Last week I looked at the first of two cautions that Reading striker Simon Church received against Bristol City. His second yellow card, which resulted in him being sent off, came immediately after he had scored the goal that salvaged a point in the dying minutes.
The team were a goal down following the earlier penalty award that he had disputed. Exultation, no doubt tinged with relief, led him to celebrate by jumping on the perimeter wall that separated the Reading supporters from the field of play. Other Reading players following up behind, forced him into the crowd.
The yellow card that followed, meant that both his offences were committed off the field of play, for his first one was for dissent to the assistant referee whilst still a substitute. That’s got to be some sort of record.
In the actual Laws of the Game there is no mention of goal- scoring celebrations. There is, however, a whole page dedicated to them in the
Interpretations and Guidelines for Referees that appear in the back of the book and which are just as binding on referees. It starts: ‘Whilst it is permissible for a player to demonstrate his joy when a goal has been scored, the celebration must not be excessive. The practice of choreographed celebrations is not to be encouraged when it results in excessive time wasting and referees are instructed to intervene is such cases.’
Then there are four instances listed where referees are instructed that players must be cautioned. The first yellow card is given if, in the opinion of the referee, the player makes gestures which are
'provocative, derisory or inflammatory'. This covers such incidents as Adebayor running the length of the football pitch to celebrate in front of the Arsenal supporters after scoring against his old club. His antics were designed to goad the Arsenal supporters who had earlier berated him because he left them to join Manchester City.
The second cautionable requirement is if a player ‘climbs on a perimeter fence to celebrate a goal being scored’. This is of course where Church fell foul of the guidelines.
The next is the most usual goal celebrational offence, and that is if a player removes his shirt or covers his head with his shirt. Just a touch of bravado no doubt but it’s a certain yellow card.
The final celebratory offence is a rather odd one but I’m told it is important in other parts of the world. It is if a player covers his head with a mask or similar item. The book even used to show some of the elaborate masks that players have worn.
Leaving the field to celebrate a goal, the guidance continues, is not a cautionable offence in itself but it is essential, that players return to the field as soon as possible. The final guidance given to referees is that ‘referees are expected to act in a preventative manner and to exercise common sense in dealing with the celebration of a goal.
How much common sense can a referee apply? I remember a senior referee telling me, that if a player had already been cautioned he wouldn’t issue a second yellow card for climbing on the perimeter fence. He felt it was too harsh for just a technical offence. The referee in the Reading game obviously didn’t feel that way and to be fair to him, as we can see, it is a mandatory cautionable offence.
Simon Church said that referees don’t understand the emotion of scoring a vital goal but I’ve witnessed many more valuable goals, which have been celebrated with greater restraint. Surely players already on one yellow card should be aware that any of the four celebrations listed above, are going to deprive their club of their services not just for the rest of the game but for another entire
match.
Dick Sawdon Smith
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