big talking points of the season. It was thrust even further to the forefront of the conversation last week by Brighton & Hove Albion head coach Fabian Hurzeler.

“The limit has to be set by the Premier League, the limit has to be set by the referees,” he said after his side lost 1-0 to Arsenal. “At the moment they [Arsenal] just can do what they want.”

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta refuted the claim and praised the way his players compete. “I think they [critics] love our players,” he continued. “I mean, every time they talk about our players, I think they are the most loved ones in the country.”

While not permitted by the laws of the game, time-wasting is a dark art that has always been woven into the fabric of football.

Supporters will embrace it when it suits. There is plenty of pleasure to be derived from eking out seconds late on when your team is looking to secure a big win.

Fans can also take joy from the manner in which it riles their opponents. Conversely, if you are on the receiving end, it can be infuriating.

But this season, debate around such antics has intensified. With subscription costs and ticket prices on the rise, are fans getting full value for money? And with Hurzeler not the first to complain, how much worse is it actually getting?

If we look at the average number of minutes the ball is in play in top-flight games this season, then the raw numbers are not particularly indicative one way or the other.

Since Opta started tracking ball-in-play time in 2006-07, this season’s match average of 55 minutes 31 seconds, while down on the past two campaigns, is far from the lowest.

But that figure includes play during stoppage time at the end of both halves – and we know there is more added time than ever because of the addition of the video assistant referee (VAR).

All six of the campaigns with the greatest average amount of time added on per game have come since the technology was introduced to the Premier League at the beginning of the 2019-20 season.

Therefore, if we analyse the average amount of time the ball is in play as a percentage of the average overall time played in matches, that is where the current season stands out. Only one campaign on record has ended with a lower percentage than this one.

Of course, there are legitimate and natural stoppages in play. Arsenal‘s Gabriel Martinelli endeared himself to nobody when he crudely tried to push a clearly injured Conor Bradley off the field of play in the dying seconds of their 0-0 draw against Liverpool at Emirates Stadium in January.

The Brazilian, who was booked for the shove and later apologised, presumably perceived the Northern Irishman to be time-wasting – but Bradley was subsequently ruled out for the season with a serious knee injury.

Overall, Liverpool‘s average delay time before restarting play is the lowest in the division this season at 25.8 seconds, while there are five teams who take longer than Arsenal – the target of Hurzeler’s wrath – with Sunderland topping the charts, averaging 33.1 seconds.

And what of the halcyon days of free-flowing Premier League football that some coaches and fans hark back to? Did it exist?

One thing we can say with certainty – since Opta started recording such delays in 2017-18 – is that they are getting longer. Incrementally, average delays across the league have increased in all but two seasons, to the current high of 29.2 seconds.

Yet again, the huge caveat to consider is VAR. The data includes stoppages for checks from Stockley Park, and it seems unfair to blame one team or another for a slow restart if they are waiting for the officials to do their job.

It cannot, for example, differentiate between those enforced pauses and a player who is allegedly faking injury.

Measures were introduced at the start of this season requiring goalkeepers to release the ball within eight seconds when it is in their hands. If they do not, a corner is awarded against them.

More changes will follow. Last month the International Football Association Board (Ifab) approved proposals aimed at reducing what it describes as “tempo disruption” and “time lost” in the game.

From 1 June – including at this summer’s World Cup – and throughout the 2026-27 season, five-second countdowns will be introduced for goalkeepers taking goal-kicks and throw-ins.

Substituted players will also be required to leave the pitch within 10 seconds. If they exceed that limit, their replacement must wait at least 60 seconds before entering the field, leaving the team temporarily short of a player.

While the measures could improve the flow of matches, the expanded use of VAR may have the opposite effect.

At the World Cup, VAR will be able to intervene on corners and second yellow cards. Individual leagues will have to opt in to those changes, however, and the Premier League is not expected to adopt them.