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Thank you. I've had a good rummage around the good book and found that ... .... along with a discrepancy or two! Law 5 refers you to Law 12.3, but it should be 12.4, which says: So for the question to be "totally" correct it should make clear that the kick free kick must lead to a clear goal...

Not sure I agree with this, and would like the thoughts of the learned minds on this forum: As the "disciplinary sanction procedure" (I'm presuming this means giving the yellow card to the player who SPA'd) how can the re-start have been delayed? Surely if you are issuing a card, you can't...

At the risk of derailing this thread, it would be helpful (for me at least, and possibly others) if someone could outline what the “racism” protocol is, and confirm that it applies to all levels of football, ie I would apply it on the Dog & Duck league on a Sunday morning the same way

So, I’m refereeing a great cup tie, competitive, but not fractious, 2 mins to go, blues break into red’s penalty area, red commit a foul - no doubt in my mind, penalty! Sharp blow on the whistle, point to the spot. I’m in a great (and v credible) position to make the call (and it is a penalty)...

Evening all, I have a couple of questions regarding player kit that I’d like your help with. I have looked through the good book, but can’t find anything definitive- if there is, it would be a great help. Snoods. I know snoods are banned, and a google search says they were banned in 2011...

Well, that would be me not refereering then. As I said in my title, I would have got this wrong, as my initial thoughts were that the keeper had to handle the ball to “crystallise” the foul (analogous, perhaps, to a player in an offside position becoming active to trigger an offside offence)...

Morning all, and happy new year. Saw this online the other day, and thought the ref had made a blunder. As the keeper did not pick up the ball, I figured no offence had occurred, but reading through the comments and some of my own research tells me I was wrong. (Probably why my 2026 kicks off...

Ha! Reminds me of a Sunday league game I was ref-ing when we had a pitch invasion …. … by a flock of sheep! There’s probably a joke in there somewhere, but I can’t find it.

My biggest officiating blunder, ever, in not quite my biggest ever game, but my third biggest. 18 months on, I am perhaps ready to disclose and discuss…. August 24, I had been proudly selected to do the line in the first two rounds of the FA cup, when I received notification of an appointment...

As a slight aside, as you allude to it is typically better for a keeper to be able to kick the ball from hands (can usually kick further, and run around penalty area with the ball) than a free kick. So perhaps not possible in this situation described, but if a keeper has been fouled, but still...

Can someone help me out here please, to help me check my understanding. This is what I think happened: Blue player A takes the corner, stays in/near corner after the kick so is in an offside position Red defender X clears the ball Ball leaves red players foot and strikes/hits/brushes blue...

Agree with what @RefereeX says above ^^^^ But, on a hypothetical note does where the ball come from not matter? Let’s say the ball is moving from inside the penalty area: surely it is inside (and can be handled by the keeper) until the whole ball has crossed the line, denoting it has left the...

I have never understood this desire/need to write down everyone’s name into your notebook. I receive the team sheets on two separate pieces of A4 paper - I check they are legible, and put them safely away in my bag. If/when I card someone,I ask them their name, write it down, along with...

I should hope he was penalised after holding the ball for two minutes! 😉😉

Just seen this on Twitter, the ref at Stavely paused the game for 10 mins and asked the Chairman to expel a spectator for calling the assistant referee a “knobhead”. Any thoughts, or any more details?

I came across this on Twitter/X . Scroll forward to about 1 min 10 secs in: keeper catches the ball from a corner, ends up being penalised for holding the ball for more than 8 seconds. Have a watch and see what you think. Keeper could have got to his feet quicker, but I think this has been...

Great advice from @Kes. I do something similar, giving them three choices; in a stoppage of play, and quite publicly (ideally so either captain or coach, or both can hear) it would go something like this: “You’ve got three choices now: 1. I’m the referee today, and that’s not going to...

Slightly different question- could the game not continue without a fourth official?

I’ve been thinking about the “8 second goalkeeper holding the ball” law change, and the mechanics of how to actually implement it in practice. For the final 5 seconds we, the referee, will now display a five-second countdown gesture when a goalkeeper holds the ball. My initial thinking was that...

What I’ve always done is manoeuvred myself into position (typically, but not always, on or around the halfway line) and only then started to think about the keepers six seconds. With the law change, I’ll be doing the same - I’ll only start counting 8 seconds from when I’m ready. I’ll apply...