There has been a lot of recent news coverage concerning the potential introduction of blue cards in football proposed by the sport’s lawmakers, the International Football Association Board (IFAB). Much of this publicity has been negative, particularly amongst managers in the English Premier League. They would seem to be united against the idea of blue card ‘sin bins’ in professional football despite its successful trial at junior level.

Sin bins in hockey

Hockey first introduced umpires’ warning cards in 1979. Our warning cards are red, yellow and green – see the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Rules of Hockey, section 14, page 40. Many of our readers will have been on the receiving end of such a ‘sin binning’! In the era before the technical table ‘naughty step’ was introduced, players were sent to stand by the goal.

Yet the concept of a ‘sin bin’ or ‘cooling off period’ pre-dates the introduction of cards by 20 years. The Rules of the Game of Hockey 1959, published by the International Hockey Rules Board, contains Rule 10.3: Penalties. “For rough or dangerous play or misconduct. In addition to awarding the appropriate penalty, the umpire may also warn the offending player, or send him off temporarily, or suspend him from further participation in the game.” This is the first reference to temporary suspensions; before that it was simply “further participation in the game.” So, the cardless ‘red card’ was already in place in 1959 and the cardless ‘yellow card’ started in 1959.

There are probably other hockey rules that England’s ‘national game’ could learn from. Your author has often wondered if the self-pass rule might be effectively applied in football. Imagine fouling Lionel Messi knowing that he could immediately pick himself up and dribble at you. Certainly, there would be no time for haranguing the referee as seems to be footballers’ want!

Blue cards

Whilst ‘sin bins’ are nothing new in hockey, you might be forgiven for thinking that blue cards are. Yet the blue card has an amusing hockey history of its own dating back to the 1980s and rooted in our sport’s tradition of geniality.

In 1986, blue warning cards were introduced to the Thames Easter Hockey Festival to enhance the fun aspects that the festival was renowned for. A key feature of the Thames Festival was the enthusiastic involvement of its umpires. This included the ‘Festival Match’ – the final exhibition fixture of the festival – being the Umpires vs the Festival XI. Things moved forward in 1986 with the introduction of a blue warning card. When produced by an umpire, it meant that the recipient had to buy the umpire a drink immediately after the game!

An unusual set of hockey umpires’ warning cards featuring the blue card. From The Hockey Museum collection.