Bradford goalkeeper inexplicably catches ball outside of the penalty area | OneFootball

We have all seen goalkeepers have a moment of madness from time to time, with Nick Pope recently being sent off for handling the ball outside the box against Liverpool and missing the Carabao Cup final.

Yet on Saturday afternoon, Bradford City’s goalkeeper Harry Lewis escaped without the same punishment despite being in a similar situation.

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The Bantams travelled to Wales for a match against Newport County AFC on Saturday, with the points being shared in a 1-1 draw.

But the match will be remembered for the referee’s decision not to send Lewis off, even though the goalkeeper clearly handled the ball outside the box.

Bradford Goalkeeper Harry Lewis Escapes Sending Off

Around 20 minutes into the match, Newport sent a long ball over the top to launch an attack.

The pass was overhit though and bounces once before being claimed by Lewis.

All of which would have been fine, apart from the fact that the Bradford goalkeeper was clearly outside his area.

The 25-year-old had mistaken the faded white markings in front of him for his penalty box when they were actually the markings from a previous rugby game.

Newport’s Rodney Parade stadium is also used by Dragons rugby union club, and Lewis had really collected the ball from just inside the 22-yard line.

On almost every other occasion the goalkeeper would be sent off, but the referee decided instead to only show a yellow card for the offence because the markings had caused confusion, leaving Newport players and fans irate.

Managers at odds

And according to Bradford manager Mark Hughes, the referee was right not to send his goalkeeper off for the incident.

The Welshman pointed out that the lines should have been a different colour, which was not the case on Saturday.

“He just thought the line was white,” Hughes told the South Wales Argus. “I think it’s supposed to be blue or green but the rain had washed it away.

“I think the referee displayed common sense. He understood that it wasn’t intentional.

“Harry genuinely thought he was in the penalty area. It wasn’t deliberate and I think the referee got it right.”

Newport boss wasn't happy

But although Newport’s manager said that he had a degree of sympathy with Lewis, Graham Coughlan underlined that the Bradford goalkeeper should have been sent off anyway.

“How the referee came to that conclusion… I’d rather not spent time talking about crazy decisions,” Coughlan said to the South Wales Argus.

“I do have a degree of sympathy for the goalie, it was an honest error, but if our players made an honest error then they would be punished.

“The law is pretty simple and basic, why the laws of the game were not applied I will never know.

“I am sure the ref will come up with some story but it is a regular thing for us. The referees are trying to do their best but just apply the letter of the law.”