The latest use of VAR at the World Cup raised many questions as the system failed to provide composed assistance to referees despite all the good intentions. Various video systems, such as VAR or goal-line technology, are the latest additions to football law book. However, football rules have changed as time went by. For instance, it is almost impossible to believe now that once there were no crossbars at all on football pitches. So what were some of the most notable changes to incredible football rules that made football look like we are all used to?

1872. A corner kick is introduced. Well, the idea actually developed 5 years earlier, but it took some time to bring it into life.

1875. A crossbar appeared between the posts for the first time. It sounds incredible today, but the goal resembled that used in rugby at the time.

1878. This year is widely remembered as the year when Manchester United was founded (then known as Newton Heath). Apart from that, an important update to football rules was introduced: referees received whistles. Yes, they had to use their voice only before that.

1891. Penalty kicks or ‘kicks of death’ are introduced. They came to stay as a perfect way to punish teams for violating the rules in front of their goal.

The same year, a referee in modern understanding of this word first made it to the pitch. Two umpires used to officiate the game before that.

1902. The 18-yard box and 6-yard box, as well as the penalty spot, were introduced. Players were allowed to pick any spot for a penalty strike on the 12-yard line before that.

1912. A sad year for goalkeepers as they were denied the right to use their hands around the entire pitch and left with the 18-yard box for that.

1937. The shape of the pitch, the central circle and all boxes were finalized and remained intact to date.

That version of official football rules remained valid through 1990. However, the development of television and commercial success of the sport required another wave of updates. Starting from that year, a player, denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity with a foul, was subject to a red card.

1992. Before that year, goalkeepers handling passes from their teammates was perfectly ok. After that, they could not use their hands any more to prevent many keepers from time wasting.

2016. Kick-off can now go in any direction, so one player in the central circle is now enough to start the game.

The latest changes to the rules, such as video assistants or additional referees behind goals, are aimed at making the game more transparent and fair amid growing commercial importance of results. Who knows, maybe we will see more extraordinary changes to the rules in the future.