.................and what should the referee's decision be if the ball had gone straight into the goal without that defender touching it?
Can't remember how the play started. Was it a free kick or did the keeper just play out from the back? If it was a free kick, isn't it some oddity like a corner? Something obscure.
If the keeper had the ball in hand when he kicked it out, the goal would have stood. If he was taking a dead ball goal kick after the ball had gone out of play and nobody else had touched it before it went into the net, the ref should award a corner kick to the opposition.
I wasn't sure, but had heard it being something odd before. Does the same apply if it was an outfield player taking the free kick? What if it was a goal kick?
Anybody could take the kick, as long as the ball had gone "dead" and a goal kick was being taken. Someone has to touch the ball for it to be "back in play" otherwise the kicker would have deemed to have put the ball behind his own goal line and a corner would be the correct decisison.
I wonder how long that has been in the rules. Seems like an old one that has never been challenged. For me, if the ball is not deemed to be 'back in play', it feels as if the kick should be re-taken. It is what it is, and provides an interesting quiz question. When Im one step away from gnawing my fingers off with boredom, I must get a copy of the rule book to study.
In that case, interesting question would be can a keeper score against the opposition directly from a goal kick with nobody else touching the ball?
Just found answer on co-pilot...................... Yes Yes, a goal can be scored directly from a goal kick against the opposition without anyone else touching the ball. This is because a goal may be scored directly from a goal kick, but only against the opposing team; if the ball directly enters the kicker’s goal, a corner kick is awarded to the opponents. The goal kick is a direct re-start of play, but only if the ball goes into the opponents’ goal.
If I recall, I think there was a rule that a goalkeeper could not score direct from a free kick. The keeper could however score if he had the ball in his hand and lofted one. Now here’s the caveat. I am very old and my memory is not the best!
2 words. Pat Jennings. He scored from a kick out of his hands in a 3.3 Community Shield game at Old Trashford. 1967 I think. Alec Stepney was the United keeper. Feck me, I'm very old too.
