The Ref Stop

Injury Time in Junior Football

T

TheRefereeFrom2003

New Member
I went to watch my younger brothers U16s game last Sunday, and something has been eating on my mind since. The ref is a very good one, very experienced. He’s in his 70s now, referred in the National League and been an AR in the Football League. His grandson plays in a team I referreed often and the ref himself is the regular home ref for my brothers team so I’ve had a few talks with the ref. He’s a proper nice guy and I trust a lot of the advice he gives. However, the weekends game he said something that had me scratching my head.

My brothers team went into a 2-0 lead but the away team pulled one back before half time. Straight after half time it was 3-1 and then about 20 minutes into the half the away team pulled another goal back to make it 3-2. For the final 20 minutes (40 minute halves) my brothers team did some of the worst time wasting I’ve seen watching any game, let alone a junior game. The away team kept complaining about it to the ref, who said the rules are ‘you can’t book for time wasting in junior football.” Then, when he blew for full time with no injury time, spark a few comments from players and the away manager, to which he told them “sorry guys, I’m not allowed to add on injury time in junior football.”

A brief chat with him after the match and he told me that the rules are “you can’t book for timewasting” in junior football and “you can’t add injury time” in junior football. Having never heard this before, none of these sat right with me. When I looked up the league rules, it wasn’t in there, when I tried looking into it in general, I couldn’t find it. Rule 1 especially didn’t sit right with me, I don’t believe that for one second. By the refs own admission, that rule could be outdated he said. Then again, I can’t remember a single player ever being booked for time wasting in all my years playing junior football (from 2010-2021) and I’ve certainly never done it as a referee, but that’s more a case of I’ve never had to rather than not doing so because of the rules.

However Rule 2 he might have a point but I don’t think so. I can only ever remember one of our regular home refs playing injury time and we had a lot over the years. I get in an U7s friendly not playing injury time, but in an U16 cup game it feels like it should be played (although not complaining seeing as my brother won.) Then where do you draw the line in junior football? The last U12 game I reffed finished 15-7. Plus each manager does about 5 rolling subs a game. So if you add on 30 seconds per sub and goal, that’s 16 minutes of injury time. For a 60 minute game. So I guess I don’t really play injury time either. Anyway, now I’ve rattled out the long story, a few questions.

(1) Would you book for time wasting in a junior football game?
(2) Would you play injury time in a junior football game?
(3) If you would play injury time, what would you add time on for?
 
The Ref Stop
With respect to "rule 1", it sounds like he's taken a common piece of junior football advice (cautions are less likely to be needed in junior football due to things being more likely to be clumsy than malicious) and taken it as a gospel rule. If a player is a bit slow to respond to a whistle, underthrows a ball when returning it to an opponent or is indecisive on taking a FK/throw, it might just be because they're young and inexperienced. But that's less likely to be the case once you get up to U16, and it's definitely not the case after the first or second incident in a game. Cards absolutely should have come out.

Rule 2 - exactly as @PinnerPaul says. No need to tire everyone out more than necessary if the result is clear, but in a close game, you own the losing team their fair chance to get the goal they need. I have heard of pitches where injury time is discouraged due to there being a very tight schedule, but outside of a tournament this is unlikely - certainly shouldn't be the case on a league played across multiple grounds and multiple weekends.
 
I can only assume he's read the advice regarding match duration times for kids football and thought that these are maximum times. I can see his reasoning as these times are there for a reason and the fact that they're shorter than adult matches is to protect the players. But additional time should still be played.
 
Here in Western Australia it is written into the FootballWest rules for Community Junior Football that:

"No time may be added to the end of each period for stoppages or injuries."

There is nothing however about not cautioning for time wasting.
 
Ben448844 said:
I can only assume he's read the advice regarding match duration times for kids football and thought that these are maximum times. I can see his reasoning as these times are there for a reason and the fact that they're shorter than adult matches is to protect the players. But additional time should still be played.
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It sounds like this is the case. I had a coach go off on one because I stopped the watch in a game. It was an U12 girls' game, and one of the GKs was hurt as the other team scored, so I stopped the KO, called the trainer on and got her sorted out before the restart. At the end of the game his team were winning 2-1 and barely holding on. He demanded to know where the extra time came from, and when I reminded him about the GK injury he told me that "there's no injury time added. There's a maximum time"

He didn't understand that the time stated in the handbook actually states 'maximum time of play' and not 'maximum time' or 'maximum time with no added time to be played' He actually told his girls that "you played really well considering you were playing against twelve!" I left him with "at least I can count!" (U12 girls is 9 v 9)
 
There are some situations where you just really can't add stoppage time. Typically tournaments where doing so would kill the schedule and they tell you to only add if there is a major stoppage, but also with the increase in usage of 3G pitches. If you have a 2pm kick off and you know you have to be off the pitch for 3.50pm so the next game can kick off at 4pm there isn't a lot of wiggle room for added time, short of abandoning the game.
 
I had a feeling this would be the answer. Interested to know if everyone would really add time on as per the Laws of The Game for an U12 game personally.

I can only remember really adding time on thrice in junior football. First one for a bad injury that took 5 minutes. Second one for obvious time wasting in an U12 game at 4-3 to the away team. Player asked me how long was left, I told him 2 minutes, he then said he couldn’t finish the game and went down injured. Manager came running on and treated him. 20 seconds later he asked me how much time was left and when I told him ”2 minutes” he said “really that’s gone slow,” He asked me 30 seconds later and I again told him “2 minutes as I stop the clock whilst manager is on the pitch.” The manager said he didn’t realise this was a rule, told his player to get up and play resumed. Ironically, the home team equalised before the time ran out. Third one, score 3-2, there was a few injuries from cramp and just a lot of players taking as much as time as possible for everything. Not terrible because a booking was never needed but just a lot of players from the winning team wasting time “injured.” But I’m not gonna question injuries in a kids game. Anyway whenever the home team asked I just said I was stopping the watch. With 5 minutes to go though it became 4-2, then 5-2 and eventually 6-2 just before end of allotted time. I played about a minute of added time, could’ve played a lot more tbf but at that score and with the kids clearly not interested from either team anymore, I called it.
 
TheRefereeFrom2003 said:
I had a feeling this would be the answer. Interested to know if everyone would really add time on as per the Laws of The Game for an U12 game personally.

I can only remember really adding time on thrice in junior football. First one for a bad injury that took 5 minutes. Second one for obvious time wasting in an U12 game at 4-3 to the away team. Player asked me how long was left, I told him 2 minutes, he then said he couldn’t finish the game and went down injured. Manager came running on and treated him. 20 seconds later he asked me how much time was left and when I told him ”2 minutes” he said “really that’s gone slow,” He asked me 30 seconds later and I again told him “2 minutes as I stop the clock whilst manager is on the pitch.” The manager said he didn’t realise this was a rule, told his player to get up and play resumed. Ironically, the home team equalised before the time ran out. Third one, score 3-2, there was a few injuries from cramp and just a lot of players taking as much as time as possible for everything. Not terrible because a booking was never needed but just a lot of players from the winning team wasting time “injured.” But I’m not gonna question injuries in a kids game. Anyway whenever the home team asked I just said I was stopping the watch. With 5 minutes to go though it became 4-2, then 5-2 and eventually 6-2 just before end of allotted time. I played about a minute of added time, could’ve played a lot more tbf but at that score and with the kids clearly not interested from either team anymore, I called it.
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Yeah. Arguably more so at that age - the kids are there to have fun, I'm not going to steal 5 minutes of football from them in a really exciting match!

As I said before, a little different if the game is really one-sided, or it's cold/wet and everyone looks miserable, but my default position would always be to give both teams the full game they're paying you for!
 
As a referee for different organizations, it's a must to get their modifications with 48hrs of game day.

My games are always LOTG, except as modified.

Tournaments and school games are the first ones that come to mind about no added time. As for time wasting, I can issue cards. One usually does it.

What is time wasting? I've had players kick balls as far as the moon knowing the last ball went to the sun just a throw in ago. Is kicking the ball out of play illegal?
It may be against the spirit of the game, but better sell it as I've seen kids punt the ball out of play normally and it looks the same. Regulating how hard the ball is hit out of play creates its own issues.

I did have a game where time wasting and YC was demanded by a coach. Unfortunately, the time wasting was passing the ball around in play.
 
Tim - 2013 said:
What is time wasting? I've had players kick balls as far as the moon knowing the last ball went to the sun just a throw in ago. Is kicking the ball out of play illegal?
It may be against the spirit of the game, but better sell it as I've seen kids punt the ball out of play normally and it looks the same. Regulating how hard the ball is hit out of play creates its own issues.

I did have a game where time wasting and YC was demanded by a coach. Unfortunately, the time wasting was passing the ball around in play.
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For Paragraph 1, are you on about a player time wasting by booting the ball out of play for a throw in (I presume you’re not on about a player booting the ball whilst it’s out of play because that’s different.) Kicking the ball out of play isn’t necessarily time wasting, and after all the losing team will be the one hurrying to take the throw in again. If they boot it far then you might stop the clock, I remember one pitch I reffed on with a steep hill where every time the ball left play it fell to the bottom of this hill. Maximum it took at one point was 90 seconds to retrieve the ball. Second half luckily a system with a rotation of balls was put in place So it didn’t happen.

As for Point 2 I respect the coach calling for it 😂 but no chance
 
Surely its just common sense - I did a national schools trials game for the ESFA yesterday, 3 x 30' periods, good standard, but no one cared about the actual result - hence I didn't play a second of added time!
 
I referee junior football, mostly older age groups but occasionally down to U13s. Added time is the norm and very much expected.
 
Am seeing out the game am appointed to in the correct manner as per the lotg with allowance made for common sense

If am at 2pm and my game is hitting the 90, with two teams screaming to come on, and am at 2-1 with, 4,5 mins to be added, I cannot finish that game at 2pm.

if there is 1 min ( very unusual the correct time to be added is 1), or its 4-0, or, maybe at a draw, am swaying towards a sharp end.

its utterly against the spirit of the game tho ( imo) to deny a losing team their rightful ( if it is valid added on time) opportunity to play the correct time.
Shameful conclusion ( imo) to blow on the 2pm mark at 2-1 with 4, 5 mins to play. Your fixture has not been completed.

awkward, yes.
not my responsibility tho as referree to manage a facilities bookings ( home team book 12-2 and we come off park at 2 with them winning and 4 mins left to play!)
 
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