From The Middle

Dick Sawdon Smith contributes In The Middle, articles his writes for The Reading Chronicle. They are reproduced on this web site with his kind permission. These articles were previously known as From The Middle and have included many contributors including Brian Palmer and John Moore. If you would like to contribute, please contact Aaron Baker.

• Penalty Kick Changes 8 December 2016
• Can you Spot a Foul Tackle from the Terraces? 1 December 2016
• What Players Must Wear 25 November 2016
• Being Forewarned is not Victimisation 17 November 2016
• Change to Advantage Law is Great Improvement 10 November 2016
• Seeing is Believing 3 November 2016
• Injured Players Need Not Always Leave FoP 27 October 2016
• Offside Distraction by Another Word 13 October 2016
• “Last Man” is not in the Book 6 October 2016
• Action Against Dissent – About Time Too 29 September 2016
• Why Should Control of Players be Left to Referees? 22 September 2016
• When Handball Warrants a Caution 15 September 2016
• Advantage need not always be played 7 April 2016
• Going soft on DOGSO 31 March 2016
• Video Refs won’t solve all controversies 24 March 2016
• The Fourth Official is not a Manager’s verbal punchbag 17 March 2016
• Messi and Suarez’s joint penalty 10 March 2016
• All change for the Laws of the Game this summer 3 March 2016
• Full-time Refs for Championship next season 25 February 2016
• When should a Referee blow for time? 18 February 2016
• Are shoulder charges still allowed? 11 February 2016
• Tiniest margins count in football 4 February 2016
• Getting the laws in a twist 28 January 2016
• Judgement is often a question of angles 21 January 2016
• Heading the ball in football banned 14 January 2016
• Playing the ball does not always constitute a fair tackle 7 January 2016
• A Little Sign of Goodwill 23 December 2015
• Abuse Them and You’ll Lose Them 17 December 2015
• Deliberate Handball is Not Always Simple 11 December 2015
• What do Goal Line Assistant Referees do? 3 December 2015
• Can Fair Play Awards Stem Aggression? 26 November 2015
• Which tackles warrant a caution? 19 November 2015
• Bewildering Stoppage at the Mad Stad 12 November 2015
• Are Video Referees on the Way? 22 October 2015
• When Tackles Become Fouls 15 October 2015
• Give Young Referees a Chance 8 October 2015
• Retrospective Punishment – Catching the Cheats 1 October 2015
• Overhead Kicks can be Dangerous 24 September 2015
• Referees and Injury Treatment 17 September 2015
• A Change to Offside 10 September 2015
• Referees Need Help – Not Constant Criticism 4 May 2015
• Don’t Believe Every Shout For Handball 27 April 2015
• Does a Player’s Past Actions Affect Referees’ Decisions? 20 April 2015
• The Penalty Kick Retaken Four Days Later 13 April 2015
• Offside – It’s Not Difficult to Understand 10 April 2015
• There is a Conspiracy – But Against Referees 3 April 2015
• Goalkeepers Must Be Allowed to Clear Without Hindrance 26 March 2015
• Dissent Tackled by American Professional Referees – Us Next Please 16 March 2015
• No Change in Triple Punishment, or Video Support for Referees – yet 9 March 2015
• Match Delegate Troubles Chelsea 2 March 2015
• Rooney Innocent of Two Controversies in One Match 23 February 2015
• Extra Substitution Proposed – But Don’t Make Them Too Slowly 16 February 2015
• For Women Referees – It’s a Wide if Troubled World Out There 9 February 2015
• Is the Spectacle of the Game a Referee’s Consideration? 2 February 2015
• No Penalty if a Foul is off the Field 26 January 2015
• Getting a Grip on the Grapplers 19 January 2015
• Can a Referee Delay Substitutions Being Made? 12 January 2015
• There’s more technology in refereeing than you might think 7 January 2015
• Scourge of Diving is not Referees’ Problem Alone 5 January 2015
• Why should referees suffer insults? 17 December 2014
• Shaka Hislop helps to shape laws of the game 12 December 2014
• Pundits and Sam Allardyce still have a lot to learn 4 December 2014
• Why QPR missed out on beating the champions 24 November 2014
• Even the best referees must obey the rules, even Mark Clattenburg 23 November 2014
• How long does it need to take advantage? 12 November 2014
• The ambiguity of taking free kicks 9 November 2014
• Howard Webb’s resignation 6 November 2014
• Offside – how much nearer do you have to be? 20 October 2014
• Rooney’s foul was not professional but violent conduct 9 October 2014
• When does a goal celebration become an offence? 8 October 2014
• How referees prepared for their World Cup matches 7 October 2014
• World Cup commentator who showed up the BBC 6 October 2014
• The magic spray that caught the imagination 3 October 2014
• What to expect at the World Cup and beyond 21 May 2014
• Jose Mourinho – the special one or enemy of football? 1 May 2014
• Is there a right and wrong way to toss the coin? 26 April 2014
• Decisions, decisions – the hard part of refereeing 17 April 2014
• What do Premier League referees do between Saturdays? 10 April 2014
• Decisions are better when players tell the truth 3 April 2014
• Parents asked to keep quiet at football matches 26 March 2014
• Football managers should set a good example 25 March 2014
• How few players can constitute a team? 24 March 2014
• What makes a goal-scoring opportunity obvious? 20 March 2014
• Feigning injury is harming the game 10 March 2014
• Playing the ball doesn’t always absolve tackles 28 February 2014
• Psychologists have a warped view of referees 19 February 2014
• Should spitting footballers be above the bye-law? 5 February 2014
• Should referees be talking to players? 2 February 2014
• New interfering with play interpretations meant Newcastle’s ‘goal’ should have stood 1 February 2014
• Let’s regain Eusebio’s spirit of the game 17 January 2014
• Diving must be stopped says Sepp Blatter – but is it that easy? 11 January 2014
• Players’ mistakes can cost games so why always blame the referee? 3 January 2014
• Did Lloris need to scramble to save goal from drop ball? 30 December 2013
• Fifty years of instant replay torture 29 December 2013
• Can Platini introduce the sin bin into football? 28 December 2013
• A book that changed the world 5 December 2013
• Is football seen as the cheating game? 3 December 2013
• Technology is already helping with decisions 21 November 2013
• Players don’t always have to leave the pitch after injury treatment 20 November 2013
• Was Norwich’s “unsporting” goal wrongly disallowed? 10 November 2013
• Goals sometimes slip through the net 31 October 2013
• When does a goalkeeper’s control of the ball end? 25 October 2013
• When did you last see a contested drop-ball? 17 October 2013
• Is this the worst job in football? 16 October 2013
• Referee can’t undo physio’s saving interference 16 October 2013
• Playing the advantage not always the best option 29 September 2013
• UEFA women referees set a great example 29 September 2013
• Will new offside interpretations cause chaos? 29 September 2013
• Should unnaturally positioned hands be penalised? 29 September 2013
• History of the RRA magazine and ‘From The Middle’ articles 3 August 2013
• Match Of The Day needs to change 8 May 2013
• Life after football for the professional footballer 1 May 2013
• Must yellow cards be shown for cautions to stick? 24 April 2013
• Goal line help for referees – at last 17 April 2013
• Are FA reprieve panels good for the game? 3 April 2013
• Why McManaman’s tackle was left unpunished 27 March 2013
• Lessons from Swansea’s off-side goal 20 March 2013
• Was Nani’s high tackle a sending off? 13 March 2013
• Premier referees’ training days are no secret 6 March 2013
• Is the FA’s influence on laws coming to an end? 27 February 2013
• Proposed law changes for next season 20 February 2013
• Questions over two yellow cards and no red 13 February 2013
• What are the benefits of offside in football? 6 February 2013
• Assistant referees are the to assist not insist 30 January 2013
• Just being offside is not distracting an opponent 23 January 2013
• Whatever the replay shows the referee’s still wrong 16 January 2013
• How does Sir Alex get away with being completely wrong? 11 January 2013
• Head high boots can endanger safety 4 January 2013
• Serious injury can be a difficult judgement 26 December 2012
• Not fair that referees face psychological warfare 19 December 2012
• The shirt-pullers that get away with it 12 December 2012
• It’s no sinecure running the line 6 December 2012
• Football assault hurts more than referee 28 November 2012
• Football league blitz goes unheeded 21 November 2012
• There can be reasons for extending extra-time 14 November 2012
• Should referees’ words be broadcast? 7 November 2012
• Our top referees experience now exported to USA 31 October 2012
• Diving is only an offence when done to deceive 24 October 2012
• Law change means no score from drop-ball 17 October 2012
• Newcastle’s goal raises questions on handball 10 October 2012
• Time for abusive language to stop 3 October 2012
• There should be a six second warning 26 September 2012
• Local clubs in substitution experiment 19 September 2012
• Additional assistant referees are now official 12 September 2012
• Technology but only for the goal line 5 September 2012
• Tough decision divides ex-referees on Arsenal game 10 April 2012
• Why a referee showed players red cards in his dressing room 4 April 2012
• Would two referees be better than one? 28 March 2012
• The curious case of the Hijab and the laws of football 21 March 2012
• Local football may change substitution rules 14 March 2012
• Tackling with feet off the ground risks a sending off 7 March 2012
• Change proposed to denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity 29 February 2012
• Inconsistency is not always what it seems 22 February 2012
• Referees don’t have to say heads or tails at toss up 15 February 2012
• Football is not something to die for 8 February 2012
• Different type of bravery on the football field 25 January 2012
• Who should be blamed if a referee is deceived? 18 January 2012
• The FA break their rules for Rooney 11 January 2012
• Assistant referees don’t make decisions 6 January 2012
• Are we too sensitive to racial comments and spitting? 25 November 2011
• Injuries mean more decisions for referees to make 18 November 2011
• Because you didn’t see it, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen 11 November 2011
• Wrong colour underpants go down badly 4 November 2011
• New suspension rules for players 23 September 2011
• Players and managers told “Get on with the game” 16 September 2011
• Stop cheating – get better decisions 9 September 2011
• Should referees give post-match interviews? 5 September 2011

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