“Not as Bad as Some Pitches Americans Use” – Soccer Goalkeeper Mistakes Rugby Line for Own Box Leaving Fans in Disbelief

One of the strangest stories from low-tier soccer just came out. It happened yesterday in a League Two match. 6th on the table Bradford City faced off 18th place holder Newport County. It was a rather balanced match with Bradford scoring 1st goal in the 36th minute. However, Newport equalized in the 61st minute and after that, the match remained goalless. One of the most hilarious and noteworthy moments of this match took place before they scored either goal.

The moment has something to do with how the pitch was marked. The ground on which the game was played is owned and operated by Welsh rugby Union. Hence, it doubles up as a Rugby stadium and the home ground of Newport County. This one little detail led to one of the most unbelievable moments of soccer this year.

Catching the soccer ball way outside the box

Newport’s team is very familiar with the pitch and they know the ins and outs of it. However, that wasn’t the case with Bradford City. There was a line about 6 feet after the box ended. To the amazing surprise of everyone, Bradford’s goalkeeper, Harry Lewis, misunderstood to be the line of the box. In the 21st minute of the game, he collected the ball from the rugby line.

To his absolute disbelief, they handed him a yellow card. Although intentionally handling a ball outside the box warrants a red card, the referee understood the circumstances. Fans on Reddit couldn’t praise the referee enough. One fan took the opportunity and fired a shot directly at MLS for the NFL stadiums being used.

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He wrote, “still not as bad as some pitches Americans use with the NFL lines still showing.” Fans appreciated the referee and criticized the pitch with reactions like, “still not as bad as some pitches Americans use with the NFL lines still showing“, and “What a terrible pitch. Reminds me of playing in a pe Hall with loads of different lines“.

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Other fans had comments like, “Great refereeing IMO. No intention of gaining any advantage. It’s a genuine mistake due to a disgrace of a pitch.“, “Obviously I’m biased but I think a yellow is fair. Nearest Newport player is nowhere near getting to the pass, so not denying a goal scoring opportunity,” and “Pitch is total a** can’t blame him.” Do you think this decision by the referee is justifiable? Drop your views in the comments below.