Behind the Whistle: Former referee Chris Foy analyses decisions from the Championship, League One and League Two

In this edition of Behind the Whistle, former Premier League referee Chris Foy goes through a selection of key match decisions from the weekend’s games in the Sky Bet Championship, League One and League Two.

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 runs you through some refereeing matters in the EFL…

Sky Bet Championship

Norwich City 1-1 Derby County

Incident – Goal scored, possible offside (Derby County)

Decision – Goal disallowed (Derby County)

Foy says: “This was the first of two offside decisions in the space of a couple of minutes in what was a fast-paced game, but unfortunately for me the assistant referee misreads this one and gets it wrong.

“As the ball is crossed into the box, we can see with the benefit of replays that the Derby County player who converts the chance appears to be behind the ball and therefore onside.

“With such a quickly developing phase of play, calls like this can be difficult to judge, but the correct decision here would have been to award the goal as the Derby goalscorer was not in an offside position.”

West Bromwich Albion 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday

Incident – Goal scored, possible offside – line of vision (Sheffield Wednesday)

Decision – Goal disallowed (Sheffield Wednesday)

Foy says: “This is an interesting one as the officials have to judge whether Sheffield Wednesday’s No 11, who is in an offside position, makes an obvious action which impacts the goalkeeper’s ability to make a save.

“When the initial shot is taken, No 11 makes a run across the middle of the goal, clearly across the path of the ball and relatively close to the goalkeeper. This has an impact on the ‘keeper’s ability to make a save.

“It’s pleasing to see strong communication from the referee and his assistant to reach the right outcome and disallow the goal.”

Sky Bet League Two

Grimsby Town 2-1 Carlisle United

Incident – Possible penalty, foul (Carlisle United)

Decision – No penalty, simulation (Carlisle United)

Foy says: “This is an excellent decision from the referee here to identify an act of simulation from Carlisle United’s No 11.

“Although Grimsby Town’s goalkeeper runs the risk in initially committing to the challenge, he pulls his legs away at the last moment and does not catch his opponent.

“The Carlisle forward anticipates the potential contact and goes down, but the replay suggests that he is on his way down before any potential contact may arrive. In a quickly developing phase of play, the referee does well to get himself into a position to be able to spot this and he correctly shows a yellow card and awards a defensive free-kick.”

Notts County 2-0 Morecambe

Incident – Possible penalty, handball (Morecambe)

Decision – No penalty (Morecambe)

Foy says: “Notts County are rather fortunate here, as their No 5 goes unpunished for a handball inside the penalty area.

“After he blocked the cross, the Notts County No 5 makes a deliberate movement with his right arm which results in contact with the ball.

“Although proximity to body is a factor taken into consideration, the defender cannot justify the movement of the arm, and therefore Morecambe should have been awarded the penalty.”