RUFC – Should Sin Bins Be Used In Football

Vital Rotherham on:

Vital Rotherham on:



What is a ‘sin bin’?
It is somewhere – usually a bench – where players can be sent during a game as a ‘penalty’. For instance if an offence isn’t deemed bad enough for a yellow, or second yellow, then the player would be sent to the ‘sin bin’ for an allotted amount of time.

This sounds simple enough doesn’t it. And it is already in use in other sports – eg hockey, rugby.

But would it work in football and what would we use it for?

On Saturday Rotherham United’s centre-forward was kicked in the nose and after treatment on the pitch had to go to the medical room, missing a chunk of the game. Later on his nose began to bleed again so he had to go off for a second time, get a change of shirt, get some more cotton wool stuffed up his nostrils before he was allowed back on. This happened for a third time, when it was deemed his nose wasn’t going to stop so he was substituted.

Now, the lad who kicked Michael Smith in the nose – who we shall call Wimbledon’s number nineteen or, to give him his rightful name, Tom Soars, had already been booked. Obviously the Referee, Mr Salisbury (jnr) didn’t think it worth another yellow so didn’t think it was a high foot – how he came to that decision when Smith is going on for six feet four inches and Soars is just around the six foot mark I don’t know, because unless Soars plays with his foot permanently in the air I can’t see what else it could be.

Anyway, my argument in that Smith was gone for the pitch before he was subbed for around fifteen minutes I would think in all – that was the Millers down to ten men when it wasn’t our fault. Yes, we could have made a substitution straight away but Smith was having quite a good game and was quite a handful to the Dons’ defence.

So, I would like to put it to you that when this sort of foul occurs, when a player is missing by no fault of his own, then the player who is responsible, Soars in this case, could, if we’d got them, have been sent to the sin bin.

I understand the sin bins were tried out in an U16 tournament when players were banished to them for yellow card offences and it wasn’t that successful. But, I don’t think we need them for that – just for incidences similar to what I’ve outlined above.

What do you think?

To sinbin or not to sinbin, that is the question . . . .