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'Sin bins' to be trialled by English FA from next season

Last updated on .From the section Footballcomments169

A referee showing a yellow card
The temporary dismissals will only apply to yellow cards shown for dissent

The Football Association will trial 'sin bins' in the lower leagues of English football from next season.

The FA plans to introduce what it calls "temporary dismissals" in England's step seven - six tiers below the National League - and the leagues below.

They will only apply to yellow cards shown for dissent, and will see players leave the field for 10 minutes.

It will also be tested in Sunday League and male and female youth football.

More than 1,000 clubs received emails over the weekend asking if they were willing to be part of the pilot process.

"There has already been a positive response with over 60 leagues in support of it," an FA spokesperson said.

Clubs are normally charged a £10 fine for each yellow card but the FA will not be charging this administration fee for those that participate.

Step seven is the bottom level of English football's National League System,external-link which feeds into the country's professional leagues.

The highest league within that structure - step one - is the National League.

The move has been backed by teenage Sunday League referee Ryan Hampson, who earlier this year organised a nationwide strike by officials in protest at the amount of abuse they face in the grassroots game.

"There's obviously a lot more to be done but it's a step in the right direction and a great start," he told BBC Radio 5 live.

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169 comments

  • Comment posted by brackley1, at 10:34 3 May 2017

    Good idea. It works in rugby union as a serious penalty, and anything that discourages poor conduct on the pitch must benefit the game as a whole. Bring it on - and in higher leagues.

  • Comment posted by Gordon Pembury, at 10:38 3 May 2017

    Not before time. Include simulation too

  • Comment posted by MrBlueBurns, at 11:16 3 May 2017

    What we need is the footballing conversation in this country to be honest. Apologists for the likes of Sane and Rashford over the weekend just undermine the game. They cheated.

  • Comment posted by eastlondon1, at 10:58 3 May 2017

    Why not trial it in the FA Cup, then all leagues can be involved from grass roots right down to the experts in dissent Manchester United/Chelsea etc.

  • Comment posted by Nige_D, at 10:55 3 May 2017

    Fantastic idea, can't understand why we didn't do this years ago. Don't muck about with trials, get it into the EPL/EFL asap. Once teams end up with two or three players on the pitch maybe they will realize THEY need to address the issue of THEIR players behaviour. Clubs should then tie visits to the sin-bin with a % reduction of a players salary, cos' yer shouldn't get paid for sitting around!

  • Comment posted by Yeahbaby, at 12:17 3 May 2017

    Been long overdue. Why trial it in non league though and so low down. Imagine the abuse the sunday league amateur ref will get??
    Trial it in the professional academy games/ under 21's etc with higher level ref's, after all it will be these players who need to get used to it in future

  • Comment posted by Alex, at 10:45 3 May 2017

    This will never work well unless they stop the clock for stoppages like in rugby. Otherwise players will just fake injury to run down the 10 minutes.

  • Comment posted by JohnnyTwobags, at 12:28 3 May 2017

    @55 No they aren't. "Role models" are defined by their behaviour, not their position. Some footballers are and some aren't, but it's just lazy to announce that someone is a role model and then blame them for kids doing bad stuff. Why would anyone think a random stranger has an inherent responsibility for teaching good behaviour to kids they never even see? Do your own parenting.

  • Comment posted by The Hand of Cod, at 11:42 3 May 2017

    I hate seeing people congratulated for committing a "Professional Foul" and taking one for the team, so I'd like to see that included in the 10 minute sin bin along with the other major method of cheating, simulation.

  • Comment posted by D1679575259969, at 10:37 3 May 2017

    Whilst dissent is something no fan likes to see, I have been a non-league season ticket holder for 7-8 years at a tier 7 side and I'm not sure how I feel about this. Primarily due to the quite bad (and sometimes bent...) level of officiating at our level, I feel it could be very much abused in the lower divisions.

    That and I can't see county FAs wanting to waive the £10 booking fine.

  • Comment posted by GrumpyGit, at 11:55 3 May 2017

    I would also like to see retrospective action being taken by an independent body to stamp out diving and other forms of cheating, i.e. taking one for the team, shirt pulling or tripping up players when clean through on a counter attack. They would be able to dish out bans, hand out very large fines, rescind goals scored as a result of cheating. I think this would stop the cheats in their tracks.

  • Comment posted by PranR17, at 11:32 3 May 2017

    Good idea but why only for dissent, should also be for diving and for cynical fouls to stop a counter attack.

  • Comment posted by Lon1, at 17:07 3 May 2017

    Go into the sin bin - where on the bench to receive instructions from the manager - some punishment - if there is to be a sin bin it has to be on the other side line away from contact - lets also send players into the sin bin for trying to influence the ref - only captain allowed to speak to the ref

  • Comment posted by liamisgreat, at 17:23 3 May 2017

    Waste of time in my opinion,is it not time to sort the cheats out and use tmo`s as in Rugby it works there.

  • Comment posted by U16672756, at 18:48 3 May 2017

    What about a 10 Minute Sin Bin for some of the posters on here, so instead of having just to wait 600 Seconds before posting again you could add 840 Seconds on top halting people like Markthelegendkid, matt, Shenanigans, Cantona is a piece of Cod, Hurricane, and many more from posting.

    Imagine the Trolls having to wait 1440 seconds for being in a Sin Bin Yellow Carded.

  • Comment posted by DPG, at 11:00 3 May 2017

    2. Posted by Rawrdrigo

    Yes, the officiating can be bad but that doesn't excuse dissent from players. The attitude needs stamping out at grass roots level, in my opinion. Virtually every other sport manages to promote respectful behaviour towards refs/umpires despite poor decisions and we should be doing the same in football.

  • Comment posted by PaulTG, at 10:43 3 May 2017

    Great idea, use it for dissent, diving, and deliberate time wasting. Apply it to managers as well.

  • Comment posted by J , at 13:27 3 May 2017

    I hope they've added security for these matches (& especially for the referees). Life in general, as well as football 'etiquette', has become much coarser, in the past several decades.
    Sport most assuredly doesn't build 'character', but it certainly reveals the lack thereof.
    Fingers crossed for the front-line officials doing 'combat-duty'.

    ~LXXVIII

  • Comment posted by CRR, at 11:23 3 May 2017

    Great idea but should be implemented at a higher level as it will be easier for officials. Possibly used in all cup competitions to start with.

  • Comment posted by User0463985174, at 18:01 3 May 2017

    re 132

    that rule works in rugby where there is very little dissent and only the captain speaks to the referee

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