How are PL matches timed?

[Pogue Mahone]

Does the ref ever stop his watch?

Or does it run constantly throughout each half and he looks over to the board to know how many minutes to add on to 45 before blowing up?

Who decides what number goes on the board? How is it calculated?

Correct answers only. No chancers please.

 

[Thunderhead]

Does the ref ever stop his watch?

Or does it run constantly throughout each half and he looks over to the board to know how many minutes to add on to 45 before blowing up?

Who decides what number goes on the board? How is it calculated?

Correct answers only. No chancers please.

The ref tells the 4th official how much time to add on, no idea if he stops one of the 2 watches he's wearing to calculate this time

 

[sullydnl]

From a 2012 BBC article:

The Professional Game Match Officials - the board responsible for providing the Premier League with officials and developing refereeing - provided BBC Sport with some answers.
How do referees keep track of how long an injury takes?
There's two people, one of the assistants and the fourth official. As soon as the physio or trainer comes on, they will monitor how long they are on the pitch.
Does he stop his watch or just note what time the injury has happened?
He doesn't stop his watch, no. It's just a case of monitoring their watch; they never stop the watch.
Is 30 seconds added on for each substitution?
As a rule of thumb, yes. But if a player is doddering, meandering, then extra time can be added. And it's the same for red cards, yellow cards as well.
Is the clock stopped for goals?
No, it's not. But they do add time (to cover celebrations). It's around 30 seconds as a rule of thumb, unless they spend five minutes celebrating. Every situation is different, they'll take each one on its merit.
How do referees account for time-wasting?
That's discretionary. It has to depend on the situation.
When does he let the fourth official know how long he wants added on?
It's usually about two minutes before the end of each half.
How does he keep track of the amount of added time in injury time itself?
That's the same process itself. For example in the Reading-Arsenal game there was a substitution in extra time.
Do referees not blow for full-time when a team is attacking?
No. They can blow for full time at any junction.
What have been the major changes in the process over recent years?
Just that fourth officials note down every stoppage of play. They can present it to the management team of any club - should they want a list.
How long have fourth officials been noting the times down?
It's actually since last season. They've been writing it down properly so that people can see this is the list of where the time has been added on.

 

[Dancfc]

I always assumed that was the 4th officials job it but I could be wrong.

 

[acnumber9]

They look at the scoreboard and then decide whether they want to do their job properly and add on an appropriate amount of time. If a game is petering out to an easy victory for one team then 2/3 minutes suffice regardless of anything that has actually happened. They also add one minute for the first half unless there’s an injury or VAR again regardless of anything that actually happened.

They also will regularly book people in injury time for wasting time and then still blow up exactly on the amount of time initially added on. Not sure if it’s actually written in the rules though.

 

[Tom Cato]

Does the ref ever stop his watch?

Or does it run constantly throughout each half and he looks over to the board to know how many minutes to add on to 45 before blowing up?

Who decides what number goes on the board? How is it calculated?

Correct answers only. No chancers please.

The referee adds injury time at his discretion following a set of fixed guidelines.

During the 45 minute periods, the following are grounds for added injury time: Substitutions, timewasting, disciplinary sanctions, medical stoppage (injury assessment, removal of players) and VAR checks.

The referee will make a note of the time accumulated by keeping track on his stopwatch and notify the 4th referee how many minutes to add which is then announced on the sidelines. The referee can choose to add to the injury time at his discrection during the injury time itself, but he can't reduce it.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

From a 2012 BBC article:

The Professional Game Match Officials - the board responsible for providing the Premier League with officials and developing refereeing - provided BBC Sport with some answers.
How do referees keep track of how long an injury takes?
There's two people, one of the assistants and the fourth official. As soon as the physio or trainer comes on, they will monitor how long they are on the pitch.
Does he stop his watch or just note what time the injury has happened?
He doesn't stop his watch, no. It's just a case of monitoring their watch; they never stop the watch.
Is 30 seconds added on for each substitution?
As a rule of thumb, yes. But if a player is doddering, meandering, then extra time can be added. And it's the same for red cards, yellow cards as well.
Is the clock stopped for goals?
No, it's not. But they do add time (to cover celebrations). It's around 30 seconds as a rule of thumb, unless they spend five minutes celebrating. Every situation is different, they'll take each one on its merit.
How do referees account for time-wasting?
That's discretionary. It has to depend on the situation.
When does he let the fourth official know how long he wants added on?
It's usually about two minutes before the end of each half.
How does he keep track of the amount of added time in injury time itself?
That's the same process itself. For example in the Reading-Arsenal game there was a substitution in extra time.
Do referees not blow for full-time when a team is attacking?
No. They can blow for full time at any junction.
What have been the major changes in the process over recent years?
Just that fourth officials note down every stoppage of play. They can present it to the management team of any club - should they want a list.
How long have fourth officials been noting the times down?
It's actually since last season. They've been writing it down properly so that people can see this is the list of where the time has been added on.

Jesus Christ. Could they be any more obtuse?

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Jesus Christ. Could they be any more obtuse?

Time keeping has been one of the long standing arbitary and ridiculous things in football, and yet everyone just kind of accepts it.

There should definitely be a better way of keeping track of the big stoppages, even if that does mean adding 7-10 minutes at the end of every game. I know people say they should play 60 minutes and constantly stop the clock, but I personally wouldn't be a fan of that.

 

[Cheimoon]

Time keeping has been one of the long standing arbitary and ridiculous things in football, and yet everyone just kind of accepts it.

There should definitely be a better way of keeping track of the big stoppages, even if that does mean adding 7-10 minutes at the end of every game. I know people say they should play 60 minutes and constantly stop the clock, but I personally wouldn't be a fan of that.

What's the downside though? You get more honest game time and time-wasting becomes useless.

I suppose there's the fear we might eventually get advertisement breaks in football, because if the clock stops anyway, you might as well wait a minute and run a few ads before doing the throw-in. But football often continues flowing during throw-ins and free kicks. In principle, you could run an ad after a goal or substitution, or before a corner kick or free kick in a good position, since the game comes to a complete stop and resets at those moments. But this would basically add a time-out to football; I don't see that happening very soon.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

What's the downside though? You get more honest game time and time-wasting becomes useless.

I suppose there's the fear we might eventually get advertisement breaks in football, because if the clock stops anyway, you might as well wait a minute and run a few ads before doing the throw-in. But football often continues flowing during throw-ins and free kicks. In principle, you could run an ad after a goal or substitution, or before a corner kick or free kick in a good position, since the game comes to a complete stop and resets at those moments. But this would basically add a time-out to football; I don't see that happening very soon.

.

Basically yeah, I feel like a stopped clock just opens the door for adverts. Also I think it would ruin the end of the game a bit... The drama of not knowing when the ref is going to blow for full time and the relief when he does. Plus what happens if time expires whilst a team is attacking? Wait for the ball to go out of play? But then what if its a corner? Also not a fan of the "kick it into touch" idea.

Finally (and mainly!) a crowd counting down the last 10 seconds? Urgh.

 

[Leftback99]

They basically just make it up. I think I read on average the ball is only in play around 54 minutes. Ridiculous really.

 

[Hoof the ball]

Also, there's never the right amount of stoppage time. Let's say that the ref has given five mins stoppage time, but then someone goes down for two minutes in stoppage time, almost always the ref will shortchange on those wasted minutes, so you'll end up with 4 1/2 or something.

 

[diarm]

Surely this is a distraction that could be taken off the hands of referees?

Instead of having them adding up substitutions and celebrations and whatever else, let someone in the stands or better yet, technology worry about timekeeping and let the refs focus on watching the football and getting their decisions right?

 

[Big Ben Foster]

They should introduce a STAR: Stoppage Time Assistant Referee

 

[Chairman Steve]

They're timed horribly if you live in Australia!

Try the veal folks while I’m here all week!

 

[calodo2003]

Does the ref ever stop his watch?

Or does it run constantly throughout each half and he looks over to the board to know how many minutes to add on to 45 before blowing up?

Who decides what number goes on the board? How is it calculated?

Correct answers only. No chancers please.

I would also be cognizant of goals scored, time wasting, etc.
I used to wear two watches, stop one for extended periods of play (typically injuries) & let the other run. Around five minutes to go in each half, I would look at the two watches, see the difference, then gauge added time from that.
I wasn't a PL ref, mind, but refereed college & top amateur / club matches for many years.

 

[Cheimoon]

Basically yeah, I feel like a stopped clock just opens the door for adverts. Also I think it would ruin the end of the game a bit... The drama of not knowing when the ref is going to blow for full time and the relief when he does. Plus what happens if time expires whilst a team is attacking? Wait for the ball to go out of play? But then what if its a corner? Also not a fan of the "kick it into touch" idea.

Finally (and mainly!) a crowd counting down the last 10 seconds? Urgh.

I don't know, it's also nice to know what you're up against in the final minutes of the game. Will save a lot of complaining to the ref about extra time (to add more or to finish the game). I'm also not big on arbitrariness myself, I prefer if it's clearer even if it removes some of the tension. But I know a lot of people appreciate that as part of the drama of football.

The countdown is kinda fun in the NHL, but then the court is so small that you can score a goal in seconds after an attack has failed on the other end. In football, if it's 10 seconds left and the goalkeeper of the chasing team has the ball, you might almost give up; just letting the ball travel the full length of the pitch takes about that long.

 

[Corey]

From a 2012 BBC article:

The Professional Game Match Officials - the board responsible for providing the Premier League with officials and developing refereeing - provided BBC Sport with some answers.
How do referees keep track of how long an injury takes?
There's two people, one of the assistants and the fourth official. As soon as the physio or trainer comes on, they will monitor how long they are on the pitch.
Does he stop his watch or just note what time the injury has happened?
He doesn't stop his watch, no. It's just a case of monitoring their watch; they never stop the watch.
Is 30 seconds added on for each substitution?
As a rule of thumb, yes. But if a player is doddering, meandering, then extra time can be added. And it's the same for red cards, yellow cards as well.
Is the clock stopped for goals?
No, it's not. But they do add time (to cover celebrations). It's around 30 seconds as a rule of thumb, unless they spend five minutes celebrating. Every situation is different, they'll take each one on its merit.
How do referees account for time-wasting?
That's discretionary. It has to depend on the situation.
When does he let the fourth official know how long he wants added on?
It's usually about two minutes before the end of each half.
How does he keep track of the amount of added time in injury time itself?
That's the same process itself. For example in the Reading-Arsenal game there was a substitution in extra time.
Do referees not blow for full-time when a team is attacking?
No. They can blow for full time at any junction.
What have been the major changes in the process over recent years?
Just that fourth officials note down every stoppage of play. They can present it to the management team of any club - should they want a list.
How long have fourth officials been noting the times down?
It's actually since last season. They've been writing it down properly so that people can see this is the list of where the time has been added on.

Referees clearly don't do half of this.

 

[noodlehair]

Does the ref ever stop his watch?

Or does it run constantly throughout each half and he looks over to the board to know how many minutes to add on to 45 before blowing up?

Who decides what number goes on the board? How is it calculated?

Correct answers only. No chancers please.

If one team is pushing for a winning or equalising goal, it's 5 minutes.

If the game is drifting to nothing or one team is winning comfortably, it is 3 minutes.

Apart from prolonged injuries or taking 5 minutes for VAR to figure out someone was 2 metres offside, no other factors come into it.

And I genuinely believe this is the case...as evidenced by the ref adding 5 minutes onto the end of the Man Utd vs Wolves game last week and then blowing at 5 minutes 1 second despite booking a Wolves player for timewasting IN added time. If there was any actual accountable system then this sort of shite wouldn't ever happen.