A new Penalty Shoot-Out idea?

Upon my return from lunch today I returned to a letter on my desk. A reader had written in to suggest a new idea for Penalty Shoot-Outs. You can see the scanned letter below and I investigated it's pros and cons.

First of all let me say that I've not seen a penalty shoot-out live at a stadium. The closest I ever got was an FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round game between Newport IoW and Wealdstone when the home side got a last minute winner through Eurshell Fearon to win 3-2 AET. Portsmouth have only been involved in two penalty shoot-outs, one of course that FA Cup Semi-Final heart-breaker to Liverpool when I was just nine and the other in the final of the FA Asia Trophy in Hong Kong.

So our readers' letter suggested that penalty shoot-outs should take place in the centre spot. This would alleviate the problems of goalkeepers being abused by fans or opposition players getting put off by those behind the goal. It would also mean that everyone in the ground would get the same view.

These are valid reasons but I have to admit I'm not backing the idea.

I do think that the safety officer or whoever shouldn't make the decision. The referee should toss the coin first to decide which captain gets choice of ends, then the referee will toss again to decide who gets the choice of taking first or second. That is the fairest way and it is what we are used to.

I stand by the old adage of if it ain't broke then don't fix it. Penalties aren't the best way to end a competitive match. However moving the shoot-out to the centre of the pitch won't fix things. Do people who are in line with the posts have a worse view than those at one end of the ground? Do you get a better view if you are behind the goal or facing it?

It'll never be perfect but as it stands I think the status quo should be kept. I'd like to hear your views though. Either comment or get in touch with me via the Contact Us link at the bottom of the page.

I'd like to thank Brian for his letter and would welcome any other correspondence. We read everything we receive.