Why The Away Goals Rule Must Be Abolished

“Europe seemed much bigger in the early 1970s. Iberia was governed by fascist dictators. There were two Germanys, West and East. With no rolling news, Blackberries nor Twitter, a plausible sit-com episode could be written based on the Likely Lads avoiding knowledge of the result of an England match for half a day. Europe’s airlines were almost exclusively national carriers. Countries had unique coins and banknotes. Speedy boarding was an oxymoron, speedy disembarkation even more so; you needed visas to cross most borders.”

In Episode Forty Six we look back at ‘Why the Away Goals Rule Must Be Abolished’ by Ian Hawkey, first published in our pilot edition Issue Zero in March 2011.

He looks at the ‘historical anachronism’ that was originally brought in to encourage attacking play away from home, but thanks to the changes in the modern game now has the effect of encouraging defensive performances from home sides.

Arsene Wenger and Jorge Valdano, among others, agree with Ian, as he explores the changes in the modern landscape (travel, the fall of the iron curtain, tactical shifts) that have seen the number of away wins in Europe’s top competition double in little over 3 decades.

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