My proudest moment in refereeing didn't come on the football field. It came at a dinner in a London hotel when Sir Stanley Rous presented me with an award and then came and chatted at my table.
I can hear some people, especially younger readers, say - Sir Stanley who? Stanley Rous was probably the greatest referee of his day, a former schoolmaster who went on to be the Secretary of the Football Association.
But more importantly from a referees point of view, he is remembered as the inventor of the diagonal system of control. Although referee's patrol paths are more flexible today, the essence of the diagonal system is still used throughout the world. Perhaps an example of his stature was when he came to Reading in 1947 to address referees in the town, over 200 people turned up to hear him, the largest meeting the Reading Referees have ever had in their eighty odd years.
Some time after he retired, Sir Stanley called on the International FA. Board to call a truce on altering the laws of football every year. This was a little ironic perhaps as he himself had rewritten the laws when had been a member of the Board which is responsible for them. But his request was echoed by referees and clubs alike, for every year we have seen continual changes to the laws. What about a period of settling down was what everyone was asking.
This year is the nearest we have got to this ideal. Just some minor changes and yet believe it or not, the Information on the Amendments to the Laws of the Game and Instructions of the International FA Board sent out to every referee, still ran to seven pages.
I should explain that the book which we call LOAF, contains the actual laws of the game and the Decisions of the International F.A. Board. These decisions are really the official interpretations on the laws for the
guidance of referees and players.
There are only two alterations to the laws themselves, one deletion and one addition, neither of which make any difference to what happens on the field of play.
The deletion is the clause in Law 12 which said that an indirect free kick must be awarded if a goalkeeper wastes time. This doesn't mean that a goalkeeper can now waste time without punishment. Last year, of course, the law changed to say that the goalkeeper must not hold on to the ball for more than six seconds before releasing it from his possession. If he does, he will still give away an indirect free kick, so the extra clause is no longer necessary.
The addition to the laws is also under Law 12: Fouls and Misconduct. This relates to what happens after a player has been sent off. It now says that such a player 'must leave the vicinity of the field of play and the technical area'. This is to prevent players with professional clubs watching the rest of the match from the dugout and possibly causing more trouble or perhaps hurling abuse. To comply with this new ruling the player should now go down to the dressing room out of harm's way.
However, on the local parks this may not be quite so easy. Dressing rooms can be well away from the pitches and often are locked during the progress of the game to prevent pilfering. In this case it would be impossible to insist that the player returns to the dressing room. The wording is therefore sufficiently open to allow referees to make a judgement as to the re-location of the player so that he can no longer cause a nuisance.
There are also changes to the Instructions and Directives, some of which I will cover in later weeks, but only these two minor changes to the laws.
I'm sure Sir Stanley would have approved.
Dick Sawdon Smith