Had an U19's cup game at the weekend, only done U16's up till this point so was quite a big game for me. The game was on a 3G pitch and weather was fine to begin with.
About five minutes before half time, wind is starting to pick up and the ball is starting to move due to gusts of wind so had to have a couple of free kicks retaken due to this.
Get to half time, blues are 2-0 up against whites. Had a chat with the managers at half time and explained that it wasn't really a problem right now but if the weather kept deteriorating then the game would likely have to be abandoned. Even though the whites were losing 2-0 both managers really wanted to get the game played and were adamant it would be fine and we should continue.
So 2nd half begins and wind really starts picking up, ball wouldn't have been staying still at dead ball situations however both teams were just getting on with it quickly so never really became a problem. A couple of times a defender came and held the ball still with his foot for the goalkeeper to take a goal kick in the last ten minutes as it was really getting quite bad at that point. Near the end a free kick in the middle of the park to blues needed a player to put a foot on the ball and when the blue player kicked it, it ended up going back over his own head despite a fair crack of the ball.
So game ended 2-1 to blues, both managers happy at full time, said I'd had a good game, 3 obvious cautions.
However back in the changing rooms I just wasn't happy with myself at all. Felt like I knew it should have been abandoned but kind of rolled with it due to the fact that both managers were happy. In the last minute the white team had hit the crossbar to take it to penalty kicks and that would have been a disaster. Genuinely don't think we would have been able to have the penalty shoot-out due to the weather.
So, when should you call a game off due to the wind?
About five minutes before half time, wind is starting to pick up and the ball is starting to move due to gusts of wind so had to have a couple of free kicks retaken due to this.
Get to half time, blues are 2-0 up against whites. Had a chat with the managers at half time and explained that it wasn't really a problem right now but if the weather kept deteriorating then the game would likely have to be abandoned. Even though the whites were losing 2-0 both managers really wanted to get the game played and were adamant it would be fine and we should continue.
So 2nd half begins and wind really starts picking up, ball wouldn't have been staying still at dead ball situations however both teams were just getting on with it quickly so never really became a problem. A couple of times a defender came and held the ball still with his foot for the goalkeeper to take a goal kick in the last ten minutes as it was really getting quite bad at that point. Near the end a free kick in the middle of the park to blues needed a player to put a foot on the ball and when the blue player kicked it, it ended up going back over his own head despite a fair crack of the ball.
So game ended 2-1 to blues, both managers happy at full time, said I'd had a good game, 3 obvious cautions.
However back in the changing rooms I just wasn't happy with myself at all. Felt like I knew it should have been abandoned but kind of rolled with it due to the fact that both managers were happy. In the last minute the white team had hit the crossbar to take it to penalty kicks and that would have been a disaster. Genuinely don't think we would have been able to have the penalty shoot-out due to the weather.
So, when should you call a game off due to the wind?