Life's Little Mysteries #6

Why, when all players may handle the ball, do goalkeepers in Gaelic sports wear different jerseys to the rest of their team mates?

Nothing to do with soccer I assume.




In the past the GAA has had some trouble co-existing with other sports - traditionally, viewing soccer as its arch-nemesis. Therefore, when the GAA introduce a rule or procedural change, it must be coincidence if the same change has already been implemented by FIFA (soccer's governing body). There can obviously be no question of the GAA being influenced by a sport its members were prohibited from playing up until 1971.

For example, when the GAA introduced the concepts of ....

• red and yellow cards.
• using a yellow match ball during winter months.
• using a digital display unit to display the numbers of substituted players.
• using a digital display unit to indicate how much injury time is to be played at the end of a match.

.. these were all fine examples of independent thinking by GAA officials.