Wigan star James McClean says football should allow ice hockey style fights

Wigan winger James McClean thinks that football should change its rules to allow players to fight for 10-15 seconds, and not get sent off.

Whenever a scuffle breaks out in a football match the commentators will say something along the lines of 'we don't like to see these scenes,' which for many people watching isn't totally true.

Manchester United fans might not have wanted to see Casemiro sent off two weeks ago during their game against Crystal Palace, but they probably enjoyed the sight of the Brazilian sticking up for teammate Antony.

They were probably less impressed when Andrew Robertson and Conor Coady clashed in last week's Merseyside derby and no punishment was handed out.

Whilst fans might enjoy a bit of a scuffle during a game, most of us would accept that when it get violent a player deserves to go for an early shower, once they've been sent off obviously.

However, Wigan star McClean apparently doesn't think that should be the case, lord knows what he's hoping to get away with, and thinks players should be allowed to scrap for a bit.

The Irishman thinks that, like ice hockey, the players involved should then be sin binned for a while, rather than not being allowed back on the pitch.

He took to Instagram to say, "Just an observation... if football introduced the rule like in ice hockey where if there is on field issue then let two players involved have a 10/15 second tear up and then sin bin them, I guarantee there'd be far less handbags."

NHL players fight. Image: Alamy

Not quite sure how lowering the punishment for fighting is going to cause less 'handbags,' and would surely just lead to more hands being thrown.

It's pretty rare in a football match that anything other than shoving takes place, and then it disperses a few seconds later with a couple of yellow cards.

In McClean's version it sounds like there'd be actual punches and then you'd just cool off for 10 minutes before coming back, but that wouldn't reduce it surely?

NHL rules state that players who fight get a five minute sin bin, unless they've left the bench to join the fight or use weapons, in which case they're ejected. Players involved in three fights in a match are also ejected.

In other leagues, and in the Olympics, the rules are stricter, with any player starting a fight immediately ejected, whilst other players involved are sin binned.

Either way, it's unlikely to be brought into football any time soon.