How long is halftime in Premier League soccer?


The Premier League is one of the most exciting professional football leagues in the world. The players involved will be pushing themselves to the very limit and so they need a break in the middle of games. So how big is that break? 

How long is halftime in Premier League soccer? Halftime is 15 minutes in the Premier League. This is usually the same for the majority of football games around the world. 

The FA are the ones who decide how long games are, as well as how long halftime is. The FA says that players are entitled to an interval at half-time, not exceeding 15 minutes. This means that half-time cannot be longer than 15 minutes in football in England. This is the rule for almost all levels of football. 

The length of half-time can be altered if needed, but they need the referee’s permission to do this. There is also a half-time in extra time, however, this is not 15 minutes. Instead, there is a short drinks break between the two halves of extra time. This is because players are only playing for 15 minutes each half in extra time.

Each competition must state the duration of the half-time interval, but the majority will usually have it at 15 minutes long. This is because players need a proper break to rehydrate and get their energy back for the second half. A 15-minute half-time gives players enough time to rest and get ready for another 45 minutes. 

How long is EFL half-time? 

The EFL has very similar rules to the Premier League, mainly because they are both governed by the FA. The EFL does state exactly how long half-time has to be. 

An EFL half-time is 15 minutes long. This is rule 12.2 in the rulebook published by the EFL. Of course, it is difficult for half-time to be exactly 15 minutes because there can be lots of delays or some teams even coming out of the tunnel earlier than expected. But halftime still tends to be around 15 minutes long for competitive matches. 

How long is a football match including half-time 

While a football match is 90 minutes long, the whole game including half time will take much longer than 90 minutes. 

Including halftime, football matches tend to be around 110 minutes long. This is because you have at least 90 minutes of football. Half-time is 15 minutes. Those final five minutes are because of added time. Added time comes into play when the referee adds time at the end of each half because of the ball being out of play. 

The clock does not stop in football games and so referees will add time at the end of each half when there are substitutions or injuries. This means that football matches will tend to be around 110 minutes but that really varies depending on how many injuries or substitutions there are during a game. 

How long is halftime in world cup soccer? 

In the World Cup, there is a 15-minute break between the first and second half of each game. Halftime is set to 15 minutes by the rule makers and so the time that the break can be cannot be longer than 15 minutes. 

The exact time of the half varies depending on when players actually come out from the dressing room, as well as when the referee feels everyone is ready for the game to start again. Even though it is the world cup, halftime won’t be extended for any performances. 

Why is 6 minutes added to soccer games? 

For people watching football for the first time, it can be pretty confusing to see that when you get to the end of a half that time will be added on. 

Time is added onto the end of soccer games because this is added time. A referee will add time to the end of a half depending on how many stoppages there were during that half and how long these stoppages lasted for. The exact time for added time will vary. 

Sometimes a referee will decide that there weren’t any stoppages or not enough for any added time to be put onto the clock. Then when there are serious injuries, you can even see added time go into the double digits. This is a rare thing in games but does happen when there are long breaks. 

The clock does not stop during a football game except for halftime and so whenever there is a stoppage in play, the referee will add back the time at the end of the half to make up for that stoppage. 

Why is football 45 minutes a half? 

The exact length of a football game has been 90 minutes for quite a long time. But considering there is nothing to really compare the sport to, how did this timing come about? 

When football clubs were first deciding on the length of football games in the 1860s, there were quite a few different sets of rules. Some teams played for two hours, with some teams playing as little as 30 minutes per half. So there needed to be a compromise moving forward. 

When the FA was created, they decided that the compromise would be two halves of 45 minutes. This would mean that the entire game would be 90 minutes long. What is surprising is that it took until 1897 for rules to be written down on how long each half would be. 

The new law stated that football matches would last for 90 minutes unless both teams had previously agreed that the game would be at a different time before the game began. The FA were one of the first groups to write down rules for the length of each half. 

A lot of the rules that were first used in football in the UK began being used around the world and it is likely that other competitions around the world took inspiration from the FA on how long each half would be in football. 

James

I started watching football in the early 90s and was hooked. I fell in love with Chelsea and have supported them ever since. I have also written a book on Corporate Governance and Firm Performance in England and Scottish football.

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