Every English football fan can and will forever remember the moment in 1966 that is synonymous with sporting the 3 lions on their chest. Defeat at the hand of England left West Germany asking themselves a much too often deliberated point in even our most modern game, “was it over the line?”. Ironically, Frank Lampard and his ‘Golden Generation’ colleagues were left asking themselves the very same question.
Someone once said that hindsight is a wonderful thing, but for the England class of 2010 it appeared to be a case of either bad luck or twisted karma 44 years in the making. ALL of the post match replays had overwhelmingly confirmed that Lampard’s shot crossed the line entirely. With the game tied at one apiece before the goal that wasn’t, this could have swung the impetus in favour of England and for all we know Germany would never have romped onto a clear winning margin.
Fast forward to the present day and we have the Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke announcing the introduction of goal-line technology, with the new system set to be used for the first time at the Club World Cup in Japan in December. Furthermore (and more importantly for the Premier League) Alex Horne, the Football Association general secretary, said that the technology could be brought into the Premier League midway through the 2012-13 season.
Although it is more realistic that the entire implementation of goal line technology across the EPL will be finalised for the commencement of the 2013/14 season. This can only be a good thing for all concerned. For almost a decade now the EPL has become the undisputed money league of world football. Underline this with the fact that the Premier League have sold the domestic broadcast rights from 2013-16 for £3.018bn, with BSkyB and BT the two winners resulting in a severe financial security issue when it comes to goal line decisions.
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Yes we will never forget the hilarity that was Roy Carroll’s goal line ‘save’ of 2005. Pedro Mendes tried his luck from just inside the opposition half and an obviously surprised Roy Carroll bundled the ball before beginning a save which originated from about 3ft within his own net…… Even as a spectator in real time I could see that Carroll had gotten away with murder.
More recently and in a massive six-pointer at the foot of the Premier League, QPR were convinced they had broken the deadlock. Clint Hill met Joey Barton’s corner and though goalkeeper Adam Bogdan belatedly clawed the ball away, replays showed the entire ball had clearly crossed the line. QPR went on to lose 2-1, prompting Barton to tweet: “Big decisions all wrong. Ref saying ‘don’t blame us blame the FA for not having goal line technology!’ Sort of sums it all up!”
Goals affect games and it is hard to accept conceding goals in any circumstance whether a team ends up victorious or defeated, relegated or promoted and with so much money flying around the EPL these days, teams, fans, managers, everyone involved in the game has the right to know where they stand when it comes to the old crux of was it or wasn’t it? (over the line). After all, the cost of relegation can be catastrophic. In total, clubs are likely to find that revenue diminishes by around £25m for the season following their relegation. This sum will increase with each passing season in which they fail to win promotion, especially once the four-year entitlement to parachute payments comes to an end. So the figure will rise to £33m per year and then £41m per year after that compensation ceases.
In the end common sense has at long last prevailed and we will now have a split second decision made correctly not by a blundering or guess worthy referee but by technology which has been already tried and tested for a decade. Finally football will be on a par with rugby, tennis and even cricket when it comes to the accuracy of crucial scoring decisions. Although in hindsight, all England fans will be thankful that there wasn’t a hawk-eye around to decide upon their fateful moment of glory.
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A save that started from 3 feet inside his net haha! Brilliant!
Another good article here