The FA have suspended referee David McNamara for 21 days after he made two captains play rock, paper, scissors in lieu of a coin toss. McNamara forgot his coin in the dressing room prior to the Women's Super League match between Manchester City and Reading on October 26. And rather than returning or going to the touchline to collect one, he had the two skippers decide their ends and who would take kick-off with a game of rock, paper, scissors. McNamara has been suspended for three weeks by the governing body from November 26. He has the right to appeal the decision. The FA's women's refereeing manager Joanna Stimpson said earlier this month: 'The referee forgot his coin and in that moment, in a TV game, he was really pushed for time, it was a moment of madness. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...League-captains-play-rock-paper-scissors.html
I just let one of our refs know he can't work in the FA! It's his go to method of deciding the direction of the start.
LoL, this was a television game?!? Jeez. I’d definitely run back to the locker room. I’m not sure if he had AR’s or not...
My thought as well--we teach entry level refs that even as AR they should have everything they need to be the R. . . .
Meh. They've already walked out. I never run around with a coin even as a referee. It either goes to my 4th, in my bag, or leave it somewhere near midfield. I hate running around with a coin.
I had a wallet with one of those mini ID holders in it--folds over and is about the size of a driver's license. I keep the coin in there in a shirt pocket and never notice it is there. BTW--three weeks for this? While it was technically improper, that seems like quite the overreaction to me. (Aside: I have been coinless exactly once. I had left behind my minibag with all the little stuff and was scrambling through my bag for loose whistle, etc. I found a coin, but it was one of those days, so of course it fell out of my pocket during pregame moving around. And I had two ARs that didn't even think it was a possibility that they would bring a coin. So had a captain guess 1 or 2 while I was showing the number to the other team behind my back. (Hope no one complained and I don't get suspended . . .)
Definitely an overreaction, but also kind of stupid by the referee. Sure we can get away with it in the meaningless games we all do, but a pro game on TV? There were probably 100 coaches, media, staff, who knows else standing from the end of one bench to the other at this point, just go find a single coin! I have done that at least a few times over the years.
Huh. I wonder how they'd've reacted to the old one-or-two-fingers-behind-the-back method? Maybe only a one week suspension?
I'm assuming there was a stand full of spectators.....SOMEONE had something in their poclet, no? have a sense of humor about yourself "hello everyone, I've forgotten my bloody coin, anyone get a ten pence piece I can borrow?"
I sometimes use a 1945 ha'penny. Eddie on one side, a ship on the other. "Heads or sails?" I've never been coinless. My pre-game routine is "two watches, two whistles, two pens or pencils, red card, yellow card, flipping coin, note pad." R, AR or 4th. I'd say maybe three or four times a year, I have to supply a coin for a referee who forgot one. And I've told the story before about the guy who flipped his coin, it hit his collar bone and slid down the inside of his shirt. Fortunately, we were under the stands. I muted the snickering of the captains by handing him my coin. He recovered his coin after the captains went back to their locker rooms.
Only one pair of cards? You do like to live dangerously. But then I carry three whistles now. Two in my hand, one in my shirt pocket.
I keep my coin velcroed under the badge. If I remembered it. If not, I use the popular 1 finger or 2 method. Now that the FA has come out forcefully against alternatives to coins, as the assignor I may have to suspend myself for a month for using that method.
Or in my case, three or four times a year the ref does the "one or two" or "which hand is the whistle in". After the players leave I tell him that I had a coin if he would have asked.
You've got to be kidding me. I guess the governing body doesn't understand a trifling mistake when they see it.
I showed this article to a friend. He said he has done this when he forgot his coin: he starts his stopwatch before introductions... tells the the visiting team to either call it odd or even... stops it and if they’re right they decide direction to attack. Simple and no one even bats an eye. But he would never do that for a television match.
There appear to be several hundred free coin flip apps in the Google Playstore. Surely there's at least one for the Garmin watches.
While three weeks maybe harsh, a suspension at that level is absolutely warranted. It's a professional game and the LOTG mandate a coin toss. At a professional game, a lack of coin toss is technically protestable although I doubt the protest would be upheld.
Do the LOTG say anything about the amount of referees varying depending on the importance of the competition? I'm assuming that rules about offside are done assuming there will be ARs.
The vast majority of soccer played around the world is done with 1 referee and if lucky 2 club linesman. The solo referee is responsible for offside.
Whats the complaint? That the ref took something that depends on chance -- a coin flip; and replaced it with something that depends on skill!? Surely that can't be it. That they made a mockery of the coin toss!? And they talk about the NFL being the No Fun League!
From the Twitter of @AsstRef Jonathan Johnson: "Kid you not: we did "guess 1 or 2 fingers" this year on an MLS game. 4th forgot coin. Quick-thinking ref. No one cared. Captains laughed. Lighten up."