A circular red card was used in the FA Cup

Football more than any other sport sticks to its traditions and defend them, but from time to time some minor changes happen and they can be considered as proper revolutions. For example, it happened in 2020 when a new rule was introduced increasing the maximum number of substitutions from three to five, but another case happened last weekend during the FA Cup’s games played in England as we saw a new card. The newness is not related to the color, as it happened few years ago in Italy’s second division with a green card introduced to reward fair play actions, but it is related to its shape. More specifically, during Brentford-Wolverhampton, Brazilian midfielder João Gomes has been sent off on minute 9th with referee Tony Herrington showing a circular red card. A peculiar solution: officially there are no reasons behind it, but a couple of plausible explanations have emerged

The first one is medical meaning that the different shape helps color-blind players, fans and referees in being able to distinguish a yellow card from a red card. Yes, because the geometric change only involved the red card while the yellow card has kept the more common rectangular shape. And the second explanation is related to this factor as apparently this solution has been studied to help referees in distinguishing between the two cards during a game. Usually, referees keep their cards in two different pockets: the yellow one, which is used more frequently during football matches, is placed in the anterior pocket of the jersey while the red one is kept in the back pocket of the shorts. But sometimes referees keep their cards in the same pocket, so the two different shapes become essential in understanding which card is yellow and which one is red.

However, what we have saw last weekend does not represent a complete novelty as circular red cards were once again displayed by referees in the FA Cup last season, a practice that was also seen in the Premier League during the early 2000's. The man who entrusted them to history has been Uriah Rennie, the first black referee to officiate games of the Premier League. He used those different shaped cards more than anybody else and the image of him waving a circular red card in Alan Shearer’s face at St. James’ Park the day of his 100th game with Newcastle represents one of the most controversial moments in the history of the Premier League (the red card was dismissed three days later and so Shearer’s ban).

But just as there is no official reason for adopting circular red cards, there are no official signs about why they have been abandoned. Nevertheless, it is the perfect example of how every single stylistic change in football is welcomed with absolute skepticism only to be rejected in the exact moment that changes betray traditions and undermine the spirit of the game. Recently, one of the few changes that managed to overcome the first level of skepticism has been the adoption of yellow balls during the wintertime in Europe, but again in this decision televisions have been pivotal as a yellow ball represents an easily identifiable element in watching a game and it does not ruin the viewer’s experience, it might help it. And if you think about, the proliferation of color television played a crucial role in FIFA's choice to implement yellow cards during the 1970 World Cup. On the other hand, circular red cards risk to going down in history as a comic solution that people will talk about it from time to time when they’ll think about strange things happened on a football pitch.