Behind the Whistle: Chris Foy explains latest EFL decisions in Stoke City rout of Coventry and Millwall stalemate at West Brom

In Behind the Whistle, former Premier League referee Chris Foy goes through a selection of key match decisions from the latest Sky Bet Championship, League One and League Two action.

Although many decisions made on the pitch are of a subjective nature, Behind the Whistle aims to give supporters of EFL clubs an insight into the decision-making considerations and also clarification of certain calls to provide an understanding of how the laws of the game are interpreted.

As part of a regular feature on Sky Sports following the conclusion of a matchday, Foy will be here to run you through some refereeing matters in the EFL.

Sky Bet Championship

Coventry City 0-4 Stoke City

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Stoke’s goal still stands despite the appeals from the Coventry defenders for offside

Incident: Potential offside (Stoke City)

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Decision: Goal awarded (Stoke City)

This is an outstanding real-time judgement by the assistant referee, as there’s an impression the attacking player is offside. It can be difficult to judge when the ball travels a significant distance, particularly when players move at speed.

In this case, the defending player steps up in an attempt to play offside, however the timing of the run by the attacking player and the decision that they are onside are both perfectly judged. The assistant referee has made the correct decision in keeping their flag down.

West Brom 0-0 Millwall

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West Brom are denied a penalty after a flag for offside during their 0-0 draw at home to Millwall

Incident: Potential penalty (West Brom)

Decision: No penalty awarded – offside (West Brom)

There are two aspects to consider with this decision – the potential offside and then the penalty appeal.

The attacking player was in an offside position when the ball was played and this is recognised by the assistant referee, who then raises their flag when the attacking player becomes involved in active play. However, on closer viewing, the footage confirms that it is a defending player who makes a very well-timed tackle who plays the ball, and therefore the attacking player should not be given offside.

It’s important to remember that it is the moment that the ball is last touched or played by a team mate that offside is judged. It is a difficult judgement for the assistant to make and match officials look to work as a team to help identify who played the ball.

Looking at the possible penalty, there is a challenge between the Millwall goalkeeper and WBA attacking player, and in my view the goalkeeper plays the ball and therefore the best outcome is not a penalty, rather a throw-in to the attacking side.

Hull City 0-0 Rotherham United

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Domingos Quina is sent off for Rotherham in their 0-0 draw at Hull after denying a goalscoring opportunity

Incident: Denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity (Hull City)

Decision: Red card for Rotherham United defender

This situation highlights the importance of being alert and how positioning and movement is key to making good on-field decisions. In my view this is a brilliant piece of officiating. The play switches ends in a matter of seconds and the referee not only shows awareness and acceleration to be in a position to make a decision, he also shows composure to call it correctly.

Perhaps the best element of all though is the movement he displays to obtain an angle at the time of the challenge to judge whether it happened inside or outside the box. The location of the offence is crucial as if the challenge was inside the box it would have resulted in a penalty and a yellow card (as there was a genuine attempt for the ball), instead it was a free-kick outside the box and a red card – all this late on and at a very important stage of the game.

Sky Bet League One

Derby County 0-2 Ipswich Town

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Derby County have a goal disallowed in their 2-0 defeat at home to Ipswich

Incident: Potential goal scored (Derby County)

Decision: Goal disallowed – foul (Derby County)

This is a goal that I believe should have been allowed to stand.

Whilst there is an attacking player in close proximity to the goalkeeper and there is physical contact between the players, the contact and consequence does not meet with the threshold for a foul in my opinion, meaning that the better outcome would have been to award the goal on this occasion.

Sky Bet League Two

Bradford City 3-2 Grimsby Town

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Bradford are denied a goal at home to Grimsby after the official deemed the ball had not fully crossed the line

Incident: Potential goal scored (Bradford City)

Decision: Goal not awarded (Bradford City)

Without the use of goal-line technology, these types of decisions are extremely difficult for the match officials to be certain about; remember the whole of the ball must cross the whole of the line before a goal can be awarded.

There are multiple bodies which potentially block the view of both the referee and the assistant referee and I think the match officials judged the situation correctly given the degree of uncertainty.

Leyton Orient 1-0 Carlisle United

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Leyton Orient’s Charlie Kelman is shown a second yellow card in their 1-0 win at home to Carlisle

Incident: Potential second caution (Leyton Orient)

Decision: Second caution awarded – red card (Leyton Orient)

I think this is a fairly straightforward decision for the referee.

The Leyton Orient player, already on a yellow card, clearly trips the opponent in a late challenge. It meets the threshold for a reckless foul and therefore a second yellow card was correctly awarded in my opinion.