It was with some surprise I learned last week there had been a controversy over West Bromwich Albion’s equalising goal against Reading, in their recent Championship match.
It was a throw-in, taken just before the corner that led to the
goal which, according to the BBC Radio Berkshire commentator, was the problem. Apparently, a West Bromwich player threw the ball in at the same time as he was jumping over the advertising hoarding that ran alongside the field of play.
I wished I had seen it, but I spoke to David Downs, who
Post readers will know as the Reading FC historian from his weekly column
Ask Downs. David, however, also does the match commentary for the local hospital radio and he confirmed that that is exactly what happened. In which case it is difficult to understand why it was allowed as it violates the first of the five requirements for a correct throw-in.
The law says that, at the moment of delivering the ball,
the thrower must have part of each foot either on the touch line or on the ground outside the touch line. It doesn’t say how far behind the line the ball can be thrown and still be legal. It does however state in the referees’ guidelines at the back of the
Laws, that if the ball touches the ground before it enters the field of play, the throw must be retaken. This would suggest that there is no restriction but it must enter the pitch where it went out. So, if the throw had been taken from behind the hoarding, it would have been legitimate providing the thrower had both feet in the ground, which obviously he didn’t have if he was leaping over it at the time.
Who was to blame for missing it, the referee or his assistant? Usually where there are neutral assistant referees, the responsibility is shared for ensuring the throw-in is taken correctly. The referee will be responsible for the hands and the assistant for the feet. This is because, whilst the referee can easily see if the player’s feet are off the ground, he can’t always see if they are inside the pitch. Whether this was the case in the Reading game I don’t know because every referee has little variations in the instructions he gives to his assistants. However, even if the assistant referee’s attention was distracted, this was apparently such a blatant breach of the requirements, it’s surprising that that the referee missed it.
The throw-in is a simple method of restarting play when the ball goes out of play over the touch line and has been part of the
Laws since they were first drawn up by the FA in 1863. Arsenal manager
Arsène Wenger, however, has suggested it should be changed to a kick-in. To my mind this would only delay the restart if the time-wasting at free kicks is anything to go by. There was a nonsense coming into the game whereby opponents would stand directly in front of the thrower to restrict his movements, but this was ruled out by the last change to the offside law when it was decreed that opponents must be not less than two metres from the thrower.
Perhaps Wenger is jealous of Stoke’s long thrower, Rory Delap, who has unsettled his defence more than once. Some have questioned Delap’s use of a towel to dry the ball but it has been sanctioned providing it is also available to the opponents and does not create undue delay. Delap has shown that, if he throws it correctly, that is - faces the field of play, uses both hands, delivers the ball from over and behind his head and of course keeps his feet on the ground at the time of throwing, it is a very useful skill.
Dick Sawdon Smith
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