A&H

Injury Time

Libano Ref

Libano Ref

New Member
How strict are you with injury time? At lower levels, where the ball seems to go out for 30+ seconds several times during a half, do you usually add all that on? What about time wasted during the injury time (especially at youth level when players ask to tie their boots)?

Situation 1:
I've had a manager tell me that no time can be added over injury time...... His GK wasted a minute between getting the ball and asking for his shoes to be tied. If 3 minutes were added, would you play the extra minute (which was wasted) over those 3 minutes? It's not basketball when it comes to time, but I do like to be fair with this point. I played an extra minute at that point, explaining time was wasted.

Situation 2:
Team 1 is leading 1-0 throughout the game... 3 minutes were added on, and during this time a player was receiving treatment for over 90 seconds plus at least 30+ seconds wasted on a few goal kicks. I played 2 minutes on top of those 3, and an equalizer was scored after 4:25 of injury time. Coaches of Team 1 were furious claiming only 3 minutes were added on. I explained my decision but they wouldn't have it, I wasn't too bothered but it did make me wonder.
Would you have whistled F.T after 3 minutes no matter what happens during those 3 minutes?

It seems to be an inconsistent issue even at the highest level. You see officials checking for VAR and wasting a whole minute during injury time, only to never add that on top of it (in the Prem for example), whereas officials in Serie A for example sometimes add 2-3 minutes on top of the original injury time based on time wasted during.

It all depends on how strict you are regarding this issue..
 
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Jad_Breiche said:
How strict are you with injury time? At lower levels, where the ball seems to go out for 30+ seconds several times during a half, do you usually add all that on? What about time wasted during the injury time (especially at youth level when players ask to tie their boots)?

Situation 1:
I've had a manager tell me that no time can be added over injury time...... His GK wasted a minute between getting the ball and asking for his shoes to be tied. If 3 minutes were added, would you play the extra minute (which was wasted) over those 3 minutes? It's not basketball when it comes to time, but I do like to be fair with this point. I played an extra minute at that point, explaining time was wasted.

Situation 2:
Team 1 is leading 1-0 throughout the game... 3 minutes were added on, and during this time a player was receiving treatment for over 90 seconds plus at least 30+ seconds wasted on a few goal kicks. I played 2 minutes on top of those 3, and an equalizer was scored after 4:25 of injury time. Coaches of Team 1 were furious claiming only 3 minutes were added on. I explained my decision but they wouldn't have it, I wasn't too bothered but it did make me wonder.
Would you have whistled F.T after 3 minutes no matter what happens during those 3 minutes?

It seems to be an inconsistent issue even at the highest level. You see officials checking for VAR and wasting a whole minute during injury time, only to never add that on top of it (in the Prem for example), whereas officials in Serie A for example sometimes add 2-3 minutes on top of the original injury time based on time wasted during.

It all depends on how strict you are regarding this issue..
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As referee you are the final and ultimate time keeper. This is my answer to people who moan about too much/not enough time added.
 
You absolutely should add time wasted during injury time. Anyone who says otherwise has no clue. (Though sadly we see professional referees who are sloppy about this.)

As far as how strict to add, I think that depends on a lot of things. Where I am, we have games so compacted on top of one another there is not a lot of latitude to add time in the youth games.

The R is the ultimate arbiter of how much time to add. But it is also useful to get a sense of what those in your local community do--you don't want to be an extreme outlier in what is expected.
 
Situation 1, the time you have decided to add on is the minimum that you are playing.

Situation 2 is the same, if you are adding on three, then, thats your minimum, anything you class as a stoppage in that 3 is on top of that

At 1-0, I feel its more important to add on time than at 5-0
its easy to lose track that both teams have the equal time to score, of course Fergie Time was a talking point, who said tho only Utd could use that time to score?

Every game is different, different scores, weather, attitudes, abilities, you then have two other teams waiting to come on, there are so many factors. Sonetimes you will have an end to end 3-3 and you add on a token minute and everybody goes home after shaking hands. Sonetimes you have your example, a 1-0 which becomes a 1-1 and some hassle.
Sometimes it be 5-0 and you get the feeling everybody just wants up the road, a token minute can fit here.
If time tho does need to be added on, then, it is important to add it on.

bottom line is both teams have equal time to score and end of day, you do have the ace card, the referee is the only one responsible for the time.
 
A general practice seems to be think about 1 minute at end of first half and 3 minutes at the end of the second half.

First half, likely only major stoppages are for an injury or goals.

Second half you factor in the above and also substitutions and potential time wasting as well especially in a close game.

I used to stop my watch religiously when I get I needed to, now I make a mental note from the starting point for each half.

We've had 6 subs, that's 30 seconds each (unless one team has done multiples at the same time) so 3 minutes. We've not had the trainer on but there has been some low level time wasting - that's a other minute - we're playing 4 minutes in a close game.

Having said that I did a cup game that finished 12-0 earlier in the season, we had 6 subs plus a 90 second or so injury stoppage, I blew up smack bang on 45 minutes for the second half.

It's an art not an exact science and as long as you can explain it, you're fine!
 
How can anyone not get that of course you can/must (sometimes) add time to added time?

Otherwise winning team can do what they like in added time without fear of sanction and/or the time being added on, apart from the possibility of an injury in added time.

My only advice is don't look at what happens at the top levels!
 
Justylove said:
A general practice seems to be think about 1 minute at end of first half and 3 minutes at the end of the second half.

First half, likely only major stoppages are for an injury or goals.

Second half you factor in the above and also substitutions and potential time wasting as well especially in a close game.

I used to stop my watch religiously when I get I needed to, now I make a mental note from the starting point for each half.

We've had 6 subs, that's 30 seconds each (unless one team has done multiples at the same time) so 3 minutes. We've not had the trainer on but there has been some low level time wasting - that's a other minute - we're playing 4 minutes in a close game.

Having said that I did a cup game that finished 12-0 earlier in the season, we had 6 subs plus a 90 second or so injury stoppage, I blew up smack bang on 45 minutes for the second half.

It's an art not an exact science and as long as you can explain it, you're fine!
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I once played 13 minutes of genuine time added on for stoppages. 4 bad injuries, taking 3-4 mins each.
The home team, that lost (conceding in about the 6th or 7th minute of injury time) were fuming because "they never play that much on the tele"
Not realising they were the beneficiaries of the added time seeing as it gave them more time to find an equaliser. How they thought could have been even less than when the goal was scored is crazy.
 
JamesL said:
I once played 13 minutes of genuine time added on for stoppages. 4 bad injuries, taking 3-4 mins each.
The home team, that lost (conceding in about the 6th or 7th minute of injury time) were fuming because "they never play that much on the tele"
Not realising they were the beneficiaries of the added time seeing as it gave them more time to find an equaliser. How they thought could have been even less than when the goal was scored is crazy.
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I was 4th recently in the vase. L3 in the middle and he said - write down every stoppage with a rough amount of time, I'll give you my view at 43 and 88, but you have the actual record.

Second half he signalled 6 added and I had 7, so he was happy with 7. we played 7. Home team who we winning went mad but I was able to point to my notes - 6 subs 3 minutes, 2 injuries totalling 90 seconds and a flare on the pitch leading to a 2 1/2 minute delay, there's your 7.

Great tip for being a 4th.
 
JamesL said:
I once played 13 minutes of genuine time added on for stoppages. 4 bad injuries, taking 3-4 mins each.
The home team, that lost (conceding in about the 6th or 7th minute of injury time) were fuming because "they never play that much on the tele"
Not realising they were the beneficiaries of the added time seeing as it gave them more time to find an equaliser. How they thought could have been even less than when the goal was scored is crazy.
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I played 8 minutes on Saturday and the equalising goal was scored in the 7th. Similar in the first half for a freak neck injury which I obviously let the physio take as much time as needed (player was off the pitch having hit his head on some railings after stumbling whilst tackling. Never had both halves of the same game with lengthy injuries like that before.
 
Justylove said:
I was 4th recently in the vase. L3 in the middle and he said - write down every stoppage with a rough amount of time, I'll give you my view at 43 and 88, but you have the actual record.

Second half he signalled 6 added and I had 7, so he was happy with 7. we played 7. Home team who we winning went mad but I was able to point to my notes - 6 subs 3 minutes, 2 injuries totalling 90 seconds and a flare on the pitch leading to a 2 1/2 minute delay, there's your 7.

Great tip for being a 4th.
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Yes, that is pretty standard at senior levels. Quite satisfying when a team kicks off about the added time to tell them exactly what it is made up of.
 
Play full added time and added time in added time, especially when there is deliberate time wasting. Funny only the manager leading the game make up their own rules about added time.

Only with very one sided games (4 or more goals in it) minimise added time. It's a lot easier as there is no gamesmanship during the game or added time.
 
Bit of a tanget, but here is an interesting stat with regards to the time the ball spends in play at the highest level:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1491089672185196544
.
The ball was in play for just over 60 minutes on average, the highest average in the premier league, but it is incomprehensible to add on 30 minutes. I personally think a rugby style stop clock should be used at all levels of football.
 
James P said:
Bit of a tanget, but here is an interesting stat with regards to the time the ball spends in play at the highest level:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1491089672185196544
.
The ball was in play for just over 60 minutes on average, the highest average in the premier league, but it is incomprehensible to add on 30 minutes. I personally think a rugby style stop clock should be used at all levels of football.
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It's accepted that time is lost to normal stoppages. The book even says so.
Throw ins, corners, GKs, free kicks, cautions. These are all natural breaks in play so we'd never be looking to add on 30 mins anyway.

Stop clocks could work but they aren't the holy grail you think they are.

I struggle to remember to restart my watch after one stoppage never mind always having to remember.
 
James P said:
Bit of a tanget, but here is an interesting stat with regards to the time the ball spends in play at the highest level:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1491089672185196544
.
The ball was in play for just over 60 minutes on average, the highest average in the premier league, but it is incomprehensible to add on 30 minutes. I personally think a rugby style stop clock should be used at all levels of football.
Click to expand...

Bear in mind too, we hear constant the players are tired, no time to recover from injury etc,
If thats based on 60 mins of in play time, absolute meltdown should someone dare suggest they perform another third on top of what they already do
 
JamesL said:
It's accepted that time is lost to normal stoppages. The book even says so.
Throw ins, corners, GKs, free kicks, cautions. These are all natural breaks in play so we'd never be looking to add on 30 mins anyway.

Stop clocks could work but they aren't the holy grail you think they are.

I struggle to remember to restart my watch after one stoppage never mind always having to remember.
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Agree that stop clocks aren't the holy grail, but as the data shows you're losing 30 mins a game most of the time, the current format ain't working.
Especially when Rupert Murdoch wants as many eyes on the game as possible
 
JamesL said:
It's accepted that time is lost to normal stoppages. The book even says so.
Throw ins, corners, GKs, free kicks, cautions. These are all natural breaks in play so we'd never be looking to add on 30 mins anyway.

Stop clocks could work but they aren't the holy grail you think they are.

I struggle to remember to restart my watch after one stoppage never mind always having to remember.
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Recalling without looking, but I'm inclined to think 'disciplinary action' gets a mention (under time lost), so cautions could be accounted for
 
Justylove said:
goals
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And I recall 'goals' not getting a mention under 'time lost'
Stand to be corrected on both this and the above !!!
Anyway, goals lead to celebrations, which should be accounted for. But a quick KO and I'll forget the goal in isolation
 
James P said:
Agree that stop clocks aren't the holy grail, but as the data shows you're losing 30 mins a game most of the time, the current format ain't working.
Especially when Rupert Murdoch wants as many eyes on the game as possible
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But you aren't losing 30 minues per game as natural stoppages like throw-ins, goal kicks, corners, etc shouldn't have the watch stopped. The stadium / timekeepers clock would only be stopped for injuries, subs and any other stoppage not classed as a natural part of the game. That probably wouldn't end up being a lot different to what gets added now. It might aruably be less, as referees might add a bit of time if the winning keeper is taking an age on GKs at the end of the game, but wouldn't be able to with a central timekeeper.

I'm not a massive rugby fan but I don't think they stop the clock for natural stoppages there either. That includes lineouts, which take considerably longer on average than a throw-in in football.
 
Justylove said:
I used to stop my watch religiously when I get I needed to,
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I used to do this as well (but only with a second watch). It's just a distraction and I quickly concluded entirely unnecessary
BTW, I'm adamant that one watch should never be stopped, except for when exceptional delays occur. I also note the time of KO cos I've had more than one timing drama whereby I've accidently pressed the stop or lap button etc. My first ever game... I made that interesting by failing to start the dam thing hahaha
 
Big Cat said:
And I recall 'goals' not getting a mention under 'time lost'
Stand to be corrected on both this and the above !!!
Anyway, goals lead to celebrations, which should be accounted for. But a quick KO and I'll forget the goal in isolation
Click to expand...
Goal celebrations do get a mention.
You are correct re: sanctions. Looks like my games are going to get an awful lot longer 😏
 
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