I'm sure we all appreciate a little bit of praise now and then, so I was pleased earlier in the season to receive some comments on my column. 'I enjoyed your article on offside', one reader told me. The same day another reader said, 'I liked your piece on the dropped ball'.
But all good things come to an end and a third reader had a different view. 'I was disappointed in your column on penalty shoot-outs (kicks from the penalty mark he meant of course).
All that talk about female supporters removing their tops to distract the opposition kickers. I thought at least you would have mentioned the situation at Griffin Park at the Brentford v Bristol City FA Cup tie.'
It is of course Brentford's splendid progress in the cup, culminating in their replay against Southampton this week that reminded me of his query. I had to admit that I wasn't aware that anything happened at the game with Bristol City. The cup tie was played on a Thursday and my newspaper on Friday only reported the score at the end of extra time.
'So what happened?' I asked him. He told me that during the kicks the Bristol City goalkeeper got very agitated about his Brentford
counterpart who, he alleged, was coming off his goal line before the ball was kicked. His protestations were so animated that the referee cautioned him and showed him the yellow card. 'The question,' my complainant said, 'is what would have happened if he refused to keep quiet and received a second yellow card and therefore a red one?'
Just deviating for a moment, if the goalkeeper or any other play for that matter, had received a yellow card during the course of the match itself, it would still be 'live' and therefore committing a cautionable offence at the kicks from the penalty mark, would mean a sending off.
But back to the question. If the goalkeeper had been sent off, he could not be replaced by a substitute. His place between the goalposts would have to be taken by one of the outfield players still on the field, and remember, only those on the field at the end of full or extra time can take part in the penalty kicks. The goalkeeper being dismissed would mean of course, that his team would be one short and this would also affect the other team. At penalty kick deciders, there has to be an equal number of players in each team. So if one side is down to ten players to take the kicks, the referee has to ask the other team to remove one of their players as well.
This may seem a little strange but the reason for this is to help the non-offending team.
Consider the situation if ten players on either side have taken their kicks and the score remains level (the record locally in a six-a-side competition was 46-45). The team who are a man short, go back to having a choice of which player takes the next kick and surely they would select their best penalty taker. The team who have eleven players would have to leave it to their final man, who is presumably their worst penalty kicker, that's why he was left till last.
That's the reason the ruling body inserted this clause so that both teams would have equal chances.
There is however one situation when a goalkeeper can be replaced by a substitute during the so-called penalty shoot-outs. If a goalkeeper is injured at that time, a named substitute can take his place, providing the club has not already used their three substitutes. Just some of the intricate rules for this simple solution for settling a drawn game, but I hope the answer has pleased at least one reader.
Dick
Sawdon Smith