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Sixty Seconds is a brutal game; intense and painful.

The Rules however, are simple. A minimum of three players is required. Four is ideal, five passable and six Vladimir Klitschko vs. David Haye. You have a goalkeeper and the remaining players are all outfield and attacking.

The aim of the game is to score within sixty seconds, as the name suggests, a Header or a Volley. If you score past the beleaguered goalkeeper, the clock resets to zero. The scoreboard also resets, but now… Now, you must score two goals before the minute is up. The clock and scoreboard continue to reset, until such time as the goalkeeper can force their way out of goal.

If you cannot score within the sixty seconds, the last person to touch the ball before the goalkeeper counts “Sixty”, is the new goalkeeper. Yes, the goalkeeper is responsible for the timing of the game. Fine as this may be when you first stroll onto the pocked pitch at your local playing field, however when the goalkeeper has been in for a third consecutive minute tempers start to flare, and the seconds become shorter.

‘Hold on’ you say, the definition of a volley is a complex issue… No it is not. If it touches the floor before your foot: It. Is. Not. A. Volley. Half volleys are not accepted. With Headers however, if the ball bounces prior to you heading the goal, the goal is allowed.

If an outfield player scores a goal which has hit the floor before his or her foot, they are the new goalkeeper. If the goalkeeper catches the ball following a Header or a Volley, the goalkeeper becomes an outfield player, and the player responsible for the shot which was caught, is the new goalkeeper.

The longer the game continues with more and more goals needing to be scored, so the game becomes more tense still. When a goalkeeper has been in situ for more than five minutes, the seconds are miniscule, the shots on target random, indiscriminate and woeful. The outfield player’s only hope is to not be the last player to touch the ball.

These are the Official Rules of the game Headers & Volleys: Sixty Seconds and should be obeyed at all times.