A few days ago we wrote Crossing the Line – A World Cup Debate discussing whether Goalkeepsr at the world cup were cheating by advancing off their line in penalty Shoot-outs at the World Cup or whether this was a natural movement.
In that article we mentioned how in the past goalkeepers used to start at the back of their goal and run out and narrow the angle until the rules were changed. We would like to thank Dan from Amsterdam who looked into this in more detail and sent us a message.
The player in question was Irishman Charles Farquharson who was in goal when when Cardiff won the FA Cup in 1927. The rule was changed in 1928 to say that Goalkeepers could not move off their line in 1929 following a protest by Chelsea who were defeated by Cardiff in the quarter finals. Farquharson had rushed out from the back of his net to save a crucial penalty from Andy Wilson. He was on the six yard line when he made the save. On hearing Chlesea’s complaint the English FA ruled that the behaviour of the goalkeeper was “against the spirit of the game.”
Interestingly it was Welsh Goalkeeper Leigh Richmond-Roose who also has always been credited with making the FA Change Laws to restrict him plying his trade. It has been said that the 1912 alteration to the Laws of the Game, forbidding the goalkeeper handle the ball outside of his penalty area, was directly due to the performances of Roose, who enjoyed taking part in attacks.
Richmond-Roose was a very interesting character and a many who lost his life during World War one. He maybe can lay claim to creating the myth that Goalkeeper’s are different.
He contributed an article on goalkeeping in 1906 to a four volume work entitled “Association Football and the Men Who Made It.” In his piece he wrote “There is a proverb, which says, ‘Before you go to war, say a prayer; before going to sea say two prayers; before marrying say three prayers.’ One might add: ‘Before deciding to become a goalkeeper say four prayers.’ He’s the Aunt Sally.”
As we see here the Laws have been changed to restrict Goalkeepers and we have seen other changes in recent times in relation to back-passes, and of course the various rules in relation to distributing the ball in terms of time and steps taken. As we asked in the earlier piece should goalkeepers be restricted from what they do naturally when it comes to penalties? After all the odds are heavily stacked against them.
