An incredible situation arose in British football when a fan acted as an assistant judge in the duel between Portsmouth and Third Division Cheltenham.
An unusual situation for professional sport has been experienced in League One, the third category of football in England. During the match between Portsmouth and Cheltenham, a fan was forced down from the stands onto the pitch and acted as linesman. The man with the flag was injured, the fourth referee appeared in his place and, after a few minutes, he could not continue either.
After a few minutes of uncertainty, the solution came from the stands. At minute 57′, the announcement falls. “There was just a message on the AP for a qualified official to come forward…And a fan just came out of the stands to resume performance, so you should be fine!” announced Portsmouth, via its Twitter account.
The strangeness of the event made the improvised whistler the most applauded actor of the day. “The linesman’s flag rises and receives a standing ovation from the Fratton faithful,” they said in another post on their social media, of the cast who officiated at home.
The 0-0 remains for posterity after the fan fulfilled his dream of being on the playing field with his credentials, but not in the position he could have imagined. After the second injury, the game had to be interrupted for several minutes and, after warm-up exercises, the game resumed with the clock at 55′.
In the end, the duel had to be extended to 115′, considering the time lost. Both institutions posted the unusual news on their websites. “There were some almost ridiculous scenes midway through the second half when the substitute assistant referee picked up the injury, an incident which ultimately saw 21 minutes added late in the second half at Fratton Park. (…) A moment that will surely become a test question for years to come. The assistant referee, who had already replaced his injured counterpart in the first half, suffered an illness which forced him to stop the game for an extended period as the PA called for a qualified substitute in the crowd.
For its part, the local avoided qualifying. “ a referee the assistant was injured every half meaning a qualified spectator had to be called up from the stands in the second half to run the line,” they revealed.
“A strange moment occurred when another assistant referee could not continue and the principal had to stop the process. This led to a call for a qualified match official to come forward and eventually a supporter came out of the stands to take over. However, there was a long delay, which meant both sides had to warm up again before the action could finally resume,” they added.
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Source: Latercera
I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.
