Here’s a review of what’s new in the Dorset Walking Football Laws for the 2024/25 season.
The new DWFL season starts this Autumn in mid-October. This time round Dexter Sports will be entering four teams across the various age categories, and they’ll all need to understand two significant law changes. These changes involve the ‘not walking’ and ‘pass back to the goalkeeper’ rules, which we’ll outline now…
Not Walking (FA Law 18)
This is probably the easier of the two rule changes to understand, but maybe the trickiest to abide by! Under Law 18 walking is defined as ‘…always having at least one foot in contact with the ground…”.
The definition might not have changed, but the penalty for multiple infractions has, and reads as follows ‘…the referee will award an indirect free kick against any player who is not walking… a penalty kick is awarded to the opposition on the fourth accumulated not walking offence committed by a team…’.
To clear that up: If your team is pulled up four times for not-walking in a single match, your opponents will receive a penalty – and then another if you rack up a further four, and so on!
Pass Back to the Keeper (FA Law 12)
Arguably, this change is slightly more difficult to get your head around. In recent seasons, Dorset Walking Football League referees have tolerated a certain amount passing back to the keeper, as long as it wasn’t being abused.
The league have chosen to implement the FA passback law for the coming season, which is worded in the following way: ‘An indirect free kick is awarded if a goalkeeper… receives the ball back directly from a teammate to whom they have just passed the ball without the ball having made contact with any other player…’.
To clear that up: When you receive the ball from the goalkeeper, you cannot pass it back to them until another player has touched the ball – that other player can be a teammate or an opposition player. The punishment for this is an indirect free kick “…three meters from the penalty area line from the place nearest to where the offence occurred” .
It’s essential we all know the laws of the game. This coming season sees two significant changes to the way we’ve previously played.”
Andy Madden, DSWFC 50s Team Manager
If you wish to read these rules in greater detail, you can find downloads of them on our Laws of the Game page.
Disclaimer
This article has been created and published in good faith. Any expressed opinions are those of the author and not necessarily those of Dexter Sports Walking Football Club.
Reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information at the time of publication. You should expect the information to become outdated the older the article becomes.
