Catholic United manager James Paviour feels FA is trialling sin bins in Essex Olympian League because 11-a-side football is dying

The FA announced last week that sin bins will be introduced in step seven and below of the National League System from the start of next season.

And Paviour thinks that the FA are desperately searching for ways to stop the number of people getting involved in the beautiful game from decreasing.

Paviour said: “I think that everyone knows that 11-a-side football is dying in terms of numbers.

“I can only think that this is the FA’s way of trying to stop 11-a-side football from dying out.

“Goal-line technology was brought in by the FA and that has worked brilliantly in the Premier League. No-one can argue with it.

“We can only hope that this proves to be as successful as that.”

The Essex Olympian League is just one of the divisions that will be trialling the new system.

Sin bins are being introduced by the FA in an attempt to stop players being booked for dissent.

Instead, players who commit the offence will be sent from the field, in what the FA is terming a ‘temporary dismissal’, for 10 minutes.

Paviour says he will reserve judgement on the changes until he has seen them put into action.

“I think time will tell if they were right to give sin bins a go,” added Paviour.

“We are all quite protective of the game but we are open to try these plans and see how it is going to work.

“The key is how it’s going to be applied. There will be a big responsibility on the match officials and it is important that it does not get stupid.

“The referee and assistants will have to use common sense to a certain extent because there are certain instances where numerous players could be sin binned for dissent.

“When a penalty is given, there is often four or five players surrounding the referee so it is important he uses common sense because it would be ridiculous if all of those players were penalised at the same time.

“At this stage, I would not say I am for or against sin bins coming in.”

Aware - Referees will have more decisions to make

Sin bins have been campaigned for by several leading members of the game for a number of years.

But the announcement by the FA came as a shock to many supporters of clubs who will be affected by the changes.

And Paviour is hoping his side will not be penalised for dissent and pay the price when plying their trade in the Essex Olympian League Premier Division next term.

Catholic United were promoted to the top tier of the Essex Olympian League after an impressive campaign in the Essex Olympian League First Division, which saw them finish in second place.

Paviour’s side will be joined by Basildon Town, who were promoted as champions.

Promotion will see Catholic United deal with three officials for the first time, and so Paviour is interested to see how his players will cope with the sin bin rules.

“I think a lot of this comes down to trust,” admitted Paviour.

“Trust and respect between the players and officials has to work both ways.

“The sin bins are being trialled in an attempt to stop dissent and I fear that referees who do not want to engage with the players in any sense or form may find it a bit more difficult to earn the trust of the players.

“We have been promoted into the Essex Olympian League Premier Division and we will have three officials for the first time so now there will be three people we have to watch our conduct around.

“I think that 10 minutes is pretty extreme so you would like to think it would stop players from doing it.

“Also, I think that being sin binned will cancel out the fines so that could be seen as a plus point.”

The Catholic United chief also confirmed that his side have been contacted by the FA about changes to the game in the past.

More than 1,000 clubs received emails from English football’s governing body asking if they were willing to be part of the pilot process before the announcement of the trial period was made.

Paviour has been in the hot seat for three years and helped the club to progress through the Essex Olympian League tiers.

And during that time, the Westcliff-based club have been in contact with the FA over possible alterations to the game.

Paviour revealed: “We have been contacted about these sorts of things in the past.

“The FA have sent a general email or letter to our fixtures secretary about possible changes.”

Should the trial period prove successful, sin bins could be seen regularly higher up the football pyramid in the years to come.

Check - Goal-line technology is tested before a Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge (Picture: PA IMAGES)

Paviour: Goal-line technology was good move by FA

CATHOLIC United boss James Paviour is hoping that the trialling of sin bins in football can prove as successful as the introduction of goal-line technology.

The Premier League started using goal-line technology at the start of the season, following years of campaigning from players, managers and supporters.

And since the inception of the new technology has proved beneficial in the game, Paviour is hopeful that trying sin bins in the Essex Olympian League will be of benefit to the sport.

“Goal-line technology has worked fantastically well in the Premier League,” said the Catholic United boss.

“Of course goal-line technology is not going to filter down to grassroots football or the Essex Olympian League, but there is no doubt that it has worked in the Premier League.

“Hopefully the trialling of sin bins can help the FA to make a decision as to whether incorporating sin bins into our game is a good thing or not.”

Those involved in football had been calling for goal-line technology for some time before its introduction at home and abroad in recent years.

England’s players requested for technology to be brought in after Frank Lampard was denied a goal in the 2010 FIFA World Cup round of 16 clash with Germany, when the ball had clearly crossed the line but a goal was not given.

Yellow card - England’s James Haskell is sent to the sin bin in the 2016 Six Nations (Picture: PA IMAGES)

‘More sports should bring in sin bins’

THURROCK'S director of rugby Dean White thinks football would be taking a step in the right direction by introducing sin bins.

Rugby union players have been sent to the penalty box since sin bins were brought into the game in 2001.

And, having seen first-hand that the sin bin system has worked well in rugby, White is surprised that more sports have not looked into bringing in penalty boxes.

White said: “Sin bins in rugby really do work. 

“Teams are under pressure when a player gets sent from the field of play and this makes players think about their actions. 

“I think more sports should bring sin bins in and I have never understood why other sports haven’t adopted this approach. 

“Sin bins also make games more interesting as the other team may change tactically once a player has been sent to the bin. 

“It makes for a more attacking game and it becomes more exciting for the fans.”

The Thurrock coach is also confident that sin bins, which is to be trialled in step seven and lower of the National League System, will prove successful in football and will help to stop dissent.

White added: “I think it would work in football. 

“Players might think twice about giving away that ‘team foul’ when they are under pressure. 

“The only issue you may have in football is the respect aspect of the player willing to leave the field of play when asked by the referee. 

“I think it also gives the referee another level to the yellow card. 

“I think you would see a decrease in yellow cards if football went for the sin bin.”

Rugby is not the only high profile sport where the introduction of sin bins has proved successful.

Ice hockey sees players sent from the ice and into the penalty box for a minimum of two minutes for offences such as fighting and slashing.

Basketball, one of the best supported and wealthiest sports in the United States, also uses the sin bin system where players can be asked to leave the court.

Field hockey, handball, international rules football, lacrosse, water polo and roller derby also incorporate penalty boxes and sin bins.