Northern Ireland v Czech Republic

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What, according to the Laws of the Game, can be “square, rectangular,
round or elliptical in shape and must not be dangerous”?
LET’S HEAR IT FOR
THE HUMBLE GOAL POST…
It “must be white” and “have the same width
and depth, which must not exceed 12 cm (five
inches)”.
I refer of course to that most modest of
appurtenances of the field of play: the humble
goal post (Laws of the Game 2017/18).
And what stories those posts can tell. They
might have been the difference between
success and failure, winning and losing,
they allow reputations to be built or to be
lost, promotions to be won and relegations
confirmed.
In the recent UEFA Women’s Under 19
Championship final played at the National
Football Stadium the skilful French forward
Emelyne Laurent rasped a shot against the
crossbar at 1-0 to France which, if it had been
an inch lower, could very easily have changed
the direction of the final.
That’s the problem with crossbars and
goalposts: being inanimate objects they are no
respecters of the sustenance of reputations.
In a passionate and exciting game there can
be no passion in a crossbar and there is no
excitement in a goal post - and yet they might
very well represent the widest five inches on
the field of play.
Emotionless they may be, but then why do
they cruelly taunt players and fans alike?
Why is that sometimes the ball ricochets off
the post back into play but on other occasions
slinks apologetically into the goal itself? No-
one can tell me that.
Are these the actions of an inanimate piece of
pitch furniture? I don’t think so.
A few years ago a German company came
forward to IFAB (the world rule-making body
for the game) with a prototype goal which,
they claimed, would always result in a goal if
the post was struck.
The posts were designed in such a way that if
struck by the ball then the ball would end up in
the net. Where is the fun in that?
IFAB declined the proposal. The game is
much more exciting when there is no known
outcome of the shot on goal. If it hits the post
who knows where, or to whom, it might fall?
Football must always be about the
unexpected, the moment of sublime skill
set against the counterpoint of shocking
and outrageous luck, the bounce of the ball
(or lack of it). Do I need to remind you of the
misfortune of poor Artur Boruc of Poland at
Windsor Park in 2009 - the mis-kick or the
ridiculous deflection?
The game would be the poorer without them,
so long may we enjoy the random benefits of
goalposts…
Words: William Campbell
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