Managers to be shown yellow and red cards for misconduct this season

Managers will receive red and yellow cards this season in a bid to clean up touchline behaviour. Although Premier League managers will only receive verbal cautions for “irresponsible behaviour” in the coming campaign, in the FA Cup, Football League, Carabao Cup, EFL Trophy and National League, they will be shown cards.

The EFL has said that the change of rules, piloting an International Football Association Board (Ifab) scheme will help “protect the reputation” of its competitions. Meanwhile, the Premier League will adopt the same rules of “accumulated stage 1 warnings” – any activity by the manager or his staff in the technical area considered irresponsible by the match official – but verbally and without the use of cards.

Managers will receive yellow cards for incidents such as kicking a water bottle, sarcastic clapping or any other gesture that could be considered as attempting to undermine the match official. A red card would be handed out for actions such as violent conduct, spitting and stopping the opponent restarting play. The manager would also be culpable for punishment should any member of his or her staff in the technical area or dugout be deemed to have behaved irresponsibly. Only the match official – not assistants or the fourth official – will have the power to issue cards to a manager, although there is a hope that, over time, that could change.

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The EFL’s chief executive, Shaun Harvey, said: “If the behaviour of any one of the members on the bench, usually led by the manager, gets to the level where it’s not appropriate, as like a caution on the pitch, the referee will issue a yellow card to the bench.

“If the behaviour continues in a manner that he doesn’t feel appropriate – effectively like a totting up of a number of fouls – then there’s the opportunity for a second yellow card to be issued at which stage the manager leaves the bench area. If there’s a serious incident deemed by the match official, the manager will be shown a red card and go to the stands. It will hopefully improve behaviour in the technical areas. This is not about creating a drama. It is about making sure behaviour doesn’t decline further.”

If a manager accumulates four yellow cards, they would receive an automatic one-match ban, eight a two-match ban, 12 a three-match ban and 16 or more would result in a visit to Wembley to sit in front of a Football Association disciplinary panel. Subsequent fines or stadium bans for repeat offenders – if deemed appropriate – also will be determined by the FA. There will also be an end-of-season amnesty to avoid managers missing matches of great magnitude.

Harvey added: “We don’t want managers missing play-off games and play-off finals because he has had four warnings.”

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Harvey hopes the rules will have an impact far beyond the Football League, including at grassroots level. “Professional football forms opinions and is what people look up to; what professional footballers do and indeed managers do is often deemed as being the acceptable norm,” he said. “We do hope this changes the behaviour away from the professional game as well. But, we have to start somewhere, this is the pilot and hopefully it will be something that is followed by everybody else in the future.”

Ifab has said the experiment was designed to make it possible “for disciplinary action to be taken against persistent offenders”. The measures, which will also be implemented in the Checkatrade Trophy and National League competitions, will be introduced from Friday, when Reading play Derby County in the Championship season opener.