Words of Life: An Enduring Legacyنموونە

Red cards.

Ken Aston is not widely known, but his innovation is used throughout the world. Simplicity itself, it costs almost nothing, is portable, recognisable, and needs no translation in whichever country it is used. Aston thought up the yellow and red card system for use in Association Football: a yellow card indicating an official warning and a red card declaring that the player has committed an offence severe enough to warrant being sent off the field of play.

Aston, a headmaster and magistrate in the East End of London, was a World Cup referee. Following confusion among international players regarding a referee’s decision, the FIFA Referees Committee was asked to find a way to overcome the misunderstandings caused by language barriers. As he travelled home, Aston stopped at traffic lights, and the thought occurred to him of a card system similar to the message of traffic lights – amber as a warning, red a command to stop immediately. The coloured cards made it clear for both players and spectators to see the referee’s decision when the card was held aloft and the referee pointed at the offending player. Since then, several sports have adopted the idea.

The Old Testament prophets, although not holding up coloured cards, warned people that continuing to live without reference to God would eventually disqualify them from being his people. Jesus, too, gave warnings that lives needed to be lived with an obedient trust in God, rather than relying on things. He spoke of signs that acted as warnings of impending doom if unacceptable behaviour was not stopped.

Continuing to ignore the signs in all walks of life inevitably brings disaster. Few people set out recklessly to ruin their own lives or the lives of those they love, but many ignore the early signs. We ignore such signs at our peril.

Our friends and colleagues may not hold up yellow cards, but kindly advice, careful criticism, and direct warnings need to be taken seriously. Red cards are too late.