Six yards to soccer glory
QUESTION When and why was the six-yard box introduced into soccer?
THE main function of the six-yard box, or goal area, is to limit where the goalkeeper can place the ball when taking a goal kick. It also determines the placing of indirect free kicks and dropped balls.
Under the current rules: ‘The ball must be stationary and is kicked from any point within the goal area by a player of the defending team.’
Modern soccer began in the 1870s, but it wasn’t until more than 20 years later in 1891 that the penalty kick was introduced.
At this time, a line was marked across the entire width of the pitch, 12 yards from the goal line.
The penalty kick could be taken from any point along the 12-yard line. The goal kick was also formalised at the time.
This is what the relevant 1891 ‘laws’ of soccer said: ‘. . . the ball . . . shall be kicked off . . . within six yards of the goal-post nearest the point where the ball left the field of play.’
Because the goalposts were eight yards apart, in order to create a line that was consistently six yards from a goalpost, the groundsman would have to create a double bulge shape that would make a young man blush.
In 1902, the penalty area (18-yard box), six-yard box with its current dimensions and penalty spot, 12 yards from the goal, were introduced.
From 1984, ‘an indirect free kick awarded to the attacking team within its opponent’s goal area shall be taken from the part of the goal-area line which runs parallel to the goal-line (ie six yards out), at the point nearest where the offence was committed’.
A dropped ball restart must take place at the nearest point on the portion of the goal area parallel to the goal line.
A. K. Smith, Burnley, Lancashire.
QUESTION What is the longest acronym that can be pronounced?
ACRONYMS are abbreviations that are formed using the initial components in a phrase or name. These may be individual letters, known as initialisms, as BBC or ESRI, and/or parts of words, as in Soc Dems.
The longest acronym that can be pronounced is considered to be ADCOMSUBORDCOMPHIBSPAC, which is 22 letters long and a U.S. Navy term that stands for Administrative Command, Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet Subordinate Command. And at 24 letters, COMNAVSEACOMBATSYSENGSTA is a word standing for Commander, Naval Sea Combat Systems Engineering Station. It is longer, but the word combat has not been shortened.
The world’s longest initialism, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is the 56-letter (54 in Cyrillic): NIIOMTPLABOPARMBETZHELBETRABSBOMONIMONKONOTDTEKHRROMONT. From the Concise Dictionary of Soviet Terminology, it means ‘the laboratory for shuttering, reinforcement, concrete and ferroconcrete operations for composite-monolithic and monolithic constructions of the Department of the Technology of Building Assembly Operations of the Scientific Research Institute of the Organisation For Building Mechanisation And Technical Aid of the Academy of Building and Architecture of the USSR.’
Katherine Edwards, London E16.
QUESTION Do any of the statues targeted for removal in Britain have listed status?
I SPENT most of my professional career in the planning department in Manchester. Listing buildings is decided by the central government and administered by local authorities.
The list is not just for buildings, but other man-made things, such as statues, sundials, letterboxes, or dovecotes.
Every statue in a public place was most likely created by a celebrated sculptor, such as Hamo Thornycroft or Onslow Ford. Nearly all of their works are on the list of buildings of special architectural or historic interest. Most listed buildings are Grade II. A small percentage, including Manchester Town Hall, the cathedral, other major churches and stately homes are Grade I.
The Albert Memorial in Albert Square in Manchester, designed by Thomas Worthington, is a Grade I and pre-dates the larger copy in London.
I don’t understand why statues representing figures from the past are being defaced. You can’t pretend history didn’t happen.
We have to move on and become more civilised.
William Shawcross, Manchester. THE toppled statue of Bristol philanthropist and slave trader Edward Colston was created in 1895 by Co. Meath sculptor John Cassidy and designated a Grade II listed structure in 1977.
Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust have proposed the removal of statues of Robert Clayton and Thomas Guy.
Both were politicians and philanthropists with links to the slave trade; in the case of Guy only loosely. Guy’s bronze statue was cast by Peter Scheemakers between 1731 and 1734 and is Grade II listed. Clayton’s statue was executed by master sculptor Grinling Gibbons in the early 18th century. It is Grade I listed and, therefore, is considered to be of the highest cultural significance.
Many of the 100-plus statues and memorials designated for removal by the Topple The Racists movement are listed.
The most prominent is Nelson’s Column in London, along with 15 other memorials to the victor of Trafalgar, because of his opposition to the abolition of slavery.
Also facing calls for their removal are several statues of Robert Peel, twice British prime minister and the founder of the Metropolitan Police Force – ‘the peelers’.
He signed and supported the Abolition of Slavery Acts in 1834/5. Presumably the campaigners have confused him with his father, who had links to the slave trade. Peter Smith, via email.
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