For the Integrity of Soccer

A refereeing icon at four score years and five: Pat Smith

Just a couple of weeks ago, Pat Smith, one of the most familiar names in U.S. refereeing—and with good reason, as you will soon see—celebrated his eighty-fifth birthday.  Sitting here in Columbia, Missouri, preparing to share Thanksgiving (and my own birthday) with my wife Jane, it occurred to me that this week would be a good time for many of us to give thanks to guys like Pat for how they helped to build a referee program out of—well, essentially nothing.  Over the years I knew that he was “in my corner” as my career flowed and ebbed and flowed again, but he was there for many other referees too.  Read on . . .

A game without one free kick?

    In the fantasy land of the perfect world, or the perfect sport, the idea that a game could be played without any infraction and any punishment seems impossible, doesn’t it?

    I will admit that I have never seen such a game, but lately, while watching local senior soccer around Sacramento, college soccer in nearby towns, and even some PDL games in the past summer months, I’m given pause to believe that a game without a free kick may be closer than we think . . .

New memorandum of guidelines from FIFA

AN ERROR, A CRITIC, A CORRECTION AND NEW PERSPECTIVES

The other day I published this photograph of Theo Walcott being fouled in the game against Stoke in the Premiership.  I pulled it from an English site that left me with the impression that this challenge was the incident that caused Walcott’s shoulder injury and his having to be carried off for treatment.  I now know, thanks to an observant and thoughtful reader, that the foul shown was not the one that injured Walcott.  I had repeated the error made by my source.  The speed and self-correction mechanism of the internet—as my wife and Internet Maven keeps on reminding me—allow me to put things right.

I’m going to set the record straight with the URL of a video clip of the injurious late tackle, but first comment on other items in the email of “HJ”.  His complete text is in italics, my responses in red:

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, by Ed Bellion

After over 55 years of involvement with the game as a an spectator, player, coach, referee, instructor, assessor and administrator, I thought I had seen and heard pretty much everything that can occur during a soccer match, but boy, was I wrong!  I had heard some rather bizarre claims about the Laws, especially in the early days of my involvement after I came to the US, but thankfully these types of misunderstandings have been gradually disappearing as the game matured here, as more people became involved.  But then, along comes this . . .

Judge for Yourself...

Here's the "tackle" by Rory Delap that took Theo Walcott to the ground during the Stoke/Arsenal match last weekend.  Walcott had to leave the field with a damaged shoulder, and his coach, Arsene Wenger stated publicly that the foul was intentional and intended to hurt or intimidate his young star.

Why the photograph with no story?

    For the first time ever on this site, I published a photograph without comment, partly out of curiosity to see how the very dramatic shot would stir up some comment, but also to show (once again) the sometimes brutal nature of the sport we are engaged in, especially at the professional level.  And we, the referees, instructors and assessors, are the people who have to work constantly to eliminate from the game, the challenges exemplified by that image of flying feet and studs from four players in a space of perhaps a wee bit more than a square yard.
    What follows next is a reminder that we cannot relax our vigilance . . .

No comment necessary: Careless? Reckless? Dangerous?