There is a standing joke among many football supporters that games at the home of Manchester United often seem to go on until the home team scores the goal that wins the game or rescues the draw. This perceived phenomenon even has a nickname - Fergie Time.
Today Fergie Time at The Stadium of Light ran to 3 minutes while at the Etihad Stadium, Fergie Time (should that be Mancini time?) ran to 5 minutes. In the 4th minute of those 5, the destination of Barclays Premier League title changed from one side of Manchester to the other, as Manchester City scored the winning goal that preserved their lead (on goal difference) at the top of the division and ensured they ended their 44 year wait for title glory.
The joke of Fergie Time aside, games do often become protracted as the stoppages mount up and it can be difficult for a referee to gauge how much time to add on. So how much will you add? At the higher levels of the game, it is not unusual for the referee to tell the 4th official, "Unless I say anything different, we will be playing 1 added minute in the 1st half and 3 added minutes in the 2nd half". Occasionally this allowance will not be enough because of certain events in each half. So what gets included in this "added time"?
Sometimes the act of stopping and restarting the watch can add to your woes as it did with me in a Sunday League game about 5 years ago. I had stopped the watch for an injury assessment, forgotten to restart it and by the time I had realised, almost 10 minutes had elapsed and I didn't know the watch had been stopped during this period. I proceeded to add insult to injury (time?) by adding my own 5 minutes of added time for other stoppages, making a total of 15 minutes.
So how can you prevent against adding on too much time but also be seen to make sufficient allowance for stoppages and time lost? The first and most obvious solution is to run a 2nd watch and try to gauge how much time you feel should be added on for the usual stoppages. These will include the ball being retrieved after being kicked 30 yards off the field when the big centre half goes for a long through ball, but only manages to skim the ball off his shin and away across on to the next field. Ordinarily, you wouldn't add much (if any) time simply for the time the ball spends out of play for throw-ins, goal kicks and corner kicks, as this is part and parcel of the game. Lengthier delays in retrieving the ball do however need some time adding on.
Your time added will also include time allowed for substitutions. The TV pundits all insist there is some sort of unwritten rule which says that 30 seconds must be added on for each substitution. In fact 30 seconds is probably just about enough time to ensure the principle of "one off-one on" is enforced by making your way to the halfway line, preventing the substitute from entering the field without your permission, as well as giving the substitute's equipment a check, verifying that their name is among those given to you before the game, asking the player leaving the field to cover his/her shirt, before making sure the new player gets into their new position before you signal that the game restarting. If two substitutions are made at the same time, rather than double up the mythical 30 seconds, you may only spend 40 seconds managing the double change.
It may include some element of time added for excessively long or co-ordinated goal celebrations. The actions in the celebration may not be enough to caution any individual player (and you're certainly not going to caution all 4 players lined up pretending to rock some newborn infant) but players undertaking a co-ordinated celebration do delay the restart of the game, so some element of time does need to be included.
Mentioning the matter of cautions brings me to the subject of time added for disciplinary measures. Again, some commentators think that 30 seconds is needed for each caution. In truth, if you have been able to write the names of all the players in your notebook before the game, the offending player accepts his caution without much protest and the player offended against doesn't require any injury assessment, then you might get it all wrapped up within 20 seconds or less (if you don't follow the caution procedure in full!). If however the player refuses to acknowledge your request to meet him or continues his protests about the original decision, then this time can stretch out for what feels like an eternity.
Finally we have "injury" time. This will include any time spent checking on the condition of players and whether they require assessment, the trainer entering the field, conducting the assessment and the player leaving the field.
Now are you going to add all that time on? Well if it's been a one sided game so one team is losing 10-1, there's no need to prolong the agony. If you have played a couple of minutes out of the five you decided had been lost to stoppages, then both teams will probably accept that. If however it's a close game between two local rivals and the destination of the league title will be decided by this game, then it's best to play all of the added time accrued.
Even if you don't who is going to argue because after all, you are the sole timekeeper ...
Continue reading...
Today Fergie Time at The Stadium of Light ran to 3 minutes while at the Etihad Stadium, Fergie Time (should that be Mancini time?) ran to 5 minutes. In the 4th minute of those 5, the destination of Barclays Premier League title changed from one side of Manchester to the other, as Manchester City scored the winning goal that preserved their lead (on goal difference) at the top of the division and ensured they ended their 44 year wait for title glory.
The joke of Fergie Time aside, games do often become protracted as the stoppages mount up and it can be difficult for a referee to gauge how much time to add on. So how much will you add? At the higher levels of the game, it is not unusual for the referee to tell the 4th official, "Unless I say anything different, we will be playing 1 added minute in the 1st half and 3 added minutes in the 2nd half". Occasionally this allowance will not be enough because of certain events in each half. So what gets included in this "added time"?
Sometimes the act of stopping and restarting the watch can add to your woes as it did with me in a Sunday League game about 5 years ago. I had stopped the watch for an injury assessment, forgotten to restart it and by the time I had realised, almost 10 minutes had elapsed and I didn't know the watch had been stopped during this period. I proceeded to add insult to injury (time?) by adding my own 5 minutes of added time for other stoppages, making a total of 15 minutes.
So how can you prevent against adding on too much time but also be seen to make sufficient allowance for stoppages and time lost? The first and most obvious solution is to run a 2nd watch and try to gauge how much time you feel should be added on for the usual stoppages. These will include the ball being retrieved after being kicked 30 yards off the field when the big centre half goes for a long through ball, but only manages to skim the ball off his shin and away across on to the next field. Ordinarily, you wouldn't add much (if any) time simply for the time the ball spends out of play for throw-ins, goal kicks and corner kicks, as this is part and parcel of the game. Lengthier delays in retrieving the ball do however need some time adding on.
Your time added will also include time allowed for substitutions. The TV pundits all insist there is some sort of unwritten rule which says that 30 seconds must be added on for each substitution. In fact 30 seconds is probably just about enough time to ensure the principle of "one off-one on" is enforced by making your way to the halfway line, preventing the substitute from entering the field without your permission, as well as giving the substitute's equipment a check, verifying that their name is among those given to you before the game, asking the player leaving the field to cover his/her shirt, before making sure the new player gets into their new position before you signal that the game restarting. If two substitutions are made at the same time, rather than double up the mythical 30 seconds, you may only spend 40 seconds managing the double change.
It may include some element of time added for excessively long or co-ordinated goal celebrations. The actions in the celebration may not be enough to caution any individual player (and you're certainly not going to caution all 4 players lined up pretending to rock some newborn infant) but players undertaking a co-ordinated celebration do delay the restart of the game, so some element of time does need to be included.
Mentioning the matter of cautions brings me to the subject of time added for disciplinary measures. Again, some commentators think that 30 seconds is needed for each caution. In truth, if you have been able to write the names of all the players in your notebook before the game, the offending player accepts his caution without much protest and the player offended against doesn't require any injury assessment, then you might get it all wrapped up within 20 seconds or less (if you don't follow the caution procedure in full!). If however the player refuses to acknowledge your request to meet him or continues his protests about the original decision, then this time can stretch out for what feels like an eternity.
Finally we have "injury" time. This will include any time spent checking on the condition of players and whether they require assessment, the trainer entering the field, conducting the assessment and the player leaving the field.
Now are you going to add all that time on? Well if it's been a one sided game so one team is losing 10-1, there's no need to prolong the agony. If you have played a couple of minutes out of the five you decided had been lost to stoppages, then both teams will probably accept that. If however it's a close game between two local rivals and the destination of the league title will be decided by this game, then it's best to play all of the added time accrued.
Even if you don't who is going to argue because after all, you are the sole timekeeper ...
Continue reading...
