So... I was at a game this afternoon of a league two club, ref was interesting but I thought he let the game go well. Anyway the thing I had an issue with, was the bloke sat next to me. There was an advantage call in which the ref took an age, and it got they guy chatting saying to people around him that the ref can take as long as he wants to bring back an advantage. I piped up and said, no it’s a few seconds maximum. He got saying ah well I’m qualified and higher than you and the laws say refs discretion. I didn’t think I was wrong so pulled up laws and from what I read and showed him it said a few seconds. I said a few is three, but he was adamant I was wrong. So I wanna know, how long should the advantage be played and what do the laws actually say?
Advantage time frame.
- Thread starter MKAhmad
- Start date
I'd say a lot of these 'higher qualified refs' are on the downgrade (to L5) and haven't picked up the book for years
No more than a few seconds is resoundingly the correct answer
Ciley Myrus
RefChat Addict
Discretion, nothing set in stone and not correct to label an actual amount onto the heading of , "a few" .
Cant explain or describe, can only judge it at the time.
Cant explain or describe, can only judge it at the time.
'A few seconds' is the only clarification in the book tho, so it's the sole correct answer in a LOTG test
Not saying anybody actually counts 1, 2, 3 of course. That would be absurd. Advantage is one of the hardest things to get right and takes lots of experience to be effective (imho)
Ciley Myrus
RefChat Addict
Its not even possible to master it tbh, as ultimately the team will have a huge say in whether your advantage was justfied
I have seen advantages, 5/6/7 secs which are spot on...a late tackle on centre half as he clears it, but you wait cos its been punted up to the striker.....
but yes, over course of game, I suppose most would be in the 3//4/5 frame.
It can be a nightmare to get right at times. I had one today where a player was fouled but came away with the ball, they were now 4 on 3. I have the advantage signal, he played a through ball to another attacker but overhit it to the goalkeeper. Of course, they wanted it pulled back but I wasn’t having it
socal lurker
RefChat Addict
And IMO you were 100% right--he had the advantage and wasted it.
In my mind where many refs get confused it what it means for advantage to ensue. Once upon a time, the ref was supposed to immediately apply or not apply advantage, so if the advantage wasn't really there, it was just too bad once signaled.
The concept of going back should be that the advantage the referee thought would be there never really was (the player never regained his balance, the defender was too close to make a play, the ball took an off bounce, the advantageous target was actually offside, the ball was going into touch before the teammate could reach it, the ball was bouncing too high for a good chance at a clean touch), not that a player made a mistake (whether physical or mental) that prevented the team from taking advantage o the advantageous opportunity.