Goalkeeper gloves

[QuaverRef]

Quick question, are Goalkeeping gloves compulsory? I can’t see anything under law 4 mentioning them but had a keeper yesterday who had forgotten them. I wasn’t sure if this was a requirement or not

 

[alexgr]

Nope, not compulsory. They're there for the keepers' protection more than anything else really.

 

[Peter Grove]

Absolutely not compulsory. When I was growing up nobody wore them, including professional keepers. They only started to become became popular in the 60's but even in that era, goalkeeping greats such as Alex Stepney and Pat Jennings did not wear gloves.Alex Stepney


Pat Jennings

 

[Ciley Myrus]

You were indeed wise to check Law 4..... your answer was there !!

Was there though an law, or even a league one, or was it just a urban myth and the gk must wear long sleeves at any point ?? I trust if it was ever written down anywhere, the above poster will be the one to confirm?

 

[Peter Grove]

Was there though an law, or even a league one, or was it just a urban myth and the gk must wear long sleeves at any point ??

Urban myth. There was (or possibly still is, for all I know) a website that had a section on goalkeeping where they stated that 'according to the letter of the law' goalkeepers must wear long-sleeved shirts if they don't wear gloves.

I actually had a brief correspondence with the person who runs the site, where I tried to persuade him that this was not part of the Laws of the Game. He wasn't having any of it and kept insisting that it was required by law. I eventually contacted the IFAB using the Law Enquiries email address and got a 'ruling' that this is not a requirement and sent that to him. I got no further reply and I don't know if they ever altered what it says on their site as I didn't bother going back to check.