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Have a look at this free kick from Oldham. I think it should have been disallowed, when the ball was struck at least one Oldham player was within 1m of the wall. Easy for to spot when watching several replies in my armchair, less easy for our man in the middle. Any thoughts?

Have you seen the League Two table today*? if not, you should take a look. (This rare occurrence won’t hang around for long, so if you’re a little late to the party and already missed it, I preserved it for posterity on my blog: http://www.amathsteacherwrites.co.uk/top-ten/ ) *Friday 26 Feb ‘21

As match official, we are often blamed for all sorts of things beyond our control. However, in this particular case, the Assistant Referee’s bald head is the cause of the problem. A game was being filmed by an AI (artificial intelligence ) camera which kept mistaking our hero’s bald head for...

Does anyone know what a player/club gets fined for a yellow card? I ask because, as you may know, I’m involved in schools’ football. In a recent cup competition two of our players were booked (C1, foul tackle for both. No complaints, correct decisions) and we’ve just received the paperwork...

After your thoughts, please, about an incident from my game this morning. I am more than happy with how I dealt with it from the context of this particular game, but curious as to what should be done by law. 15 mins to go. Blues 5-0 up, game was only ever going to end one way (I give you this...

Ok, so this didn’t happen in my game today, but had the striker not lofted the ball over the bar it might have done, and got me thinking.... Keeper way out of position, attacker gathers ball 10 yards outside box and shoots at empty net. Covering defender has spotted the danger and has...

... for me, at least. Apologies if there is a bit of a din coming from mid-Somerset, that’ll be me blowing my own trumpet, but I’ve received a letter (electronically) from Somerset FA confirming my promotion from level 7 to level 6. I’d met all the criteria, except I’d only had two out of my 3...

Thought some of you might find this blog post (no, it’s not mine!) interesting. A couple of minutes reading looking at how the markings in and around the penalty area evolved. http://www.robeastaway.com/blog/six-yard-box

On the line today, and a keeper “nearly” talked himself into a sin binning. He didn’t, but it did prompt a question from a coach after the game: If a keeper is sin binned, you can’t bring on a substitute keeper until the ball next goes out of play. I.e., outfield player puts on keepers shirt...

Watching the Club World Club final on Saturday, my nephew said (completely sincerely) that he’d heard that Everton (the EPL club) were interested in signing Everton Riberio, the Flamengo midfielder. Now that got my brother & I thinking: has anyone, in the English leagues, played for a club with...

A couple of “technicalities” from my game today that I’d like your thoughts on. 1. DFK just outside box. As taker shapes to strike the ball, a defender in the wall shouts to distract the kicker. So yellow card for the “shouter”, but what’s the re-start? IDFK? I let the play develop a little...

I’ve done a fair few games now under the “new” laws and I’ve spotted a common thread that’s (nearly) caught me out a few times, so I thought I’d share my experience here. With the new law not requiring the ball to leave the penalty area from a goal kick, a lot of teams are taking quick goal...

Like death and taxes, it is, perhaps, inevitable for all of us referees that the game will come when, for the first time, we use the “sin-bin.” For me, that game was last night, a pre-season friendly between Blues, who I’ve ref-ed many times, and Yellows, from a different, neighbouring league...

Don’t say I didn’t warn you, but I reckon this is going to split opinion into two camps: The “meh, good on them for getting the game going” camp and those outraged at the sacrilegious breaking of Law 5 .... It appears a ref was late to a game, so someone agreed to stand in for the first five...

Apologies - I know this has been discussed (many times!) before, but I’m still not 100%, so your input is welcome. Blues v Yellows, yellows attacking, yellow player passes ball forward from half way line, intended for yellow striker on edge of box. Yellow striker is in an offside position...

For various reasons, this weekend saw me taking charge of (2) OA games for the first time for a month or so. Reflecting on the three hours of football officiated, I’ve arrived at the following conclusions (nothing new or earth shattering, I write largely for my own benefit: formalising my...

Take a look at this pitch. That was top flight football back in the day. We don’t know we’re born.

I'm a great believer in "the spirit of the game" and just getting on with at grass roots level, but I think even I would have balked at this kit clash:

Tonight, we witness a one in three million occurrence. Liverpool topping the table is part of the story, but only part. Conspiracy or coincidence? You decide! The league leaders of the top five flights of English football begin with the letter L: Liverpool Leeds United Luton Town Lincoln City...

This occurred today (not my game, but a colleague) What would you do. 10 mins to go in a U18 game (friendly, not that that matters). Player is subbed (repeated/rolling subs). Player is walking off pitch, but before he leaves the FOP, two things happen: 1) His replacement enters the FOP 2)...