FA Cup: Why the Referee Brandished a Circular-Shaped Red Card During Brentford vs Wolves

• Wolves played out a 1-1 draw against Brentford in the FA Cup in Friday
• The visitors played most of the game with 10 men after Joao Gomes’ red card
• Referee Tony Harrington went viral for brandishing a ‘red circle’

Football fans have been baffled after the referee brandished a circular red card during Brentfrod’s FA Cup clash against Wolves on Friday, January 5.

Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes was given his marching orders in the ninth minute after catching Christian Norgaard with his studs.

Referee Tony Harrington issued a straight red, confirming the VAR's decision before Gomes exited the pitch.

However, what caught the eye of fans who were keeping an eye on the game was the nature of the card that the referee showed, as it had an unusual shape.

Instead of the typical rectangular shape of a booking card, the red card Gomes was shown was red, which led to hilarious reactions from fans.

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“Going to have to start giving the refs round pockets,” one fan said

“They will have a braille one soon” another added.

“More upset about the red circle than the decision,” another fan joked on X, formerly Twitter.

Why a circle red card?

As it turns out, the shape of the red card is not a fluke.

SportsBible reports that there is a perfectly sane reason behind the shape of the card, and it has to do with two factors.

Per a referee forum, circular and oval red cards are used to aid players who have difficulty differentiating colours.

It also helps the referee determine the nature of the card he is about to pull before he takes it out of his pocket.

This is not the first time a circular-shaped red card has been witnessed in English football.

In 2023, a similar card was shown during Wrexham's FA Cup tie with Sheffield United.

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How the game went

As reported by BBC, Wolves forced a third-round replay despite playing with ten men as Tommy Doyle’s powerful 25-yard strike cancelled Neil Maupay’s opener in the first half.

Wolves boss Gary O’Neil hailed his club for the effort as he admitted it was not easy being an away side that played with ten men.

"There was not much between the teams even with 10 versus 11. We coped with their extra man, tactically we dealt with it very well. To put in the second half they did was really impressive,” the Wolves boss said.

Why Man City don’t wear FA Cup sleeve patch

Still on the FA Cup, Sports Brief reported on why Manchester City do not wear the sleeve patch in the competitions.

City last used the FA Cup sleeves patch on their jersey in the 2015/16 season.

This is because the competition sponsor Emirates is a direct aviation competitor of their main sponsor, Etihad Airways, hence declining to wear the red patch.