Yampy
RefChat Addict
I wasn't the ref for this game but I was involved and it's got me thinking as to what I would do in such a situation.
The game was an U14 fixture between Stripes and Blues, the latter being my son's team and the away team. It was in September so the pitch was good but there was a decent wind down the pitch and the Blues had it to their back in the first half. While the Blues had a keeper who couldn't kick, they did have a centre half who did give it a wallop and he took the goal kicks (you can see where this is going, can't you?)
First goal kick gets caught by the wind and sails over everyone into the Stripes half but before Blues can get to it goes through for the Stripes keeper to clear. As a spectator, I gave instruction to my son to go stand in the opposition half and be better prepared for the next one. The "next one" duly arrived and he stood clearly inside the Stripes half and no one followed him. The defence stayed routed to the half way line. Lo and behold the ball sailed over their heads, was controlled by my son, and boom, goal!
Next goal kick, almost identical but no goal. By this time there's murmurs from the crowd (home supporters) but when the next chance arrives, the ref blows his whistle for offside! (He had chosen to decline the use of CARs). My son inquires of the ref and says you can't be offside from a goal kick, "Yes, you can" was his reply. The remainder of the half was played with this adaptation of the Law in place.
At HT, I asked the ref why he'd started to make these calls and he repeated what he said to my son. I told him he was wrong and he should check LOAF when he gets home. To his credit, he does so on his phone at HT and walks back over to me and apologises. He thanked me for pointing out his error and went off to start the second half.
Needless to say, the Stripes took advantage of having a full half of wind assistance but at least the Blues defence dropped deep to accommodate.
My question is how do you react to these moments of madness? Can you ever make it fair to both sides? If you apply the law incorrectly in one half, should you change the error of your ways in the second? To be honest, I'm not sure what I'd have done but it does illustrate that even referees don't also know that "you can't be offside from a goal kick".
The game was an U14 fixture between Stripes and Blues, the latter being my son's team and the away team. It was in September so the pitch was good but there was a decent wind down the pitch and the Blues had it to their back in the first half. While the Blues had a keeper who couldn't kick, they did have a centre half who did give it a wallop and he took the goal kicks (you can see where this is going, can't you?)
First goal kick gets caught by the wind and sails over everyone into the Stripes half but before Blues can get to it goes through for the Stripes keeper to clear. As a spectator, I gave instruction to my son to go stand in the opposition half and be better prepared for the next one. The "next one" duly arrived and he stood clearly inside the Stripes half and no one followed him. The defence stayed routed to the half way line. Lo and behold the ball sailed over their heads, was controlled by my son, and boom, goal!
Next goal kick, almost identical but no goal. By this time there's murmurs from the crowd (home supporters) but when the next chance arrives, the ref blows his whistle for offside! (He had chosen to decline the use of CARs). My son inquires of the ref and says you can't be offside from a goal kick, "Yes, you can" was his reply. The remainder of the half was played with this adaptation of the Law in place.
At HT, I asked the ref why he'd started to make these calls and he repeated what he said to my son. I told him he was wrong and he should check LOAF when he gets home. To his credit, he does so on his phone at HT and walks back over to me and apologises. He thanked me for pointing out his error and went off to start the second half.
Needless to say, the Stripes took advantage of having a full half of wind assistance but at least the Blues defence dropped deep to accommodate.
My question is how do you react to these moments of madness? Can you ever make it fair to both sides? If you apply the law incorrectly in one half, should you change the error of your ways in the second? To be honest, I'm not sure what I'd have done but it does illustrate that even referees don't also know that "you can't be offside from a goal kick".