Ending the half and the game, when to blow the whistle.

S

socalkdg

PREMIER
So we are up 1-0. Ball is inside our 18, but no team really has control. We have just went past the 60 minutes, referee blows the whistle ending game. Of course one of their girls shoots the ball 5 seconds later and scores(our girls had just started running off the field), their coach is very upset that the game was stopped when he felt they had a scoring opportunity, major yelling at the referee.

High School and College actually use a clock and have a buzzer go off, I believe, correct? How do you referees figure out when to blow your whistle?
 
socalkdg said:
So we are up 1-0. Ball is inside our 18, but no team really has control. We have just went past the 60 minutes, referee blows the whistle ending game. Of course one of their girls shoots the ball 5 seconds later and scores(our girls had just started running off the field), their coach is very upset that the game was stopped when he felt they had a scoring opportunity, major yelling at the referee.

High School and College actually use a clock and have a buzzer go off, I believe, correct? How do you referees figure out when to blow your whistle?
Click to expand...

NCAA rules use a countdown clock with an automatic horn at 00:00.0 (except for an infamous case a couple of years back when the semis and final were being played at a converted minor league baseball stadium in Alabama where the scoreboard did not have such horn, resulting in a tough call for the referee crew when a ball went in the net right at the end of the first half); high schools around here use the referee's judgement and most games that have a public scoreboard clock that clock is stopped with 2 minutes to go or so.
 
The game ends when time's up, regardless of the position of the ball or opportunity.

That being said, many referees seem to like to blow the whistle at a time when the ball is in a more neutral place (middle 3rd). This leads to expectations from players and parents, and unfairly advantages the team in an attacking position.

Last weekend, a team had a corner kick just before halftime, dawdled for a long while, then crossed it in. The referee blew the whistle just as an offensive player was in mid-air trying to volley the ball into the goal. His team went nuts. My watch showed we were about 15 seconds over. The referee got it right (if time was up), although this is certainly rare. (The shot was amazing, but sailed wide. )

Law 7:

1. Periods of play
A match lasts for two equal halves of 45 [or as altered by competition rules] minutes which may only be reduced if agreed between the referee and the two teams before the start of the match
and is in accordance with competition rules.

2. Half-time interval
Players are entitled to an interval at half-time, not exceeding 15 minutes.
Competition rules must state the duration of the half-time interval and it may
be altered only with the referee’s permission.

3. Allowance for time lost
Allowance is made by the referee in each half for all time lost in that half
through:
• substitutions
• assessment and/or removal of injured players
• wasting time
• disciplinary sanctions
• stoppages for drinks or other medical reasons permitted by
competition rules
• any other cause, including any significant delay to a restart
(e.g. goal celebrations)
The fourth official indicates the minimum additional time decided by the
referee at the end of the final minute of each half. The additional time may be
increased by the referee but not reduced.
The referee must not compensate for a timekeeping error during the first half
by changing the length of the second half.

4. Penalty kick
If a penalty kick has to be taken or retaken, the half is extended until the
penalty kick is completed.

5. Abandoned match
An abandoned match is replayed unless the competition rules or organisers
determine otherwise.
 
In a USSF sanctioned match, we are instructed that the referee should be watching play when there are scoring chances, not staring at his/her watch waiting for the exact second to blow the whistle. That, and the fact that adding time is at the discretion of the referee, leads to most often, having official time being up, when there isn't a frenzied attack in the six yard box. And as always, we don't care who wins or by how many goals. We just want a fair match.
 
How about Rec or Club matches where the tournament/league/gaming circuit has a rule that no added time is allowed (usually to adhere to a schedule)? Do you let an attack finish and maybe go 30-45 seconds over? Seems more unfair to the team defending to have to now defend in extra time than to cut off the attacking team.
 
TangoCity said:
How about Rec or Club matches where the tournament/league/gaming circuit has a rule that no added time is allowed (usually to adhere to a schedule)? Do you let an attack finish and maybe go 30-45 seconds over? Seems more unfair to the team defending to have to now defend in extra time than to cut off the attacking team.
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I never said to let an attack finish.
 
TangoCity said:
How about Rec or Club matches where the tournament/league/gaming circuit has a rule that no added time is allowed (usually to adhere to a schedule)? Do you let an attack finish and maybe go 30-45 seconds over? Seems more unfair to the team defending to have to now defend in extra time than to cut off the attacking team.
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If no added time is allowed, the whistle should be blown when the time expires. Most referees have the abilities to do this even when a team has a potential to be scored upon.
 
baldref said:
In a USSF sanctioned match, we are instructed that the referee should be watching play when there are scoring chances, not staring at his/her watch waiting for the exact second to blow the whistle. That, and the fact that adding time is at the discretion of the referee, leads to most often, having official time being up, when there isn't a frenzied attack in the six yard box. And as always, we don't care who wins or by how many goals. We just want a fair match.
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I agree that if extra time is to be properly added, that is part of the determination of when the half or game ends. But it should not be added for the purpose of not ending it during a frenzied attack. I'm not trying to nitpick, but I've never seen or heard any instruction that advises that a referee should ignore the clock in such situations. Certainly I don't need to stare at my watch as it counts down from 10 seconds. I can glance at it in a split-second.
 
coachrefparent said:
I agree that if extra time is to be properly added, that is part of the determination of when the half or game ends. But it should not be added for the purpose of not ending it during a frenzied attack. I'm not trying to nitpick, but I've never seen or heard any instruction that advises that a referee should ignore the clock in such situations. Certainly I don't need to stare at my watch as it counts down from 10 seconds. I can glance at it in a split-second.
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I never said I had instruction to ignore the clock. And I can't "glance" at anything when I'm concentrating on a frenzied attack.
And time is only up when I blow the whistle and end the game.
And again, I never said or implied to add time for any reason other than those reasons for which time can be added.
All I said was that if some player is crossing the ball and it's headed into the six, that isn't the proper time for me to look away at my watch, or anything else.
 
An old ref I trust once told me that he never blows the final whistle when the ball is off the field - wait till it comes back so we don't lose one.
 
baldref said:
I never said I had instruction to ignore the clock. And I can't "glance" at anything when I'm concentrating on a frenzied attack.
And time is only up when I blow the whistle and end the game.
And again, I never said or implied to add time for any reason other than those reasons for which time can be added.
All I said was that if some player is crossing the ball and it's headed into the six, that isn't the proper time for me to look away at my watch, or anything else.
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What absolutely annoys me is when a referee knows time is up when the ball goes out of play, but waits for the ball to be put back into play. Such as a throw-in. As soon as the ball touches a player they stop the half. Just blow the whistle and stop the half. The ball does not have to be put back into play.
 
baldref said:
I never said I had instruction to ignore the clock. And I can't "glance" at anything when I'm concentrating on a frenzied attack.
And time is only up when I blow the whistle and end the game.
And again, I never said or implied to add time for any reason other than those reasons for which time can be added.
All I said was that if some player is crossing the ball and it's headed into the six, that isn't the proper time for me to look away at my watch, or anything else.
Click to expand...

What absolutely annoys me is when a referee knows time is up when the ball goes out of play, but waits for the ball to be put back into play. Such as a throw-in. As soon as the ball touches a player they stop the half. Just blow the whistle and stop the half. The ball does not have to be put back into play.
 
baldref said:
I never said I had instruction to ignore the clock. And I can't "glance" at anything when I'm concentrating on a frenzied attack.
And time is only up when I blow the whistle and end the game.
And again, I never said or implied to add time for any reason other than those reasons for which time can be added.
All I said was that if some player is crossing the ball and it's headed into the six, that isn't the proper time for me to look away at my watch, or anything else.
Click to expand...
I think we're splitting hairs as to looking at watch (or having a clock in your head after seeing there is 5 sec to go before attack, etc.), but I stand by my contention borne out of too much experience: Most referees give advantage to an attacking team (to the detriment of the defending team), during a frenzied attack or otherwise, by extending a half when it appears that a goal may be forthcoming.
And according to the laws, the half should end when time is up, and that's when the referee must blow the whistle.
 
Surfref said:
What absolutely annoys me is when a referee knows time is up when the ball goes out of play, but waits for the ball to be put back into play. Such as a throw-in. As soon as the ball touches a player they stop the half. Just blow the whistle and stop the half. The ball does not have to be put back into play.
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or the ones who let the goal kick happen so they can blow the whistle while the ball is in the air. I think that's done from dramatic affect? There's enough drama in these games already......
 
coachrefparent said:
I think we're splitting hairs as to looking at watch (or having a clock in your head after seeing there is 5 sec to go before attack, etc.), but I stand by my contention borne out of too much experience: Most referees give advantage to an attacking team (to the detriment of the defending team), during a frenzied attack or otherwise, by extending a half when it appears that a goal may be forthcoming.
And according to the laws, the half should end when time is up, and that's when the referee must blow the whistle.
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I'm not splitting anything, least of which are hairs because I have very few. When you generalize and say things like "most referees", you're not making a very compelling position. Time is up, when the referee blows his/her whistle to signal as such, in USSF sanctioned games.
 
baldref said:
I'm not splitting anything, least of which are hairs because I have very few. When you generalize and say things like "most referees", you're not making a very compelling position. Time is up, when the referee blows his/her whistle to signal as such, in USSF sanctioned games.
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Thank you for making the point.
 
Surfref said:
What absolutely annoys me is when a referee knows time is up when the ball goes out of play, but waits for the ball to be put back into play. Such as a throw-in. As soon as the ball touches a player they stop the half. Just blow the whistle and stop the half. The ball does not have to be put back into play.
Click to expand...
Funny you mention that, this weekend the AR on our side called out to the CR that the half was over after the ball went out on the opposite sideline. Our coach called our boys in to the bench. However, the CR hadn't blown the whistle for the half so he called the boys back so the other team could take the throw in (I know always play to the whistle). As soon as the throw in hit the ground the CR blew his whistle for the half. Minor stuff in the scheme of things, and despite this curious call the reffing was solid all weekend.
 
watfly said:
Funny you mention that, this weekend the AR on our side called out to the CR that the half was over after the ball went out on the opposite sideline. Our coach called our boys in to the bench. However, the CR hadn't blown the whistle for the half so he called the boys back so the other team could take the throw in (I know always play to the whistle). As soon as the throw in hit the ground the CR blew his whistle for the half. Minor stuff in the scheme of things, and despite this curious call the reffing was solid all weekend.
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The part about the assistant calling out to the referee that time was up is certainly unorthodox. Unless the referee had not indicated (subtly) to his assistants that he was adding time, and it was long overdue. Even then it would be unusual to for the assistant to "call out to the CR", as opposed to a non-verbal gesture agreed by the referees (getting attention and tapping watch, etc.).
 
coachrefparent said:
I think we're splitting hairs as to looking at watch (or having a clock in your head after seeing there is 5 sec to go before attack, etc.), but I stand by my contention borne out of too much experience: Most referees give advantage to an attacking team (to the detriment of the defending team), during a frenzied attack or otherwise, by extending a half when it appears that a goal may be forthcoming.
And according to the laws, the half should end when time is up, and that's when the referee must blow the whistle.
Click to expand...
Must? Where did you get that?
 
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