ABSTRACT

The penalty kick was introduced as a direct cause of the following incident in the 1891 FA Cup semi-final between Notts County and Stoke City. One of the Notts County defenders prevented a goal by pushing the ball out of the goal mouth with his hand. The subsequent direct free kick, which was the standard sentence in those days, did not result in an equalizer for Stoke City. This was considered an outrageous injustice. More severe punishment of such ungentlemanly offences was called for, and so the penalty kick was introduced (Miller, 1998). The regulations for a penalty kick have been adjusted several times since 1891, but its composition has remained the same; a player takes a free kick to the goal from 11 m (i.e. 12 yards), facing only the opposing goalkeeper.