Mark Clattenburg shares opinion on ‘interesting’ Birmingham City penalty in win over Bristol Rovers

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In an EFL Analysis exclusive, we spoke to esteemed former referee Mark Clattenburg about Birmingham City’s controversial penalty in the win over Bristol Rovers.

Chris Davies’ Birmingham City side registered yet another win on their relentless run to the League One title this week, defeating lowly Bristol Rovers 2-1 at the Memorial Stadium.

It was an unusually poor showing from the Birmingham players, who left it late to seal all three points, and the win came via an 85th minute penalty from star striker Jay Stansfield.

Bristol Rovers manager, Inigo Calderon, admitted Birmingham were simply ‘better’ than his team on the night. But, was there a stroke of good fortune in the decision to give the Blues a penalty?

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Mark Clattenburg explains why Birmingham City’s penalty vs Bristol Rovers was right decision

In the 82nd minute of the game, Stansfield received the ball in the box and looked to flick it over Bristol Rovers defender, Connor Taylor. The ball struck Taylor’s hand, and the referee pointed to the spot.

During the coverage on Sky Sports, co-commentator Sam Parkin suggested this was an example of a ‘modern day penalty’ based on the handball rule. But, there was much debate around the call, so we discussed the incident with Mark Clattenburg to get a better understanding.

Clattenburg exclusively told us: “In tonight’s EFL match between Bristol Rovers and Birmingham, there was a handball penalty given to Birmingham City. It was interesting to listen to the commentators describe the handball as a modern day decision.

“It’s interesting because the laws of the game have changed so much regarding handball. Originally, the decision had to be deliberate, and that was what was in the laws of the game. The handball was only punished if it was a deliberate act.

“However, it was very difficult for referees to understand the players’ actions. We didn’t know, certainly as referees if the the act was deliberate, so therefore they changed the wording, and then they give criteria to referees that if the arm is in an unnatural position, if the arm is out of the body, making it bigger.”

So, that’s the rule explained, now what did Clattenburg make of the Birmingham penalty? He added: “When you look at this situation, the arm is clearly, in my opinion, in an unnatural position.

“The arm moves from around the hip area up towards the head area, therefore it’s outside of the body shape. It’s certainly in an unnatural position.

“Some people would say it’s more for balance, however, the arm comes up quite close to shoulder height and therefore, is clearly making his body bigger. He stops the ball coming into the penalty area, and therefore, in modern day, this will always be punished as a handball.”

Stansfield put the penalty away — despite Bristol Rovers’ best attempts to put him off — to add to his tally for the season and take Birmingham one step closer to their inevitable title win.

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Birmingham City are closing in on League One title, and more records

It is now just a matter of time before Birmingham are confirmed as League One champions. They have an 11-point cushion over second-placed Wrexham, and still have two games in hand.

Truth be told, they were poor last night against Bristol Rovers, but Birmingham found a way to win regardless, which is what all champions have to do from time to time.

Birmingham have been setting records all season, and are very likely to break even more before the campaign is over. We would be very surprised if they don’t end up with the highest points tally in League One history (103 points accrued by Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2013/14 is the target).

We’re told that, when they do make it to the second tier, Birmingham will be one of the big spenders in the Championship as Tom Brady and co. look to secure back-to-back promotions and get to the Premier League as soon as possible.