New Gaelic football rules rubber-stamped at Croke Park

As expected, the GAA have rubber-stamped all of Gaelic football’s new rules on Saturday morning.

A special congress was held at Croke Park with FRC chairman Jim Gavin in attendance. The presidential candidate took a back seat role and didn't speak.

The new rules are now set for inclusion in the GAA rule book.

There are a couple of minor tweaks. A jersey pull is added to the list of fouls denying a goalscoring opportunity resulting in a black card and a penalty. It has also been extended to club level. 

Regarding a two-point score, all such scores from outside the arc will count provided no other player from the same team touches it after it has been kicked.

The new rules have been a game-changer for Gaelic football. This year’s games at inter-county level were a revelation in what was a campaign to remember largely down to the new scoring arc, two-pointers, longer kick-outs and the solo and go transforming matches.

There were more high-scoring encounters as the game returned to what it was 20-odd years ago.

A GPA survey released last Wednesday showed 94 per cent of inter-county players are enjoying the game more.

Attendances were up 20 per cent from the 2024 campaign as over a million people passed through the turnstiles from April until July during the championship months this year.