The Ref Stop

Man City v Arsenal

one said:
Never heard of it. If there ever was such thing it would have had to had non clear definitions. How do you define "side of the goal area? And what happens if ball goes over the bar (though this is the same for corner kick)? It would have made the shape and the boundaries of goal area not fit for purpose. For corner kick, there are two corner arcs, fully boundaried and fully fit for their purpose.
Click to expand...
There was such a thing and in those days it didn’t have to drill down into so much minutia (though there are still laws of the game that are not clear from their definitions), whereby the left or right of the centre of the goal area (including the centre) was accepted as the point the ball was placed. And if the ball went over the cross bar the Referee would signal as they do nowadays (for corner kicks) as to which side of the goal the ball should be placed.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: one
The Ref Stop
David G said:
There was such a thing and in those days it didn’t have to drill down into so much minutia (though there are still laws of the game that are not clear from their definitions), whereby the left or right of the centre of the goal area (including the centre) was accepted as the point the ball was placed. And if the ball went over the cross bar the Referee would signal as they do nowadays (for corner kicks) as to which side of the goal the ball should be placed.
Click to expand...
Back in the day, it wasn’t an issue on side of the goal as all goal kicks were placed at the extremity & kicked over the half way line 😂
 
one said:
Never heard of it. If there ever was such thing it would have had to had non clear definitions. How do you define "side of the goal area? And what happens if ball goes over the bar (though this is the same for corner kick)? It would have made the shape and the boundaries of goal area not fit for purpose. For corner kick, there are two corner arcs, fully boundaried and fully fit for their purpose.
Click to expand...

DJIC said:
Back in the day, it wasn’t an issue on side of the goal as all goal kicks were placed at the extremity & kicked over the half way line 😂
Click to expand...
True.
 
JamesL said:
My history of law knowledge, weak as it is, does not extend far back enough. Was it ever the case that goal kicks had to be taken from the same side of the goal area to that which the ball left the field of play?

That's what I think @David G is referring to that corners are taken from the corner closest to where the ball went out of play and goal kicks might have (confirmation pending)
Click to expand...
The following is from the LOTG (I think around 1980 - laws were easier to digest when I started. Certainly when I first started blowing my whistle, goal kicks were 'sided'.

LAW XVI. - GOAL-KICK
When the whole of the ball passes over
the goal-line excluding that portion between
the goal-posts, either in the air or on the
ground, having last been played by one of
the attacking team, it shall be kicked direct
into play beyond the penalty-area from a
point within that half of the goal-area nearest
to where it crossed the line, by a player
of the defending team.

Think that answers your question JamesL, (but I can't be bothered to look up when it changed).

I used to love some of the phrases in those days - written exams with point earners such as 'in the air or on the ground'.
 
Does that also imply then that (as was queried earlier) if it goes over the goal then the goalkeeper has free choice of side?
 
markref said:
As a goalkeeper in the 80s if it went over the goal then the referee would tell us which side to take the kick from, much as we do for corners now.
Click to expand...
Though in practicality, it if was over the top, most refs didn’t care which side and would go with wherever the GK went with the ball. Which side never made anywhere near as much difference on a GK as it does on a CK.
 
socal lurker said:
Though in practicality, it if was over the top, most refs didn’t care which side and would go with wherever the GK went with the ball. Which side never made anywhere near as much difference on a GK as it does on a CK.
Click to expand...
I’m not sure I agree with that. I think most refs didn’t care which side it went over the top of the crossbar if it was close and would be happy to go with whichever side the gk went with the ball as you say for a goal kick, but same with a corner kick - the Referee would just make a positive decision based on what was felt from the angle he/she had at the time.
 
I think you young whippersnappers are just wumming us oldies.

Seriously, the change was to speed up the game to allow a kick to be taken from anywhere in the GA, not to allow a GK to waste time. The opportunities for timewasting at a GK have increased with all this playing out from the back as an alternative to the long punt upfield. I blame Pep!

No doubt IFAB could revise the law, but it would add even more to a law book that used to be "easier to digest when I started". Well less than half of the current tome.
 
David G said:
There was such a thing and in those days it didn’t have to drill down into so much minutia (though there are still laws of the game that are not clear from their definitions), whereby the left or right of the centre of the goal area (including the centre) was accepted as the point the ball was placed. And if the ball went over the cross bar the Referee would signal as they do nowadays (for corner kicks) as to which side of the goal the ball should be placed.
Click to expand...
A lot of things were accepted then that have been explicitly changed and others where interpretation has just changed.
 
markref said:
It did. Up until 1991 Law 16 stated that the ball had to be kicked from the half of the goal area where it went out of play. This was changed to speed the game up, because keepers would faff around placing the ball for the kick only to be told to take it from the other side.
Click to expand...
Actually, to be totally accurate it was in 1992 that it changed. As stated, the law change was intended to avoid timewasting.

Screenshot_2024_0928_164110.png
 
David G said:
I’m not sure I agree with that. I think most refs didn’t care which side it went over the top of the crossbar if it was close and would be happy to go with whichever side the gk went with the ball as you say for a goal kick, but same with a corner kick - the Referee would just make a positive decision based on what was felt from the angle he/she had at the time.
Click to expand...
I reffed back then. I don’t recall ever telling players which side unless they were obviously going to the wrong one. It never really mattered. But on corners, then and now, I always direct the side as there can be huge differences in value of a kick from the two sides.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top