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The goal scored by Pawel Abbott had pundits such as Chris Kamara and Dave Beasant commenting that it was simply ‘crazy’. The same headline adorned a half page spread in the Sun newspaper. Despite the fervour surrounding the mistake, it seems little or no action will be taken against referee George Cain.
The action unfolded in the 67th minute of the Third Division clash with City drawing 1-1. Both sides were deep into a fantastic game spoilt only by an inept display from the soon to be retired match official. Alan Marriott in the City goal launched a ball forward towards the City forward line, as Abbott bore down on him. The resultant clearance left Abbott stood a good 30 yards behind the last defender.
The ball fell neatly to Nigerian Efe Sodje, who planted a firm header forward towards Abbott still stood thirty yards behind Paul Morgan. Sodjes header fell towards Andy Booth and Paul Morgan who both went up to contest the header. It clipped one of the two players and headed toward Abbott. At this point the linesman raised his flag, and some reports claim that a whistle was blown.
Abbott collected the ball and half-heartedly set off towards goal. Defenders, attackers and Goalkeeper all stood still. Abbott cantered half-heartedly towards the goal, and Marriott stood in his way. There was nothing ‘serious’ about the run as everyone stopped. Marriott and Abbott squared up as Abbott stroked the ball into the net and turned away. It seemed blatantly obvious that the player was offside, and even more obvious he deserved to be booked for kicking the ball away. The reaction of players and fans told the full story…. No one celebrated, no fans and not players. Not even Pawel Abbott celebrated his ‘goal’.
At this point George Cain completely loses the plot. He goes over to the linesman who has already flagged for offside and has a brief word. It looked as if Abbott was going to be booked. Alas this was not the case and the crackpot official from Merseyside awards a goal to Huddersfield.
This was met by derision and disbelief by everyone who witnessed it. Seasoned professionals couldn’t believe their eyes. City fans began to get aggravated on the terraces. City players surrounded the half-baked official for minutes protesting. Nothing would alter his decision, and the goal stood.
The key points are these. If Paul Morgan’s touch on the ball constituted a pass to Abbott then he wouldn’t be offside. Or would he? The ball from Sodje seemed to be looking for Abbott, at which point he was surely ‘interfering’ with play. If he wasn’t, he was when he put the ball in the net. Surely collecting the ball in an offside position constitutes being offside?
Either way both the result and the goal stand in the records, but no doubt the ripples from this fixture will be felt for months to come. City fans have besieged the FA with complaints about the decision. The basis of their complaints can be found in Law 11 of the laws of the game:
Law 11 states that "A player in an offside position is only penalised if, at the moment the ball is touched or played by one of his team, he is, in the opinion of the referee, involved in active play by:
- Interfering with play
or
- Interfering with an opponent
or
- Gaining an advantage by being in that position
Surely Abbott was gaining an advantage by being in the position he was in when the ball was played by Sodje irrespective of whether or not Morgan touched the ball. Maybe Mr Cain should check the laws of the game before he steps onto a football pitch again.
The sight of Cain running off at the end of the game, before players and officials had chance to depart perhaps spoke volumes about his own thoughts on his decision. He chose not to adhere to the rules for a second time that afternoon by heading down the tunnel before everyone else, a blatant indication that he had done wrong.
If you wish to complain to the FA about both Mr Cain abysmal decision and the confusion regarding the reiteration of the 1994 addition to the offside law you may do so at the following link - www.thefa.com/TheFA/ContactUs
In the meantime we can all just hope and pray that other officials brush up on the laws of the game, and that Mr Cain spends his Saturday afternoon shopping on Merseyside and not plaguing innocent football fans with decisions based on whims.