What's the best position for corner kicks?

Game 15, 2021-22

After refereeing in the US for years on teams with three officials, I came to Germany seven years ago to find that due to parsimony and a chronic shortage of willing whistlers, thousands of youth and amateur games every weekend were staffed by a single referee. Among the several problems that presented (offside decisions being the main one) was the conundrum of where to stand at corner kicks.

During the very first game I reffed in this country, I was standing on the edge of the penalty area for a corner, slightly to the left of the goal. The ball was crossed, headed out, and a player shot from about 15 yards out. The shot either hit the angle of post and cross-bar, or momentarily entered the goal and came back out off the stanchion. The attacking team shouted 'Goal!' The defending team shouted back 'No way!' I shouted, 'Play on!' but to this day I have no idea if that was the right call or not. No one made a big fuss about it and the game continued - I think everyone else was just as clueless as I was.

From that game on, however, I stood on the end line at corner kicks. Over the coming years, I gave at least two goals that briefly crossed the line following corners, and which I'd never have accurately seen from a front-on angle. More recently, though, I've found that a quick counter-attack, especially in U19 or U17 games, can leave me stranded too far from the action within a very short space of time. So I've resumed my position on the edge of the penalty area.

Which brings us to this past weekend's game. The away team, already 3-0 up, take a (left-footed) corner kick from the left corner. As always, I'm focused on the dozen or so players vying for position in the six-yard box. As the ball's crossed, the home team appeal for a goal kick, claiming that it swerved out of play and back in again. That's not the direction I'm looking in, though. Play continues. There's a failed attempt to clear the ball and it falls at the feet of the away team's number three, who scores. The home team's number 8 then turns to me and demands to know why I didn't stop play and give a goal-kick.

"I can't whistle what I don't see," I tell him. "We don't have linesmen!" he yells at me, like this is new information. "That's exactly why I didn't see it," I counter. Because I can't do the linesmen's job and look in two directions at once. The only way I can cancel the goal is if the away team admits the ball went out, but that's not something they're willing to do. Number 8 shouts some more until I show him a yellow card. A few minutes later, he's subbed out. Apart from a baby-macho face-off that yields the customary lecture and a brace of cautions, it's the only bad note on a quiet afternoon. 

After the game, I seek out number 8 and explain why I stand where I stand at corner kicks, and why I'm focused on the struggle in the six-yard box rather than on checking that the ball might go out and back into play - in any case a pretty rare event. He's all smiles now, he apologises for his outburst, and says that he "respects" my confession that I wasn't looking in the right place. "Not many refs admit they've made a mistake," he says. "It's refreshing." Well, I wouldn't go as far as calling it a mistake, as such. Just a setting of my priorities under difficult circumstances. But at least he recognises that the 0-7 final score was nothing to do with my officiating. And overall the home team treats me like a prince, comparatively speaking - there's delicious home-made apple cake, a hot sausage sandwich, green tea, the offer of a beer, and a generous €4 tip, in spite of the result.

It has left me wondering, though, if I should resume my position on the end line, looking at the corner kick-taker for a brief second to see if the ball leaves play, and then swing my head around to check for foul play in the customary scrum. The problem is that those fouls often start even before the ball's been kicked. On the other hand, I'll be in a good position in case one of those narrow calls really did briefly cross the goal-line - it's odds on there'll be another one of those in due course.

It also reminded me of a strange incident when I was a linesman back in my US days. It was a youth friendly game on a cold and windy Friday night. I stood behind the corner kick taker as his right-footed kick - from the right-hand side - swerved out of play and back in again. The young goalkeeper caught the ball, then dropped it into the net. I raised my flag and, much to the keeper's relief, the goal was annulled. The game ended 0-0.

I was accosted by an irate father at the end of the game. Why had I raised my flag and cancelled the goal? I explained what had happened, but he refused to believe that it was physically possible and kept arguing the toss, no matter how many times I explained the ball's parabola. Eventually, I said, "Look, whether you want to believe me or not, it's a U13 friendly. A young kid ended up not being at fault for the goal's only game, and the result counts for absolutely nothing. What more do you want from me?" He walked off muttering about having been cheated out of a win. 

I'm actually glad I no longer have to run the line. Not only can it be dull for long stretches, but in the US I often found it extremely trying to remain professional and not turn around to answer some of the comments behind my back (usually, "That was never offside!" Or, "Offside!" from a throw-in). It would be no different here, and on the whole three officials rather than one would not make players, coaches or spectators any happier with our performance.   

Final score: 0-7 (3 x yellow)

Want to read more? Click here to order Reffing Hell: Stuck In The Middle Of A Game Gone Wrong by Ian Plenderleith (Halcyon Publishing), published on August 8, 2022.