By Michael Letendre

Every once in a while, even after watching scholastic sports in town for more than a few decades, I see something different on the various courts and fields in and around the Mum City that even surprises me.

I’ve taken in several scholastic soccer games over the years, particularly at Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern, and observed various referees and officials hand out warnings and yellow cards when play has gotten a bit out of hand.

But this past week, when the Eastern girls soccer team defeated Wethersfield by a 2-1 score from Alumni Field in Bristol, one of the opposing players drew a red card – causing an immediate ejection- and gave the Lancers a one-man advantage on the field.

A red card is a rare tool for an official to use and it was reported that the Wethersfield player ejected might have said one of those ‘colorful words’ that leads to disqualification on the soccer field.

But was it the right call?

Does one bad word automatically disqualify a player from a soccer match?

I wanted to get some clarity on why red cards are issued and when it’s appropriate to use one – even during a not so intense situation.

My father-in-law, Carl DalBon, was a soccer official in the Eastern part of Connecticut for thirty-two years and even helped instruct individuals who wanted to learn how to referee the sport.

DalBon had a chance to referee at the Olympic trials and certainly was a well respected official throughout the state.

He’s been there and done that, seeing all sorts of tomfoolery that the real sport of ‘football’ provides on a daily basis at schools, parks, and everywhere else that soccer could be played.

And I wanted to see if he thought last week’s red card was justified during that tense BE/Wethersfield showdown.

I caught up with Mr. DalBon this past Saturday (he was asking for a fourth helping of his granddaughter’s birthday cake for some reason) and wanted his take on red cards and when those should be issued during a scholastic soccer game:

Michael Letendre (TBE): “Mr. DalBon, I wanted to talk to you about red cards. When it comes to a red card, is that your last deterrent in trying to calm a game – or individual – down? Was that something you handed out regularly or did you try not to issue one unless absolutely necessary?

Mr. DalBon (former Connecticut soccer official): “A red card is a last resort. [That means] you have done everything you’ve can [as an official]. You’ve had conversations with a player, you’ve given him a break, and you’ve warned him. ‘I want to keep you in the game. You better knock it off.’ And after a while, it becomes obvious that they aren’t going to listen. So, you do what you have to do. “

Letendre: “Red cards aren’t something you hand out like candy on Halloween then. It’s truly something you would prefer not pull out if at all possible…”

Mr. DalBon: “It’s not your first line of defense. You try to work with the players on the field because you want them to play. You’re not there to knock players out of the game [because] that’s not your job. Your job is to keep players on the field so there’s an equal opportunity for them to win. And a red card is a last resort.”

Letendre: “How many red cards have you handed out over the years?”

Mr. DalBon: “I could say without hesitation, I’ve handed out five or six in thirty-two years.”

Letendre: “You’ve already handed out a yellow card in a game, for instance. Does a yellow card usually defuse a tense situation?”

Mr. DalBon: “Usually. Some [players] have an attitude about it. They think they’re a hero for getting a yellow card. ‘I’ve got a yellow card. I got a yellow…I’ve been warned.’ Usually, the yellow is the deterrent. They know that the next yellow equals a red and they’re gone.” 

Letendre: “Not citing a specific example, but swearing on the field is not allowed. That’s a red card offense, correct?”

Mr. DalBon: “Absolutely.”

Letendre: “If you heard a student athlete drop an F-bomb or something of that nature…”

Mr. DalBon: “It’s an automatic red card.”

Letendre: “It’s automatic?!?”

Mr. DalBon: “For me it is. Automatic. You have to maintain the integrity of the game. Once the opponents see that you’ve allowed this person to go ahead and just vocalize anything they want, they’re going to do the same thing. And once one player knows that they can do it, then everybody else is going to figure it out and they’re going to do it.”

Letendre: “What about players who are speaking different languages on the field?”

Mr. DalBon: “It’s a little more difficult when you’re doing a game that’s not played all in English and there’s Spanish, Jamaican…there’s all different kinds of dialects that are on the field. But once you’ve become accustomed to what those [swear] words are, they translate to a red card. I’m sorry. It’s the only way you can do it to keep control of the game once those expletives are skewed forth.”

Red Card Violations

Here are some typical situations when a red card can be issued during a soccer match:

• Violence on the field
• Taunting an opponent
• Spitting
• Hand ball that stops a potential goal
• Fouling to stop a goal from scoring
• Multiple cautions
• Bad language
• Reckless and dangerous plays
• Throwing an object at an opposing player
• Any offense leading to a free kick
• Eating too much of your granddaughter’s birthday cake (well, this could lead to a lifetime ban but maybe not a red card).