We have all the time in the world - Timekeeping

Monday night at Emirates Stadium. Two of the standout players of the season so far came to blows in the sixth minute of second half injury time. One, Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul, had just conceded a second goal, while the other, Arsenal captain Robin van Persie, had seemingly led his team to another victory after going behind. Krul had spent most of the game making the most of his time with the ball, moving the ball from one side to the other for goal kicks, and delaying his normally fast, efficient distribution.

In previous blogs, I've touched on some of the astronomical prices that fans pay to watch elite football, Arsenal fans being victims in chief. Some top games cost over £100 per ticket including fees, and that's more than a pound per minute. But is it? If you look at the Opta stats for last season, in the Premier League, the ball was only in play for an average of 62.39 minutes (Serie A - 65.15, La Liga 61.48, Bundesliga 61.22), just over two thirds of the ninety. Hardly value for money.

Hardly football's most romantic moment

In other sports, notably the big American games, and closer to home rugby, there are independent time-keepers, who watch the clock, and pause it for every break in play. You just need to sit through an NFL game to see the negative side, where a televised match could last as long as four hours, with the various breaks, as well as the need for advert breaks during the play.

What benefits could we see? When a foul is given, or a substitution made, we can rely on the time-keeper to stop the clock, so the crowd know that when the departing player takes his time, it's not going to allow the clock to run down. No more players taking four or five rolls to hold up play.

Sergio was playing peekaboo with the fourth official

Another benefit to the independent timekeeper would be the end of the legendary Fergie Time - would he know where in the stadium the clock-watcher would be in order to point and stare?

Would television allow halves of football to last possibly twice as long to include stoppages, without the extra chance for advertising? With the urban myths that FIFA considered advert breaks during the games, or changing matches to three periods of thirty minutes, you just know that every substitution will be met with a quick teaser for a payday loan or the new Johnny Depp film...

What time is Match of the Day on tonight?

The idea of providing a product that is better value for money for fans? Surely low on FIFA's agenda. Ignite the TV companies with a chance to sell more ads? Now you're talking Sepp!