Match Officials

We all get frustrated with their performances but I wonder how many supporters in the stands have actually officiated either with the whistle or with a flag?

I have done it a few times at adult and junior level and its not easy.

There is a call for more 'professional' officials but I honestly can't think of anyway performances can be improved

Even the pundits with the advantage of slow motion cameras often can't agree on decisions.

Many years ago there was a ref with one arm who used to be in charge of the occasional Saints game at the Dell and, back in my youth, quite a few local league refs would hardly move out of the centre circle as they tended to be quite portly in those days

We all get frustrated with their performances but I wonder how many supporters in the stands have actually officiated either with the whistle or with a flag?

 

I have done it a few times at adult and junior level and its not easy.

 

There is a call for more 'professional' officials but I honestly can't think of anyway performances can be improved

 

Even the pundits with the advantage of slow motion cameras often can't agree on decisions.

 

Many years ago there was a ref with one arm who used to be in charge of the occasional Saints game at the Dell and, back in my youth, quite a few local league refs would hardly move out of the centre circle as they tended to be quite portly in those days

In those days men were men, and fouls were crunching tackles not the sly underhanded nudges, shirt pulling on the blind side of today. Shame to say players no longer respect Ref's authority and attitudes in local football reflect society and its attitude to authority.

In those days men were men' date=' and fouls were crunching tackles not the sly underhanded nudges, shirt pulling on the blind side of today. Shame to say players no longer respect Ref's authority and attitudes in local football reflect society and its attitude to authority.[/quote']

 

I agree to an extent, but then you look at sports like Rugby, where the ref is almost universally respected (certainly in comparison to football).

 

There are different issues at different levels of the game too. In kids football it's more about the parents on the sidelines than the kids on the pitch, and that's where a lot of problems stem from.

 

As you move up to teen/adult sunday league, arguably the hardest level to referee at, you need to talk to players a lot and make sure they understand why you've made decisions, warn them if they're approaching the limit of acceptable behaviour, and be confident in the decisions you make. At that level, any indecisiveness or appearing meek will cause you to lose the game. Players don't generally know all the proper laws of the game at that level, so you have to be assertive and if need be, explain things.

 

As you then move up to better standards of Sunday/Saturday football, the above still applies, communication is vital, BUT a more professional aspect comes into it and players and teams know the laws and are more likely to try and test the boundaries to see what they can get away with. There's a lot more swearing directed at officials too, which is seemingly tolerated more as you go up the ladder, something I've always thought was lunacy.

 

Above all else, respect is the key. When I referee I always talk to players and explain decisions if someone wants to question one. I'll also make it clear if I couldn't see something, or even admit if I may have missed something, and most players usually respect that I do so. One line that tends to work quite well with serial complainers is to tell players 'I won't make any mistakes if you don't' and then gently ribbing them when they lose the ball next...

 

At the top level of the game, I always had the most time for those refs who came out and spoke to the cameras after the game to explain something about a key decision and how they saw it. That doesn't seem to happen nowadays, probably due to an FA directive or something... They will get stuff wrong, but if they are honest and happy to say so, they'd get more respect that way too, rather than hiding behind a seemingly spineless FA who defend them too much sometimes.