One of the worst heartbreaks in football is to lose with practically the last kick of the game, leaving no time for a come back. This of course was Reading’s fate against Manchester City. They pulled back from being a goal down and then held their own for the second half, only to succumb to a terrific
volley in the time ‘added on’ for stoppages.
What made it worse, said some of those who took advantage of the players’ subsidised travel to the City of Manchester Stadium, was that the stadium announcer had said there was to be two minutes added time but it was nearer four minutes when the goal was scored. Surely, someone said to me, two minutes should mean two minutes.
That sounds fair but it isn’t really true. I hope that what the announcer actually said was there would be a ‘minimum of two minutes’. This is what they have been asked to announce to try and placate disgruntled fans who feel cheated when the final whistle starts to stretch further away. In the Laws of the Game the referee is the sole timekeeper but there are many reasons that he can’t give a definitive time.
In professional football, the referee is obliged to inform the fourth official how many minutes he expects to play over the forty five, so this can be shown to spectators. To do this he checks two of his watches, one which he will have stopped for all stoppages in the game, this is the one from which he will blow the final whistle and the other which he allows to run. The difference between the two watches is the time beyond forty-five minutes that he expects to play and which will be shown on the fourth official’s electronic board.
However, his signal to his fourth official has to be given before the forty-five minutes is up,
to give him time to get the board organised, and it will be rounded down to the minimum amount. In other words, if the difference is two minutes forty-five seconds he will say two minutes, although he intends to play for the full two minutes forty-five seconds. But how does that stretch to more than a minute over?
During the short time between informing his fourth official and the forty five minutes, there may be a stoppage for which he will stop his watch, already taking the game over what he had indicated. Then, of course, there may be stoppages during the added time. Think how many times substitutions are made within the last few minutes of a match sometime even during time ‘added on’. I know many feel that these last minute substitutions are made to waste time if the team is winning but by Law the referee must stop his watch for all substitutions.
I have often heard spectators say when the time to be added is announced, ‘How did he get
that? Well, making substitutions is one reason. What else might cause a referee to stop his watch? There are of course injuries, not just for their treatment but the assessment and the time the injured player takes to leave the feel of play.
Then there are cases of players wasting time. This is of course during dead ball time. A goalkeeper may take a long time to take a goal kick or players may deliberately delay a free kick or throw-in. There is also what the Law says ‘any other cause’. This could mean outside interference, spectators or even a dog on the pitch on local parks, floodlight failure, ball out of the ground or deflated. All sorts of things can delay proceedings.
All the referee is doing, is ensuring that play lasts the full ninety minutes and spectators get full value for their money, even if it sometimes means heartbreak.
Dick Sawdon Smith
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© R Sawdon Smith 2007