Look, I know the game's over. Why do I have to kick the ball?
June 18, 2010 12:21 PM Subscribe
Why do soccer games (and halves) end in the middle of a play?
I'm pretty familiar with the Laws of the Game, but one eccentricity has always eluded and puzzled me.
The clock will read 90:00, the allotted stoppage time will have run out, and the keeper will be holding the ball. The ball is at rest. It seems a perfect time to stop the game.
And yet, the ref always waits until the ball is in mid-air to blow the whistle. I'm curious if there is a practical reason. Or if it just tradition, what was the origin?
I'm pretty familiar with the Laws of the Game, but one eccentricity has always eluded and puzzled me.
The clock will read 90:00, the allotted stoppage time will have run out, and the keeper will be holding the ball. The ball is at rest. It seems a perfect time to stop the game.
And yet, the ref always waits until the ball is in mid-air to blow the whistle. I'm curious if there is a practical reason. Or if it just tradition, what was the origin?
Best answer: That's not the question -- the question is that it seems that the ref usually blows for the end of the game only when the ball is in play. I'd say that this is partially not true, in that I've seen games stopped while the ball is not in play, but I think the idea is usually to give the holders "one last chance." You will often hear from commentators, however, during an end-of-the-game set-piece that players need to "hurry up" lest the whistle be blown before the free-kick is taken. I've never seen that happen.
posted by proj at 12:35 PM on June 18, 2010
posted by proj at 12:35 PM on June 18, 2010
Mister_A the question is why refs never blow the whistle when the game is stopped (ball at rest), but rather when it's put back into play (free kick taken, ball thrown in,...).
I have no idea personally. Maybe it's a referee tactic to avoid time wasting in set plays near the end of the game?
posted by NekulturnY at 12:37 PM on June 18, 2010
I have no idea personally. Maybe it's a referee tactic to avoid time wasting in set plays near the end of the game?
posted by NekulturnY at 12:37 PM on June 18, 2010
Best answer: I have been a soccer referee for a number of years and its up to the referee's discretion when to actually call the game. In most amateur games the ref will call the game almost exactly at 45/90 minutes where there is no stoppage time. Even the stoppage time is a recommendation from the fourth official (even though most referee's will end the game after stoppage time has elapsed). Some times in a professional game where there is stoppage time the ref may add a little extra if there was an injury or something during the stoppage time. There have been instances where a ref will call the game when a team is getting ready to kick a corner kick (granted the attacking team has gotten pretty mad in those instances).
Ultimately, it us up to the center referee's discretion completely and when he or she feels like the game is over, ball in play or not.
posted by dyno04 at 12:54 PM on June 18, 2010 [2 favorites]
Ultimately, it us up to the center referee's discretion completely and when he or she feels like the game is over, ball in play or not.
posted by dyno04 at 12:54 PM on June 18, 2010 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: dyno04: Thanks for stopping in. I get the "at the referee's discretion part." The thing that confuses me (and maybe it's just confirmation bias) is that it seems the ref's discretion almost always seems to involve stopping the game just after a play starts rather than just after one ends. This seems counter-intuitive to me.
posted by 256 at 12:57 PM on June 18, 2010
posted by 256 at 12:57 PM on June 18, 2010
I would think it's because the ref may be too busy watching the game during the play when the time actually runs out, so he only realizes after it's done that time is up. However, the clock isn't technically running during the inter-play period, and so he has to wait until the clock starts again to say it has stopped. Of course, that explanation is pulled out of thin air, so take it with a grain of salt.
posted by Hargrimm at 1:14 PM on June 18, 2010
posted by Hargrimm at 1:14 PM on June 18, 2010
Best answer: The referee usually does not stop the game when an attacking team has an immediate opportunity to score. Usually any set play (even a goal kick) is considered an off-chance to score. So the ref will let that play commence before ending the game. As soon as there is no immediate chance of scoring he then ends the game.
posted by Authorized User at 1:48 PM on June 18, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Authorized User at 1:48 PM on June 18, 2010 [2 favorites]
What AU said. Rarely will you see a game stopped when a corner has been won or a team is attacking in their own third. They will usually wait a few seconds until play restarts and there is no obvious scoring chance.
Today was a bit unusual in that the ref ended the first half when it looked like Slovenia had a nice four on three attack going.
posted by DieHipsterDie at 1:54 PM on June 18, 2010
Today was a bit unusual in that the ref ended the first half when it looked like Slovenia had a nice four on three attack going.
posted by DieHipsterDie at 1:54 PM on June 18, 2010
Best answer: The thing that confuses me (and maybe it's just confirmation bias) is that it seems the ref's discretion almost always seems to involve stopping the game just after a play starts rather than just after one ends.
I don't think it's confirmation bias, and I think AU's right here: it's 'unwritten rule' territory, where referees are consciously or subconsciously guided by the historical tradition of the 'right time' to blow the whistle. They're also mindful of why Clive Thomas is remembered in Brazil.
The underlying idea is that the match ends independently of whatever happens on the pitch -- one reason why the 'golden goal' was a failed experiment -- even if that isn't really true. Blowing up when the ball's in the keeper's hands implies that the clock/whistle is in his hands too.
You're more likely to see the half-time whistle blown during an attack or set piece -- often, but not always because the attacking side has dawdled in setting things up -- than at the end of a match, just as you'll rarely see more stoppage time for the first half than the second, even if the stoppages seem to warrant it.
posted by holgate at 5:02 PM on June 18, 2010
I don't think it's confirmation bias, and I think AU's right here: it's 'unwritten rule' territory, where referees are consciously or subconsciously guided by the historical tradition of the 'right time' to blow the whistle. They're also mindful of why Clive Thomas is remembered in Brazil.
The underlying idea is that the match ends independently of whatever happens on the pitch -- one reason why the 'golden goal' was a failed experiment -- even if that isn't really true. Blowing up when the ball's in the keeper's hands implies that the clock/whistle is in his hands too.
You're more likely to see the half-time whistle blown during an attack or set piece -- often, but not always because the attacking side has dawdled in setting things up -- than at the end of a match, just as you'll rarely see more stoppage time for the first half than the second, even if the stoppages seem to warrant it.
posted by holgate at 5:02 PM on June 18, 2010
Response by poster: Oh. That second video is painful, holgate. Thanks for the explanation and thanks for an excuse to watch some great vintage futbol.
posted by 256 at 6:14 PM on June 18, 2010
posted by 256 at 6:14 PM on June 18, 2010
the clock isn't technically running during the inter-play period, and so he has to wait until the clock starts again to say it has stopped.
This makes sense to me, actually, as I was thinking maybe it all depends on how you define "a play." Where does a play start and end? And how is "a play" different from "in play"? On a goal kick, for instance, the ball is "in play" when the goalie's foot touches the ball, I'd think. On a throw-in, the ball is in play when it leaves the thrower's hands. The ball is clearly in play when a guy is dribbling off by himself in the middle of the pitch, as long as he's not off-sides and doesn't touch the ball with his hands.
The ball is out of play when it's out of bounds; when it's in the goalie's hands; when it's in the process of being drop-kicked, thrown or cleared by the goalie; when it's in the goal itself; once the ref's whistle blows (or is it?); and probably in some other instances besides. But can it be out of play before the ref's whistle blows, in the instance of, say, an off-sides call? Is it technically "out of play" at the moment the whistle blows, or at the moment the infraction occurs? And is a ball kicked just before the whistle blows, as in the instance of the Clive Thomas call, still "in play"?
In play and out of play are still relatively easy to define, though, compared to "a play." To return to an earlier example, is a guy dribbling off by himself in the middle of the pitch in "a play"? Say a play begins with a throw-in—where does it end? If a play begins with a throw-in and continues with a guy dribbling for 20 minutes in between every other player on the field, with no penalties and no goals, is it still the same play?
posted by limeonaire at 7:05 PM on June 18, 2010
This makes sense to me, actually, as I was thinking maybe it all depends on how you define "a play." Where does a play start and end? And how is "a play" different from "in play"? On a goal kick, for instance, the ball is "in play" when the goalie's foot touches the ball, I'd think. On a throw-in, the ball is in play when it leaves the thrower's hands. The ball is clearly in play when a guy is dribbling off by himself in the middle of the pitch, as long as he's not off-sides and doesn't touch the ball with his hands.
The ball is out of play when it's out of bounds; when it's in the goalie's hands; when it's in the process of being drop-kicked, thrown or cleared by the goalie; when it's in the goal itself; once the ref's whistle blows (or is it?); and probably in some other instances besides. But can it be out of play before the ref's whistle blows, in the instance of, say, an off-sides call? Is it technically "out of play" at the moment the whistle blows, or at the moment the infraction occurs? And is a ball kicked just before the whistle blows, as in the instance of the Clive Thomas call, still "in play"?
In play and out of play are still relatively easy to define, though, compared to "a play." To return to an earlier example, is a guy dribbling off by himself in the middle of the pitch in "a play"? Say a play begins with a throw-in—where does it end? If a play begins with a throw-in and continues with a guy dribbling for 20 minutes in between every other player on the field, with no penalties and no goals, is it still the same play?
posted by limeonaire at 7:05 PM on June 18, 2010
Just a note, basketball is also stopped in mid-play. Once the time runs out, that's it, regardless if the action is momentarily paused or not. In that regard, soccer (minus the ref's discretion), isn't any different. Same for hockey.
posted by Atreides at 7:14 PM on June 18, 2010
posted by Atreides at 7:14 PM on June 18, 2010
While I do agree that the refs generally do what the question asked about, they just whistled the half in the Nigeria-South Korea game during the time between a penalty and the resulting free kick.
posted by smackfu at 12:20 PM on June 22, 2010
posted by smackfu at 12:20 PM on June 22, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Mister_A at 12:26 PM on June 18, 2010