Ref, laces!

[Viridis1886]

Who's delaying play in order for people to tie up their laces and how are you managing it. It was never an issue when I was playing 20 (and a bit) years ago - we just found a break in play and did them up as quickly as possible. We certainly weren't expecting the rest if the game to stop around us.

It seems like every restart recently has someone (or a team mate) wanting to pause.

 

[davlon]

I never stop the game unless it's for the keeper or a few players at the same time. They should tie them properly when they put them on.
Obviously for younger age groups (possibly unable to tie themselves), I have a bit more flexibility.

 

[Tealeaf]

Unless the attacking team have taken a quick restart hold them up. You’re in control of the time, and allowing someone to do their laces buys you a little goodwill. In many case the ball needs to be retrieved anyway, and laces can be done during this time period. If it’s a few seconds longer, it’s a few second longer.

Be clear and make sure the team taking the restart are aware you’re holding it and go from there.

I learned this the hard way. Told a player I wasn’t waiting and this degenerated into such a level of dissent I had no option but to caution. He later walked because of a second caution after getting into a shoving match with another player.

Did he deserve both cautions? Yes. . He bore ultimate responsibility for what he said to me, but had I allowed him to tie his lace with the ball out of play I could have avoided the red entirely.

Lesson learned. Don’t make life difficult for yourself; you have enough issues without creating more

 

[Anubis]

Common sense and a feeling for the game

Cant imagine stopping a game but certainly would delay it

the age level, the score, the position on the pitch, the way the game is going, is it a tactic, is it one from each team, where is the ball, is it freezing cold and a struggle to retie, can the player even manage, is it a safety concern, lots of factors

Bar someone using it as a deliberate tactic to stop a promising attack etc, ( not sure i ever seen it) then am more than willing to work with the players

ball out for a throw...." ref, can you give me time tie my laces?.

absolutely, pitfalls of saying no far outweigh the positives,

 

[JamesL]

A trick here. If it's happening multiple times in a game, loudly shout, "can everyone check their shoe laces, I'm not holding play up again after this one".

My other quip is laughing with the player saying they should get velcro ones for Christmas.