Getting The Timing Right

While watching the Coventry v Newcastle Carling Cup tie earlier this week, a Coventry City equaliser was headed in the ninety-fourth minute. Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan was berating the fourth official, pointing to his watch and shaking his head wondering why when the board showed three minutes at the end of the ninety yet the game still progressed beyond the three extra minutes. It is all down to the referees discretion, hardly the way to run a multi-million pound sport where the referees discretion could be all thats between one team being in a cup final or another being relegated.

This discretionary timekeeping is an all too common scenario at football grounds the length of the country every week, why is it that in the twenty-first century the FA havn't addressed this area?

Football can learn a lot from Rugby Union, the current dalliance in football with the "Respect" campaign has been lifted from rugby, in which only the captain of the team can approach the referee to "discuss" on-pitch matters. The press conference was held with probably the worst offender for dissent, John Terry as the Premier Leagues' figurehead in this attempt to stop the disrespect so often show to refs and linesmen. The difference in rugby is that respect is instilled at a young age, at grass roots. Referees are called "Sir" and if you are penalised by the ref you accept the decision (he's not going to change his mind) and retreat ten metres. Football is not at all like this, the referee on giving a decision against a premier league footballer will be called a choice name, definately not "sir" and once the arguing is over they will form a wall some seven yards from the free kick.

The timing of Rugby Unions top level domestic and international matches is taken out of the referees hands, all he has to do is speak via his microphone headset to his timing official if there is a stoppage for injury and say "time off", the clock is stopped until the ref says "time on" again. Simple? yes it is and it ensures that there is no ambiguity, how many times have you been at a football match when the fourth official holds a digiboard up with 4 minutes on the display, thought to yourselves "hang on, where did that come from?" All the Football League and Premier League refs are "miked up" these days but for what purpose? One use of this technology should be to stop and start the clock, all stadia have digital clocks these days so why not use them? Substitutions when the player going off makes his way to the furthest part of the pitch from the dug-out can eat up the clock but all that is added is thirty seconds for each substitution. The laws of the game state that any time lost is to be added by the referee at his or her discretion, hardly the way to continue in such a success orientated sport.

Football should take all the advice it can from rugby, which continues to be a sport enjoyed by millions of people because of the respect for officials by the players and because the watching customers knowing exactly what is going on, the referees decisions are explained fully to all and the accurate match duration ensures there is no ambiguous discretion causing controversy.