Why does stoppage time still exist? – Part 5

But Liam, what about amateur football? There is no VAR. There is more than likely no 4th official. Sometimes there isn’t even any Assistant Referee’s or a qualified referee. I myself play amateur football and understand this. However, having played amateur football I am also aware of how annoying it is when you are chasing a game and the defending team decides to kick the ball on the field 2 over from the one you are playing on. Or when they decide to not share their match balls, or when you are attacking have a shot at goal, and the keeper takes as long as possible to retrieve the ball that is 50 meters behind the goal.

All of this adds up to added time but is more than likely not added on correctly. Some referee’s that I have played with have stopped the clock whilst these events occur. I think they are a head of the curb. If anything, amateur football needs this rule more than the professionals do. This is because amateur football does not have the luxury of professional football. The main issue of this is the one mentioned above where if the ball gets kicked out, you must go and get it.

As a result, yes, amateur football referees would be responsible for stopping the clock when the ball goes out if stoppage time is removed. Unfortunately, it is the only way. Most people should know how to work a stopwatch or even just have a watch with that function. Will Referees sometimes forget to stop the clock? Yes. Will they sometimes forget to turn it back on? Yes. However, I think the difference between that would be far smaller than the difference between the current expected and actual added time occurring. That wraps up my 5 part what I think about stoppage time series thanks for reading.

These are of course just my opinions and my thoughts that I have had about football Let me know what you think by commenting or messaging me one way or another.