One particular foul that has stirred controversy again this season is what I call the ‘flying tackle’. It is often referred to as a two footed tackle but it can be committed with only one foot leading the way. What …
Tackling with feet off the ground risks a sending off Read more »
This coming Saturday 3rd March, the International Football Association Board will be meeting in Surrey to discuss possible changes to the Laws of the Game. For those who are not aware of it, the IFAB is the body which makes …
Change proposed to denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity Read more »
The complaint of inconsistency is frequently levelled at referees and a major topic that was discussed by Europe’s top referees in Turkey this month, was uniformity of decisions. The Laws of football are the same where ever it is played …
date: 2012/2/15 At the beginning of last season, my wife and I spent a holiday in Turkey to celebrate a significant wedding anniversary. The season having already started meant that I was going to miss a couple of Match of …
Referees don’t have to say heads or tails at toss up Read more »
This is a column that I have deliberately delaying in writing and I think that if you read on you will probably understand why. The footballing worlds of England and Wales were shocked by the seemingly unexplainable death of Gary …
A couple of Sunday’s ago on BBC’s Match of the Day 2, the pundits were discussing Swansea City’s win against Arsenal and they praised the bravery of Brendon Roger’s players. There were, they said, different types of bravery in football. …
The phenomenon of Twitter seems to have become an addiction with many professional footballers; I suppose they have plenty of spare time. National newspapers therefore are able to gain access and publish their thoughts. I’m not sure what you call …
Regular readers of this column may remember at the beginning of the season I wrote about the introduction by the FA of new suspension rules for players sent off. The idea was that players at all levels of the game …
There was some consternation just before Christmas when the assistant referee in the Manchester United v Newcastle game appeared to give a penalty, after the referee had already awarded a corner. The first thing to say is that assistant referees …
If we believe what been going on in the last couple of weeks, we could come to the conclusion that we in England are too sensitive for the rough and ready world of football. The most noise has been about …
Are we too sensitive to racial comments and spitting? Read more »
