Jack Stephens was shown a red card for a unique offence as Southampton suffered a 5-1 defeat to Chelsea on Wednesday night.
The Southampton No.5 was dismissed by Tony Harrington in the 39th minute with Chelsea already leading 3-1 inside St Mary’s, eventually going on to net two more and move up to second in the Premier League, for now at least.
Stephens was given his marching orders for a tug on the hair of Marc Cucurella – a foul you do not see very often in football – and to the surprise of many watching, it was deemed to be a red card offence.
Amid plenty of confusion, let’s take a look at the official Football Association (FA) rulebook to see exactly why Harrington sent the 30-year-old off.
Law 12 of the FA rulebook shows why Jack Stephens was dismissed
Under the Violent Conduct section of the FA rulebook, law 12 states: “Violent conduct is when a player uses or attempts to use excessive force or brutality against an opponent when not challenging for the ball, or against a team-mate, team official, match official, spectator or any other person, regardless of whether contact is made.
“In addition, a player who, when not challenging for the ball, deliberately strikes an opponent or any other person on the head or face with the hand or arm, is guilty of violent conduct unless the force used was negligible.”
Jack Stephens of Southampton exchanges words with Marc Cucurella of Chelsea after an incident resulting in him receiving a red card during the Prem...
Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images
Hair is deemed to be an extension of the head, and seeing as Stephens was not challenging Cucurella, who has impressed Enzo Maresca, for the ball when tugging his hair, it left Harrington no option but to brandish his red card following a VAR check.
VAR proved decisive in Southampton 1-5 Chelsea after Marouane Fellaini escaped in 2018
Harrington missed the initial offence, and had VAR not been in place, Stephens most likely would have escaped without punishment, like Marouane Fellaini did back in December 2018.
Matteo Guendouzi of Arsenal is pulled back by his hair by Marouane Fellaini of Manchester United during the Premier League match between Manchester...
Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
The Belgian decided to yank on the hair of Matteo Guendouzi, who Newcastle admire, during a 2-2 draw between Manchester United and Arsenal at Old Trafford, also avoiding retrospective action by the FA.
Ultimately, Stephens was foolish – you simply cannot go around doing things like this under the watchful eye of VAR nowadays.
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