Question Number: 29151

Law 16 - Goal Kick 2/1/2015

RE: Rec Under 10

slocookie of San Luis Obispo, United States asks...

A goal kick is kicked out of bounds within the penalty area from which the kick was made. (The kicker's foot slipped and the angle was way off. You never expect it to go behind the box. Very strange¦ not one of my referee friends has seen this and all can't believe this happened.) Is the ball awarded to the opposing team for a corner kick or is the goal kick retaken?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi
As the ball is not in play until it leaves the penalty area the goal kick is retaken. It can only be a corner kick if the ball leaves the penalty area and crosses the goal line between the corner flag and the penalty area line.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Slocookie,

At a goal kick the ball isn't in play until it leaves the Penalty Area. To enter play it needs to enter the FOP itself - going straight back over the goal line means the ball has never entered play, so we can't go to a corner kick restart. A retake is the correct scenario.

Incidentally, had the ball entered the goal in this situation, that would make no difference to my answer.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

LOL sounds like a mulligan or a do over to me.

Despite the strange trajectory, if the ball failed to clear the PA before crossing the goal line the kick is to be retaken. That RULE applies to ANY defending free kick that originates within their own penalty area.

If the ball went out wide enough to escape the PA boundary lines then crossed the goal line. it would be a corner kick!

Speaking of odd kicks I had a young fellow who had NEVER Scored . We had a fair bit of talent on our team so we agreed to make it a mission to set him up to score a goal. The ball was literally sitting on the goal line in the middle of the goal or perhaps a foot away, as he swung his leg he dug under that ball and lifted it clear over the crossbar. We were dumb founded and his parents , myself and the rest if the adults nearly fell to the ground in in pain because we were laughing so hard at the sheer impossibility of what we just witnessed. It was a short time later in that same match, because he never quit and when he got his first goal, I never saw such a tiny chest puff out so big or a smile light up the entire pitch as EVERYONE was smiling It was one of the highlights of coaching a youth team. Enjoy those magic moments, they do rekindle lots of warm feelings as you age!
Cheers