Last week in this column I wrote that both coaches at Reading’s game with Peterborough, received yellow cards from the referee.
I’m not sure what the Peterborough manager’s misbehaviour was, but Reading’s manager clearly shouted out his displeasure at one of the referee’s decisions. These yellow cards were part of a new campaign to improve behaviour at games in this country.
Restrictions on club officials are only aimed at games where there are Technical Areas. They come in Law one ‘The Field of Play’ for matches played in stadiums with a designated seating area.
The area must be marked up to one metre from the touch line.
Everyone must behave in a responsible manner and only physios when attending an injury on the field of play, are allowed to move outside the marked area. Also, only one person at a time can stand and convey technical instructions from the technical area.
These restrictions first appeared as an add-on to the Laws of the game in 2010 and it wasn’t until 2018 that they appeared in the Laws themselves and the following season, Law 12 included sanctions for infringements.
These included warnings, cautions (yellow card) and sending off (red cards). These are too many to list here but among other things, warmings may be given for minor disagreement with a decision or occasionally leaving the technical area.
Cautions include persistently not respecting the confirms of the technical area, acting in a provocative or inflammatory manner and the long list for a red card, includes entering the field of play to confront match officials even at half or full time. What could be nastier than Jurgen Klopp snarling in your face as you walk off at full time?
What has this to do with improving behaviour on the pitch? It is simply the belief that It is manager/coach behaviour that affects the attitude of the players, a belief with which I agree.
In my senior refereeing days, club management sat in a ‘dug out’, rather than a technical area but I can’t remember ever having any confrontations.
I have however had to speak often to coaches in local football about their behaviour and explain to them that if they continued, the players would think it quite in order to belittle the referee, which could get them a yellow or red card. I warned the coaches, if they continued I would ask them to leave the field. This seemed to do the trick and I did get a couple of a reactions. One coach phoned me to apologise for his behaviour and another asked after the match ‘I’m not going to appear in your weekly column, am I?’
By Dick Sawdon Smith
