Full Time
The end of the regulation playing period of a match, signalled by the official, after which the result stands unless further play is required.
Definition
Full time marks the conclusion of a match's normal playing period. In football the referee signals full time with a whistle after the two halves and any added stoppage time have been completed, at which point the score determines the result. The term is common in timed field sports and denotes that the scheduled duration of play is over.
In competitions where a match cannot end level, the score at full time may only be provisional: a tie can lead to extra time and, if still unresolved, a penalty shoot-out or equivalent. Full time therefore means the end of regulation play rather than necessarily the end of the contest. It contrasts with half time, the interval that divides the match into periods.
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Officiating
- Start and Stop SignalsThe whistle, gun, bell or hooter an official uses to begin and end play or a race, plus the rules that keep starts clean and penalise false starts.
- RefereeThe primary on-field official who enforces the rules, controls play, penalises fouls, awards restarts, and blows the whistle to start and stop a match.
- TimekeeperThe timekeeper is the official who runs a contest's clock — starting and stopping time, timing rounds, races and periods, and signalling when time expires.
Rules
- Playing the ball as it liesGolf’s founding principle: you play the course as you find it and the ball from wherever it comes to rest, unless a rule allows otherwise.
- Innings and oversHow a cricket match is structured — what an innings is, why an over is six balls, how the bowling end alternates, and which parts of the structure the Laws fix and which a competition sets.
- Tennis serving rulesThe rules governing how a tennis point begins, including where the server stands and where the serve must land.
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- Content type
- Term
- Provenance
- Tier A — evergreen educational
- Verified external sources
- 0
- Content updated
- 2026-09-01
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