If things had gone a little differently and the FA had got their way, Reading FC, or at least its training ground at Hogwood Park Arborfield, might have played a little part in the long history of football. However, I doubt it would have made any difference to Reading’s ‘phantom goal’ which gave them a point against Watford.
Yes it’s that ‘goal’ I’m talking about. Coming back from holiday that weekend, the first thing I knew about it was on Monday evening when I watched Thames Valley Tonight news, where it was their feature item. Since then I couldn’t begin to count how many people who have tackled me on the subject. I have been dismayed at the condemnation and ridicule heaped on the assistant referee, mainly of course by people who have never held a flag in their hand, and the strictures that they felt should be applied to him, including immediate removal from all refereeing.
Of course he made a mistake, but as the PGMOL, which is in charge of referees in the professional game, has said ‘Football is a human game played at a fast pace where mistakes are made by players and match officials alike’.
Players do make mistakes. Look at Leroy Lita’s mistake in ballooning the ball over the bar when involved in Reading’s penalties to settle their Carling Cup game with Stoke. No one’s suggesting banning him from all football. Nigel Bannister would not have reached the top list of officials without ability and commitment built up over many years. As PGMOL has said, ‘We regret this error of judgement and will now work with the officials concerned to determine how this occurred in an attempt to minimise such mistakes in the future.’
Much has been made of the fact that the referee Stuart Attwell, is relatively inexperienced, having become the youngest ever referee in the Premier League. Seen to have exceptional ability, he has been ‘fast tracked’ to the top, but he still has ten years experience as a referee. Many thought he should have over-ruled his assistant.
I saw a video of another contested goal recently where the ball flew in and out of the goalmouth, similar to the Watford incident. When the referee blew for a goal everyone was bewildered, as they were at Watford, but a goal line camera showed quite clearly the ball had been scooped back from over the line. That referee hadn’t seen what happened but, like his colleague at Watford, he accepted his assistant’s flag. Unless he knew differently, he had little alternative.
If only the FA would get into the 21st century, I’ve been told, and had goal line technology, this sort of thing wouldn’t happen. I have to tell you that the FA is in favour of such technology. They experimented with likely systems at Reading’s training ground and both the FA and the Premier League were prepared to back the Hawkeye system. This is similar to that used at Wimbledon for the tennis but where they stop the game whilst the recording is viewed, in football it would send a radio signal immediately to the referee that the ball had crossed the line between the goalposts. The FA therefore was surprised when they attended the International FA Board meeting in Scotland last March, to find that FIFA suspended all technology experiments. Instead they are to trial a system whereby two extra assistant referees are involved, one at each goal line. They would not only judge the ball over the line but also assist with other decisions in that part of the field. Even if the FA had got the go ahead, it is doubtful that it would have been used in the Championship this season. In the meantime we are going to have to accept that football is a human game with human mistakes being made.
Dick Sawdon Smith
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© R Sawdon Smith 2008