PATRON PRESIDENT Pam Wells : 01483 833394 Peter Guest : 01483 771649
Chairman Life Vice Presidents Vince Penfold David Cooper, Cedge Gregory, Chris Jones, Ken Chivers , Neil Collins Vice—Chairman Secretary Corin Readett Patric Bakhuizen Treasurer and Membership Secretary Editor : The Warbler Bryan Jackson 01483 423808 Mac McBirnie, 01483 835717 / 07770 643229 1 Woodstock Grove, Godalming, Surrey, GU7 2AX 16 Robins Dale, Knaphill, Surrey GU21 2LQ [email protected] Training Officer Supplies Officer Corin Readett Tony Price 01483 836388 / 07766 973304
R.A Delegates Committee Brian Reader 01483 480651 Roy Butler Gareth Heighes Roy Butler 07747 800687 Colin Barnett Martin Read Patric Bakhuizen, Dave Lawton, Derek Stovold Emily Hodgkinson Friends of Woking Referees Society Roy Lomax ; Saundra Evans ; Pam Wells ; Tom Jackson ; Elaine Riches
INSIDE THIS MONTH’S WARBLER
Page 1: Agenda Page 2 : From the Chair Page 3 : Accounts /Membership /This months speaker Page 4 : Mac’s Musings Page 5: Renewal form Page 6 : Five six pick up sticks—Len Randall Page 7: Controlling RORO substitutes Page 8/9 : West Wind Page 10 : Murphy’s Meanderings Page 11/ 12 : Well what’s your excuse? - The Observer Page 13/14 : SCRA Delegates Meeting - Brian Reader Page 15 : Learning to toe the line - The Observer Page 16 /17 ;When the TV expert sees what isn't there - Paul Gardener Page 18 : Football is back and Referees are the scapegoats— Graham Poll Page 19/20 : First as a “Four” - Mike Cohen Page 21 ; Dates for your Diary Page 26/27: What would you do Answers / What would you do?
The Warbler The Magazine of the Woking Referees’ Society
Meadow Sports Football Club Loop Rd Playing Fields, Loop Rd, Kingfield, Woking Surrey GU22 9BQ 7.45pm for a prompt 8pm start AGENDA
8.00 Chairman’s Welcome
Our Guest Speaker
Ray Olivier Training and Development Manager PGMOL
Break
Society Business
Next meeting Monday 5th November 2012
The Deadline for the November edition is Friday 26th October 2012
The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the Society or it’s Committee
1 The Warbler The Magazine of the Woking Referees’ Society
Welcome to the October Warbler
A big thank you to Marc Birkett for being our guest speaker at the September meeting. Marc gave us all a very interesting insight in to the world of Futsal. We wish him well when he travels to the Futsal World Cup at the end of this year
This month we welcome Ray Olivier. Ray was one of the national referee man- agers and now works for the PGMOL working with the cream of our countries referees. I urge you to come along to what will not only an educational evening but also a very enjoyable one.
End of September and its rained all day, how far are we away from the inevita- ble pitch inspections. If this is your first season or if you have not carried out an inspection before, applying a few simple rules could help when making the big decision. Firstly and most importantly is it safe. A waterlogged pitch could offer as much danger as a frozen pitch! Can a game of football be played that won’t be farcical. Consider the conditions, check the forecast; if you can start, can you finish? Remember it’s your decision, take on board local knowledge but be sure in your own mind its your decision. My tip, if its 50 – 50 and no one wants to play, what have you got to gain by playing the game?
As I am out injured at the moment, it has given me time to watch a bit more football than I usually do. I was very pleased recently to be able to go along and watch one of our members. What was significant about this game was that although there had been 7 cautions and 1 send off. There were no complaints or rants at the end of the game. In fact the referee in question was thanked with hand shakes all round. It was a good reminder that actually by carrying out our duty correctly and applying the laws of the game consistently, will earn us more respect than trying to please clubs and or players by keeping our cards in our pocket. The no card approach often leads to more dissent and less respect. I know I can think back to games where I have tried to over man- age which definitely went against me. Be true to your self, do the right things and others will respect you. Well-done Mr. L. on a great game.
I hope to see you all at the October meeting.
Yours in sport Vince
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From the Treasurer / Membership Secretary
2012 Current Status General £1,335.55 Supplies £271.95 Belgium £0.00 Youth Fund £113.50 Total £1,721.0
012/13 Membership As at 20th September
64 Full Members 5 Friends 2 Affiliate Members
Ray Olivier Training & Development Manager PGMOL
Ray left the English Football Association in September 2010 to take up his new position as Training & Development Manager for the Professional Game Match Officials and is now responsible for the training and development of elite refe- rees and assistant referees in England.
Ray’s previous role with the English FA was to lead, manage, support and di- rect the development of the paid and volunteer workforce involved in refereeing including Referee Development Officers, Instructors, Match Inspectors, Men- tors and Coaches.
Ray retired from the National Referees List at the end of Season 2006/07 and he is currently a Professional Game Match Inspector and an FA Licensed Refe- ree Instructor.
Ray has been qualified FA Licensed Referee Instructor since 1989 and has considerable experience at all levels of referee training in both in England and overseas, delivering Elite Referees courses in Bermuda, Trinidad & Tobago, Mali, Ethiopia, Denmark, Iceland, Belgium, Qatar, Asia (AFC) Malaysia, Vene- zuela, Peru, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, Fiji and Uganda.
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It’s Sunday evening and I’ve just about dried out from today’s game. I must admit that wearing an under armour type stretchy nike top under my refs shirt really keeps me warm and feeling dry. Couple that with my trendy baseball cap that keeps the rain off my specs and jobs a good’un. It was a cup game and with the score at 0-0 at half time and the rain coming down even harder I’m thinking typi- cal, I really do not need extra time and pens today. Thankfully the game finished 4-1. The tape / short socks colour clash is proving interesting. All 3 games I’ve done so far this year resulted in me asking at last 2 or 3 players in each team to re- move such offending articles, and in every case the manager had said. I’ve told you all about this. In that case,I thought, why do you wait until I raise it? In a similar vein I’ve had two lads from 2 different teams, who have appeared with tape wrapped around their ear lobe. On asking why I’m told they have an earing/piercing. On telling them that they have to remove them ,I get the old “ I’ve never been asked to remove it before, only to tape it up”. Then up comes the manager who also believe it’s ok to tape up the offending article. These are U18s so how come they’ve managed to get away with this for so long? And why am I now the villain of the piece when I’m only trying to protect the players safety. I feel a letter to the leagues coming on.
The first game of the season and there 4 or 5 games all going on at the club ground from mini soccer to U18s I have a chat with the ref on next pitch before my game when he asks to borrow my pressure gauge, (I have a gauge but no pump) it being difficult to judge with new balls. We kick of at the same time. Afterwards I see him sitting by the side of the pitch changing his boots and look- ing a bit glum. Another ref is also there discussing his game. “ Don’t let them get to you mate” he was saying, “ Just take your fee and move on” As he wandered off, rather despondently I asked what had happened. Apparently one of his club assistants hadn’t been keeping up with the game particularly well and when he flagged for an offside, for which he blew up, one of the spectators who had already been rather vocal, called him a cheat. Unfortunately he didn’t do anything about it, although I believe the manager did tell the offending ( or should that be offensive) Dad to calm down and shut up. On the few occasions I’ve had a Dad (or Mum, mustn't be sexist here) start get- ting too vocal I’ve always stopped the game, walked calmly over to the manager, even though I’m fuming inside, and informed the manager that unless he/she stops immediately, they will be watching the rest of the match from the clubhouse or their car.—Worked every time so far. The one time I heard the word “CHEAT” I couldn’t work out who it was so told the manager the game would not be re- started until he sent the offender away. It was his son who I felt sorry for, he looked embarrassed as hell. Well, the hand shake saga continues. I’ve heard it said that the winner of the Suarez v Evea contest will take on Ferdinand in the next round. I really don’t un- derstand why the FA continue with this nonsense, but what do I know! A rather damp ….. Mac
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WOKING SOCIETY - THE REFEREES ASSOCIATION Affiliated to the Referees Association & Surrey County Referees Association Patron: Mrs Pam Wells President: Peter Guest
I HEREBY WISH TO BECOME A MEMBER OF WOKING REFEREES’ SOCIETY, AND ENCLOSE MY SUBSCRIPTION / WILL SEND MY SUBSCRIPTION VIA INTERNET BANKING AS FOLLOWS:- COST AMOUNT £35.00 FULL MEMBER - OVER 18
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Expires 31/3/2012 AFFILIATE MEMBER £20.00 (i.e. Full Member of another Referees Society) Expires 31/3/2012 FRIEND OF WOKING SOCIETY £20.00
Expires 31/3/2012 OPTIONAL RA PHYSIOTHERAPY INSURANCE £12.00 DONATION £1,£2,£3,£4,£5,£10 or Whatever ? Total
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CHEQUES PAYABLE TO:- WOKING RA or Send funds direct to 30 94 77, a/c no 02710897
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Five, six, pick up sticks Perhaps by the time you are reading this, IFAB might have decided we will have goal-line technology. Hooray! Perhaps not. Whatever!
However, I have been amused watching the extra officials during the Euro com- petition. Suddenly they have come to life. Short of doing pirouettes and cart- wheels they have been leaping about in a strange, even idiosyncratic, manner and I ask myself why. I have never seen it before. Most continental European linos are very undemonstrative, nowhere near as animated as the English and they seem to continue in that style. The fifth and sixth officials always seemed equally docile. This time they have been positively leaping about - up and down the goal-line; straddling it; dropping back and even moving on to the FoP!
Was some UEFA directive given to the extras to tell them to make a stronger impression of involvement in the game? Too often have they appeared to ig- nore blatant foul play. Pity their apparent coming to life was so late as this com- petition might have been their swan-song. Also, nobody has justified to my sat- isfaction why FIFA lately told the extras to stand on the lino's side. When they were invented, they stood to the right of the goal; now it's on the goalkeeper's left. I must say the logic escapes me.
Their original position made good sense: three different viewpoints on any inci- dent so one of them might get it right. More to the point, positioned where he is now, the extra has exactly the same perspective as the active lino and may even be obstructing the lino's view of goal-line incidents.
I saw this happen in a recent game when a defender just failed to prevent a back-pass from crossing the goal-line by the goal post but play was allowed to continue. The fifth - or was it the sixth - official was blocking the lino's view and the game went on for some time before it was unexpected stopped by the refe- ree with the ball now in the other half.
The referee awarded a corner kick, one presumes, on belated radio advice from the extra on the goal-line. The lino certainly hadn't flagged. It was bizarre and it dumbfounded the crowd Not surprisingly, it infuriated the defenders who thought they had benefited from the officials' lapse. As television replays showed, it was the correct decision but it could have been made promptly if the lino's view hadn't been obstructed.
As I said, it might be irrelevant by the time you read this. Five, six, pack up and go Thanks to the Chiltern Referee
For all of us trying to stay in shape... This is a good workout... I started by standing outside behind the house and, with a 5-pound potato sack in each hand, ex- tended my arms straight out to my sides and held them there as long as I could. After a few weeks I moved up to 10-pound potato sacks, then 50-pound potato sacks and finally I got to where I could lift a100-pound potato sack in each hand and hold my arms straight out for more than a full minute! Next, I started putting a few potatoes in the sacks, but I would caution you not to overdo it at this level 6 The Warbler The Magazine of the Woking Referees’ Society
Courtesy of The Chiltern Referee
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A 'WESTERN' WIND BLOWS THROUGH THE G & W ALLIANCE. Bob Dick is probably one of the most optimistic people I know. He has to be. The Border League can be a bit like 'living on a knife edge1 from one season to the next, but the Alli- ance has that 'in spades'. The fact that all Saturday football is structured (i.e. teams can make progress if they are good enough) added to the 'very bottom of the pyramid' ranking of our local Saturday League, means that inevitable losses caused by 'failures' are accompa- nied by other inevitable losses caused by successes. Fortunately NOT every team, new or old, aspires to the dizzy heights of Western Intermediate, on to the Elite and then to the Com- bined Counties. West Surrey would not be able to keep pace with any much greater 'through -put'. It remains a fact that the Alliance is probably the best thing that could have happened to those two separate Leagues in 1995, with 'in effect1 a full SIX Divisions being well able to cater for the multi strands of both the varied team skills, and even more varied Club ad- ministration levels, inherent in seventy plus teams. Most readers will know that (possibly at long last) our neighbours at Intermediate level had to shout a very loud call for help during last season. Those of us old enough, and with de- cent memories, can remember the audacious raid made by the Western on the two local Leagues quite a while ago, aimed at taking the higher League from TWO Premier Divisions and two First Divisions, to THREE of each, complete with a full set of Reserve sides, duly accomplished by attracting enough clubs from the District Leagues to move from '2 x 14' to '3 x 12' at both Premier and First levels, i.e. 36 Clubs, 72 teams in total. It would be wrong to say that the move caused 'Grievous bodily harm" to either the Woking or the Guildford Leagues, but it certainly didn't do them any good, sort of denuding them of their top clubs/ teams, not all of which were really ready for the move nor of the standard required. An ef- fect it did have, and understandably so, was bitter resentment on the part of some of the District Leagues' Officers, the more so as they felt that SCFA should have intervened. With time and changes of personnel, very little of such feeling can possibly remain, and maybe now far too much water has flowed under the bridge for it to matter any more. None of the Leagues is bursting at the seams with its number of teams. Reacting to moves made by Leagues above Intermediate level, by way of setting down what each Club had to do to get into the League that was the next step up, the Western revised several of its own 'qualifications for entry', some of them just that bit 'out of reach1 of the local club in the immediacy, but achievable for some, given time. This inevitably led to teams winning the top Division of the District League but failing to get 'promotion1 on what (to some) might seem to be a technicality. There was no real chance of 'getting in' and then 'putting right'. 'Get it right first1 was the message loud and clear. We are all aware of the current concern in an observed decline in the number of players, teams and clubs playing adult 11 a side football.
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Umpteen reasons exist for the decline, anyone IN football can list most of them. One of the more influential reasons is AMALGAMATIONS at any upper level, even if the total number of teams fielded stays the same the fact is that a CLUB has been lost at higher level and that must cause a "drag1 upwards at the end of the season as each League has to 'make up1 its own numbers. Far worse is the Club that was ambitious and obtained promotion, then suddenly starts to stutter, struggles for a while and then folds. Milford & Witley being a classic case of the former, for quite some time, but it too has now begun to reduce its number of teams. AFC Bourne was a recent case of the latter type of Club, but partial regeneration is on its way with 'resurrection1 as 'The Bourne' in the Alliance. Formation of the Elite Intermediate League brought more 'problems' for the Western, not only the loss of the first tranche of Clubs looking to 'advance', but each year since has seen other Clubs promoted, but in a mirror image of what used to happen twixt SCIL(W) and the G&WAFL, reciprocal relegations were not happening. Plus one or two Clubs that went to the Elite, with 'local' players, don't forget, either 'folded' or 'failed 1 to the extent that a return to the Western was also not possible, Burpham being the best example. This left the Western 'shrinking' in several directions, having already 'recruited' as many Clubs as possible in previous years from the very peripheries of its catchment area. Even in Surrey, with a reasonably good road network, there is a definite limit on the distance any set of players is willing to travel for what is still only the second tier up of football. It would be remiss of me to write here about the 'culture1 and/or the 'policy1 of another League, or to ask who was making the major decisions say 3 or 2 years ago, but the call for help was bound to come, was fully expected and, I hope, fully responded to. To coin a phrase : We ARE all in this (game) together, and dare not see the Western 'go under1 or even shrink any more. Alliance action was to TELL all the teams in our Premier Division and the top few in our First Division that (a) moving up could be a possibility and (b) the Western would relax some of its normal Premier Division requirements whilst it restocked with teams. I need to go back to Bob and his attitude to new problems, :-They are there to be solved, and he duly solves them. At the Alliance meeting at which Roger and Derek (Stovold) ad- dressed our potential promotees WE were asked (by one of our longest serving Clubs) whatever would we do IF/when we lost these clubs. 1 pointed out that ever since amalgamation in 1995 the Alliance looked at the end of each season to see what it had left, what it had gained, if anything, and then reorganized Divisions to fit the quantity and quality of all the teams that were available. In the main, Bob is the architect of the new Alliance Constitution, the one remaining problem being that we still have teams that are themselves in some doubt as to what players they will have, a 'fault' endemic with 'A1 and 'B1 teams of Clubs higher up the pyramid. Bob sorts it out. I have stressed to all the Alliance Clubs that the Western will probably come back every year now, for a couple more Clubs, simply because of all the 'happenings' around us. Thanks to Cyril West
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MURPHY’S MEANDERINGS
During my refereeing career I have come across several what might be called “con jobs”. You know what I mean. You don’t? Well, let me give you a few instances. Take the time I was acting as a linesman at a junior cup match. For no apparent rea- son the referee blew his whistle. No infringement had occurred and I was mystified. Then the referee called the trainer on. The referee pointed to his eye, the trainer looked, shook his head, the referee smiled, and the trainer came off. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Had a bit of dirt in his eye but I couldn’t find it,” said the trainer. As the referee explained later, he had anticipated an infringement which hadn’t hap- pened so he had made the excuse that he had a piece of dirt in his eye to explain why he had blown.
Another incident, which I have seen repeated, happened when I ran the line at a football Combination match. The referee forgot his coin, and a lesson to be learnt here, neither linesman had taken a coin out either so the referee picked up a piece of grass. When the captains came to the middle to toss up he told them what had happened and asked them to pretend to toss the coin and then to guess what hand the grass was in. I still laugh now when I think of how silly we must have looked; a referee, two linesmen and two players staring into the air at an imaginary coin.
Of course, junior referees have their moments and there are two cases I have heard of. Firstly, there was the referee officiating at a council ground which had two pitches running adjacent to each other. In one match the referee, anticipating an infringe- ment, went to blow his whistle. However, the infringement did not occur and he just managed to stop himself from blowing although a little “toot” did come out. Nobody heard and the game carried on uninterrupted. Nobody that is, except a player stand- ing just behind him. “Did you blow your whistle, Ref?” asked the player. “No,” re- torted the referee, “It was on the referee on the other pitch,” and with that he ran off.
The second incident concerned a penalty. The referee had been given his first local league cup final and was not used to having official linesmen. A corner was being taken and it seemed that both sides, with the exception of one goalkeeper, were in the penalty area. The ball came across and there was an appeal for handball against a defender. The referee was unable to see it due to the number of players in the penalty area and, forgetting he had official linesmen, shouted, “Play on.” Just as he did so, he saw his linesman flag for the penalty. Quick as a flash he blew his whistle and pointed to the penalty spot. “You can’t do that, ref,” said a defender, “You shouted play on.” “Not me said the referee, “it was one of your players over there,” and he pointed to a couple of defenders. “It wasn’t me,” said one looking at his colleague, “It must have been him.” “Well, it wasn’t me,” said his colleague, “It must have been somebody else.” “Well, you can argue amongst yourselves all you like,” said the referee, “but can you do it outside the penalty area so that I can get this penalty taken,” which is what the players did.
I cannot recommend the above actions and perhaps the officials involved were not right to do what they did but agree or not, on the day they worked (but suppose they didn’t …) Tony Murphy
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WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE? BY OBSERVER Are referees a funny breed?
It's not just the fact that the people who have been daft enough to take up the whistle, trying to control the uncontrollable, suffering the abuse, etc., etc. It's more that, in the past, they have been happy to dig holes for themselves and then jump merrily into them.
The invidious position referees have increasingly found themselves in over the last few years have been largely of their own making. The media, managers and players have been constantly chuntering on about the lack of consistency.
Now, the finger is not particularly pointing at what is allegedly seen on 'Match of the Day'. It is something that exists right throughout the game, even down to the Under 10's leagues. The very first sub paragraph of Law Five on the duties of the referee says, EN- FORCE THE LAWS'. Alas, it has become obvious that it is something they have not been doing.
Have they been trying to become man-managers rather than enforcers? Have they been adapting to the changing standards? Has the game changed and they have had to change with it? Have they been applying common sense? Why do they regard 'industrial language' as no longer being foul insulting or abusive?
Might they have been letting the Sunday pub team gets away with things that they would punish a supply league match? Is thuggery, under the guise of clumsi- ness, allowed to excuse lack of skill? Think of the assaults on referees. Are these all or some of the excuses that most referees have been deluding them- selves with?
Why has this happened? I don’t honestly know. Perhaps their attitudes have re- flected the more liberal times we live in. Perhaps some of them have tried to be popular with the players. Maybe they have even been 'bottling out' of that cru- cial but difficult decision. All referees have to share the blame but clearly the time had to come when things have gone far enough. For a couple of years the au- thorities have been exhorting that something has to be done, but referees have taken the view that common sense would prevail', providing, of course, it was their own interpretation of common sense. But how much discretion do they have?
After all there have been no real changes in the Laws. The Football ssociation said when they were changed that it was to bring about fair, skilful and attacking play and that is something that everyone connected with game would like to see. It is the current referees at grass roots level that should restore respect and the authority to the officials.
At society meetings up and down the country it makes difference how much is written or spoken about on this subject nothing changes. Why? Why don’t you change your attitude to it when next you referee? ALL REFEREES MUST ACCEPT THE DIRECTIVE AND ENFORCE THE LAWS. Continued next page
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Why therefore, are they still dissecting every letter, comma and full stop to see if there is any way that their interpretation of ‘common sense’ can be used (meaning that they can ignore the Laws again)?
There can never have been so much talk about what is a ‘tackle from behind’, what is ‘careless reckless or excessive force’ and that is before the problem of what is an active area for off-side! Do players go into this depth of thought, of course not, except when they are plotting ways on how to cheat or abuse the referee? Managers and coaches perhaps do, but only to try and find ways to cir- cumvent the Laws.
Why, oh why, can't you as a referee just get on with what you are supposed to do and ENFORE THE LAWS? Instead of looking for any kind of excuse not to do it? Why can't every referee do just that?
Having dug not a hole but a huge pit over the years and jumped right into it with the sides crumpling as referees attempt to climb out of it. Now that a new century is upon us why can't they take the opportunity to fill it in and fill it in very rapidly before the game of football is handed over to the ‘morons’ and hatchet men of the world. Courtesy of The Normidian
Surrey County Cup : Sat Junior Cup R1 Cranleigh FC Reserves v Lyne FC 1st Referee ; Dale Leacock
F.A. Academy U 16s Fulham u-16 v Bristol Rovers u-16 Referee ; Paul Gorringe
FA vase AFC Croydon Athletic v Southwick Assistant referee ; Richard Hailstone
FA Youth cup Woking v Dorking Assistant Referee ; Richard Hailstone
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Surrey County Referees Association delegates meeting 5.9.12 Still no decision from RA Head Office on whether to hold AGM separately from Conference. Feeling at meeting was that this was increasingly unlikely to hap- pen. Only 6 leagues in Surrey have adopted roll-on/roll-off substitutes (even less in Sussex). But remember Ro-Ro substitutes DO apply in most Surrey County Cups. “Flash Drives” (USB sticks) were distributed by SCFA with County handbook and August Referees Newsletter. But there were a few faulty, and therefore un- sealed, envelopes. Anyone missing any of these items should contact county office. Membership figures for Surrey as at 31/8/12 = 316 (31/8/11 = 364), a decrease of 48. This is part of a national loss of 393 members over same period. 4 Socie- ties in Surrey are showing an increase, the rest (including Woking) are margin- ally down except Redhill who are -21. 1214 registered referees in Surrey; approx 300 have not re-registered in last 2 years. SCFA are doing a major retention exercise and making individual phone calls to all who have not renewed. Query raised on general availability of RA recruitment leaflets, and whether there is a particular Surrey based one. To be investigated.
Every newly qualified referee is offered a mentor. Suggestion made that men- tors could do to promote the RA.
There has been a lot of “to-ing and fro-ing” in relation to the composition of the Commission of Inquiry into allegations against the Board made by Bart O’Toole. It had now been agreed that David Crick and Barry Bright would be the mem- bers of the Commission. There is nothing SCRA or Societies in Surrey can do at this stage except to await the outcome.
Physio scheme take-up is still poor. Some concern expressed about time lapse between reporting an injury to the RA and receiving first physio appointment - perhaps 14 days - whereas if a referee gets injured on Saturday (s)he wants treatment on Monday. Contra argument was that if you see your doctor and get referred to a specialist physio it will take perhaps 14 days for the appointment anyway. Scheme still felt to be good value for money. But SCRA Secretary Brian Fish ([email protected]) wants to receive any feedback (good or bad) on the scheme, please, from Societies.
Query was raised on whether FA check full RA membership for those in the RA- FA scheme. It was confirmed that there are FA checks in place.
In Middlesex, some referees have been registering as Class 10 (non-active) even though they were doing games. Cases have come to light where players have been sent off and clubs have queried lack of paperwork from the county FA – first question asked of the club: who was the referee?
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Some misleading information on the subject is circulating, so it was confirmed that referees can themselves be disciplined for not registering correctly and/or for not sending in disciplinary reports (cautions and/or sendings off). It was also confirmed that Assistant Referees must send in a report if the Referee sends off a player, whether or not the Assistant was involved in the in- cident.
Match based suspensions only start 21 days after the player was sent off. The FA has produced 2 new booklets: “The FA Guide to Pitch & Goalpost di- mensions” and “Third Generation Footpath Turf Guidance”. They are primarily aimed at clubs, but may be of interest to referees too. I have a few copies and will bring them to the next meeting.
Brian Reader 5/9/12
On the other hand, you have different fingers.
I just got lost in thought. It was unfamiliar territory.
42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.
Honk if you love peace and quiet.
Remember, half the people you know are below average.
He who laughs last thinks slowest.
Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol.
Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have.
Monday is an awful way to spend 1/7 of your week.
A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.Thanks to Brian Reader for these and others in Get a new car for your spouse. It'll be a great trade! this edition
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Learning to Toe the Line - BY OBSERVER
Scene: The changing roam at a football ground. Time: 1O minutes before kick-off time. Present: The referee and ONE linesman.
Enter linesman No.2, saying, "Sorry I'm late, ref.!" No other explanation is of- fered. How many times has this happened in your experience, and which of the three characters are YOU?. The late arrival of the Linesman immediately puts the referee on the spot, for he will have little or no time to give his pre-match instructions. The offender will no doubt be more concerned that he is ready to look the part at the kick-off than that he is fully briefed for the game. The pre match instructions and dis- cussions should be made when all three officials are mentally alert, with other problems already attended to. There will have been no chance at all for the referee and both his linesmen to go out and view the pitch and the physical conditions. The late arrival of a match official must surely give the wrong impression to the officials of the clubs and also to the referee, or is it, dare we ask, the right im- pression? Is it yet another case of someone having gone to the game with the attitude "I'm only running the line today?" Only, indeed? As if running the line were not of any importance, or in some way generally degrading to the official so appointed! Any linesman who adopts an attitude like this is being grossly unfair to the refe- ree, who, after all, is the final arbiter. What sort of assistance will the referee honestly be expecting from a man who has arrived casually only a few minutes before the start? The offender is also being grossly unfair and failing in his duty to the two teams. All this is bad enough in itself, but perhaps the biggest trag- edy is that he is being grossly unfair to himself, for let there be no doubt about it, lining is an art which is not easily learned. To throw oneself fully into the lin- ing situation is the best way of becoming an effective, valuable linesman who not only wins praise from referees, but who also enjoys lining. Refereeing and lining are both jobs of the utmost importance, and to be exe- cuted properly they both demand physical and mental fitness, a thorough knowledge, determination, concentration and a desire to enjoy the job. The linesman is not undertaking a second rate task, he is not being made to look inferior to the referee, so why should he ever step out onto the field thinking anything but the best of his job? Courtesy of The Normidian
What happens if you get scared half to death twice? I used to have an open mind but my brains kept falling out. I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder. Why do psychics have to ask you for your name? Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what the hell hap- pend.
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When the TV expert sees what isn't there by Paul Gardner, September 16th, 2012 7:37PM
That soccer's television commentators should get things wrong from time to time is not to be wondered at -- they have to work at high speed, giving instant opinions on incidents they may not have been able to see too clearly.
Though they should have learned by now that it usually means a delay of only a few seconds to wait and see if the almost-instant replay makes things any clearer. Generally, not always, it does.
And generally, though not always, the commentator will, if necessary, revise his opinion. All of which is understandable, decidedly human, behavior. Sure, it can be criticized -- heavily so, if the error is gross. Those who criticize, myself among them, do so with an inner caution, with the awkward knowledge that they themselves are not immune to such errors.
But the errors have their own interest. Because they are likely to offer un- guarded insights into the prejudices of the commentators. Prejudices that, in turn, reflect more widespread attitudes.
The errors I’m talking of come in two forms -- either failing to see what is there to be seen, or seeing something that is not there at all. The first type of error can often be totally excused because the pictures themselves are not clear. It is the second type of error -- those that arise because the commentator has in- vented details -- that interest me here.
The invention may be comparatively innocent -- with the commentator merely striving to make himself look insightful. This happens pretty frequently. Two ex- amples -- one from MLS, one from the EPL: describing a goal scored from dis- tance with a shot that floated over the goalkeeper and dipped just under the bar, the commentator tells us how the scorer “looked up, saw the goalkeeper off his line,” when a careful study of the replays shows that he did not look up; on a badly mistimed volley, the commentator assures us that the player’s miscue oc- curred because “he looked up at the last moment” -- again, the replays show that to be simply not true.
This is all relatively harmless. In both instances, the commentators’ intentions are benign -- in one case quite possibly giving a player credit he didn’t deserve, in the other trying to excuse a player for a clumsy error. While, of course, allow- ing the commentators to sound knowledgeable.
So much for innocent invention. The other side of the coin is much less accept- able -- when commentators invent foul play. This is less common and it is inter- esting to note under what circumstances it most frequently happens.
Diving is the target. I remarked recently on how Kasey Keller made an astonish- ing mistake in accusing Real Salt Lake’s Javier Morales of diving when he was clearly, and badly, fouled by Seattle’s Brad Evans. 16 The Warbler The Magazine of the Woking Referees’ Society
Keller later, to his credit, apologized for his error. But that is rare -- it didn’t hap- pen in yet another of these incidents, during Saturday’s EPL game between Liv- erpool and Sunderland.
Liverpool’s Luis Suarez was shown a yellow for diving as he went down follow- ing a challenge from John O’Shea. Commentator Mark Bright had his say as he watched a replay that hardly backed up his confidence: “O’Shea puts his foot down, pulls it back ... there’s no contact.” What was he looking at? O’Shea did stick out his leg, planted it, but never pulled it back. Having flagrantly invented something that never happened, Bright was then quite happy to condemn Suarez as having “attempted to fool the referee.”
Meanwhile, on the BBC’s Web site, which gives a live text commentary, pre- senter Phil Dawkes was having his say: “... a theatrical tumble in the box under no contact from a challenge from John O'Shea. It earns the Liverpool striker a booking. And a deserved one at that.”
But all was not well. Some 30 minutes later, Dawkes felt obliged to return to the matter: “Replays of the Luis Suarez penalty incident are suggesting there may have been contact on the striker.” A later game report stated flatly that there was contact. The arrogantly confident assertions of “no contact” by both Bright and Dawkes were looking shoddy.
But Phil Dawkes went further, admitted his bias -- and defiantly defended his error: “I stand by what I said, though, I still think he [Suarez] went down very easily. I know it's old-fashioned but I prefer soccer when players prioritize stay- ing on their feet, trying to score at all costs as opposed to dropping at the slight- est brush.”
Which nicely exposes the prejudice in favor of crude defenders and against skillful attackers. I’ll put it more provocatively: a prejudice in favor of the macho urge to kick players who try to use soccer’s ball skills. An insidious prejudice that, it seems to me, cuts at the very roots of the sport. Certainly not one that should be propagated by TV commentators -- if only because it leads them into serious errors of judgment. Courtesy of Soccer Talk ( Soccer America)
Plan to be spontaneous tomorrow. Always try to be modest, and be proud of it! If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments. How many of you believe in telekinesis? Raise my hand... OK, so what's the speed of dark? Save the whales. Collect the whole set. When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane. Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film. If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends? Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
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Football is back and referees are the scapegoats... Graham Poll – Daily Mail
Roy Hodgson showed the football public that the Olympic spirit certainly does not extend to football. He berated Turkish referee, Cuneyt Cakir, after the game at Wembley on the pitch and bemoaned his decisions again in his post-match interview. Just 24 hours previously, a million fans had flocked to London to celebrate a sum- mer of achievement by our fantastic Team GB Olympians and Paralympic ath- letes. But that was all forgotten as England salvaged a late draw in our first home quali- fier for the FIFA World Cup 2014. I watch England like most, full of hope but little expectation; urging us to play as I know we can. There were plenty of big decisions and I thought Cakir got every one of them right. First we saw a fantastic effort from Jermaine Defoe ruled out for a foul in the build- up; I had heard the whistle long before Defoe unleashed the unstoppable shot. Replays showed that Ukraine player Andriy Yarmolenko was pushed by Defoe – a rugby style hand off which is not permitted in Association Football. Yarmolenko's reaction was pathetic but not uncommon on our Premier League pitches: clutching his face as if struck by Defoe and rolling around as if in agony. It is the Ukrainian who should have incurred the wrath of Hodgson and indeed the ITV commentator whose condemnation of Cakir was ill-informed and monoto- nously repeated. FIFA referees are instructed to protect players with particular offences highlighted, one of which is the illegal use of the arms and elbows. Cakir was consistent and correct in his application of these instructions. Careless use of the arm in an aerial challenge resulting in an opponent being struck should be a yellow card. Violent use of the arm, often raised with a clenched fist indicating intent to harm, must result in a red. James Milner and Steven Gerrard were clearly guilty of the first category offence and were rightly cautioned. Knowing that, England captain Gerrard, who had played superbly, was taking a massive gamble by committing a late, lunging challenge which had to result in a second yellow and red card. To commit the offence in such an advanced position on the field was rash at best and left Cakir with no option but to dismiss. Finally onto the penalty claims of which there were two and both for England. The second was clear enough as Danny Welbeck shot and Ukraine defender Yevhen Khacheridi blocked with an unnaturally positioned arm – clear enough as it was in England's favour. The first appeal was fascinating as on first viewing and at full speed it looked as though Welbeck had been tripped when trailing 0-1. Replays though showed that Cakir, superbly positioned, was absolutely correct to wave aside appeals as Welbeck simulated contact. Welbeck should have been cautioned for diving. Had a Ukrainian done the same he would have been condemned but as Welbeck is English there was no mention of his duplicitous act.
Football is back and referees are the scapegoats – how I enjoyed the summer of sport.
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First as a ‘Four’ Mike Coen
You’ve sweated over your assessments; you’ve had the magical confirmation; you’ve trained for – and passed – your fitness test; you’ve got the obligatory meet- ing out of the way. Now you’re out on the field about to blow to start your first game as a Level 4…
The most surprising thing, I think, was that it felt the same as any other game! I think it helped that I was on the Combined Counties Premier, having reffed to Div 1 and also lined on this league for the previous two years. The most consistent piece of advice I had had from fellow referees was to ‘Do nothing different’ - not to try to emulate anybody else - so that is what I set out to do. My first piece of good fortune was having no pitch or equipment hiccups: No strange burrows had appeared on the pitch overnight, foxes hadn’t had a party and eaten the goal nets and both teams were fully aware of the new law around tape on socks and had prepared accordingly.
One of my assistants was a late replacement – Tim Lawrence, in his role as as- sessor, had been doing his homework in the days before the match and spotted that the original appointee had not registered with County for the new season - but both arrived in good time and appeared alert and keen. Tim walked the pitch with us and listened in on the pre-match briefing before wishing us a good game and leaving us to it. After that it was the usual team- sheets, get changed, warm-up routine before leading the teams out for the hand- shake and getting the match underway on-time. I’d like to be able to say I had my best ever game but of course it never quite turns out that way. It was good; it was enjoyable and I never had any problems with match control but a few issues were evident, there was a big second-half talking point and a late error that revealed a flaw in my knowledge of the laws (even if none of the players spotted it).
First – the ‘talking point’: My pre-match instructions are much the same as many other referees; regarding the possibility of referee and assistant ‘crossing’ (referee giving a decision one way while the assistant flags the other way), the assistant is to drop his flag and let the referee take any cr*p that results from a possible wrong shout. Just such an incident happened right in front of the benches; ball went out for a throw – I was certain it was a defensive throw and signalled accordingly (not even looking towards my assistant). The level of dis- agreement indicated I had probably made a wrong call but the defence took a quick throw and we were off and running.
As I turned to follow play up the pitch, I spotted the assistant on the far side flag- ging and, having got my attention, he pointed behind me to where my benchside assistant’s flag was being waved. Images of behind-my-back punches or an out- of-order bench comment were in my head as I stopped play and ran back to him. “I had a better angle on that than you. It should have been a red throw” was not what I was expecting to hear! “OK...err...Thanks for that” was my initial reply be- fore, “We’ve restarted now, so I’m not about to bring it back. Take up your posi- tion, we’ll talk about it later”. Run back to the position of the ball, trying to ignore bench staff standing with arms spread in a ‘what the heck’ position.
Continued next page
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Unfortunately unable to ignore players’, “What was all that about, ref?” “My assis- tant needed clarification on something. He’s fine now. Drop Ball.” “Why’s it a drop ball?” “Because I had to stop play and there was no foul.” “What are we supposed to do now, then?” I will admit, at this point, I lost my cool ever so slightly! “Mate, you can do whatever the heck you like. I’m going to drop the ball.” “Shall I give it back to the keeper?” “I think that would be a particularly wonderful thing for you to do.” Ball was duly dropped and punted to the opposing goal- keeper. Appropriate feedback was offered to the assistant following the game.
To be 100% fair, the assistant was probably correct in that I had given the throw the wrong way (although he didn’t deal with it well) and this incident highlighted an issue that plagued me throughout this game. Tim was able to count five sepa- rate occasions where I either missed, or was late picking up, my assistants’ flags. Being too narrow in my positioning and simply not looking over enough at the right time means that my team interaction was not good enough and needs to be worked on going forward.
Another positional issue was raised where I allowed myself to be drawn into brief discussions with players when a goal-kick was about to be taken. The result was my being late arriving at the drop zone. Advice was to get into position early or, if a player discussion was really necessary, to instruct the keeper to delay his kick.
Finally – that point of law! Advice / Reminder for all referees: If a player is injured and you call on the physio, if at that point the player decides he is OK and does not require treatment, he still needs to leave the field of play. Once the physio has entered the field, the player counts as having received treatment, even if they never got within yards of each other. ( Courtesy of Touchlines)
Organising an international tournament? Need advice for teams and referees visiting the UK for the first time? Try these gems from Twitter.com/ touristmisinfo: - British wine is now considered among the best in the world. If invited to a dinner party, a bottle of Buckfast would make an ideal gift. - When addressing a police officer, it is considered polite to refer to them as a ‘nonce’. - When meeting someone for the first time in Britain, a polite greeting is to enquire, ‘How much do you earn?’ - Camping in the UK can be fun and rewarding. It’s useful to remember that all cemeteries in Britain double as campsites. And it’s free!! - If travelling by car to London, follow signs to the M25 and keep going. It’ll take you directly to the centre of the city. - When staying in the capital, you may have the misfortune to encounter a ‘Pearly King’. These are notorious gangland bosses. Give them your wallet. - Plan your journeys between the hours of 4:30pm and 6:30pm. The London Tube has plenty of capacity for large luggage. - London cab drivers have ‘the knowledge’, which means they know every street, person and car in London. Go on, ask them. Adapted from Readers Digest – October 2011 Above both Courtesy of Touchlines The Magazine of the Sutton Referees’ Society
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2012
3rd September Society Meeting - Guest Speaker Marc Birkett
1st October Society Meeting - Guest Speaker Ray Olivier
5th November Society Meeting
3rd December Society Meeting - Guest Speaker Ray Lewis
2013
7th January 2013 Society Meeting
4th February Society Meeting
4th March Society Meeting
8th April Society Meeting
13th May Society Meeting
17th—20th May Trip to Belgium (Soleo Referees’ Society 75th Anniver- sary)
5–7 July Conference @ Hinckley Island Hotel
John Keith Taylor,OBE Football Referee, born 21 April 1930; died 27 July The Society sent a letter of condolences to the family of the late great Jack Taylor. We recently received the following acknowledgment below
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From whistles to watches, flags to record cards, shirts to socks , Tony’s got the lot in his big black bag Help support the society and make sure you give Tony a call for all your refereeing needs 01483 836388 / 07766973304 [email protected]
Referees Wanted for the Farnham & District Sunday Veterans League
If you are interested Please call
Colin on 01252 328 953 Or Linda on 01276 512 735
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Classes here now FOR ALL LEVELS OF FITNESS MALE AND FEMALE OF ALL AGES
HAVE FUN GETTING FIT
For Details Contact Gareth Price on 07735067158 Winston Churchill School Every Tuesday at 19.00 - 20.00 hrs
Ash Taxis 6 Seater Taxi Airports , Docks, Social Functions
Competitive Prices 24 hours by appointment
Contact —Colin Barnett on Tel. 01252 328957 Fax 01252 654811 Mob 07831 404 066 E-mail [email protected]
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Advice on the prevention of Stalking and Harassmentment
Hamish Brown MBE
Retired Scotland Yard Detective Inspector
UK’s leading authority on stalking and harassment. Hamish has been personally requested by high profile individuals and organisations to:
Advice and Lecture on this specialist subject
Website: www.hamishbrownmbe.com Email: [email protected] 25 The Warbler The Magazine of the Woking Referees’ Society
Courtesy of the Chiltern Referee
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Courtesy of the Chiltern Refereee 27 The Warbler The Magazine of the Woking Referees’ Society
EDITOR: What would you be if you weren't a footballer? MARK FLATTS: On the dole. ARSENAL programme Q&A with the reserve forward, 1993
Q: What would you have done if you hadn't been a footballer? A: A funeral direc- tor. I like looking at dead bodies. CHRIS SUTTON, Chelsea striker, in the club magazine Onside, 1999
Q: If you weren't a footballer, what do you think you would be? A: SAM ALLARDYCE (then a Bolton defender): A chef. STAN BOWLES (QPR midfielder): A bookmaker. DAVID O'LEARY (Arsenal defender): No idea. CHARLIE GEORGE (Arsenal forward): I've never thought about it. PETER TAYLOR (Crystal Palace winger): Miserable. PETER REID (Bolton midfielder): A fat factory worker. OSSIE ARDILES (Tottenham midfielder): A solicitor or professor of law.
ANSWERS to a regular questionnaire in Shoot! magazine, 1970s-80s
If I wasn't playing, I'd be putting slates on roofs back in Ireland. Playing has got to be better than that. PAULMcGRATH, Aston Villa defender, 1993
Take it from me, as a failed footballer, there is no better way to earn a living, to be paid for what is a hobby and a passion. HOWARD WILKINSON, Leeds manager, to graduates from the FA National School, 1992
I remember knocking on the manager's door at Sheffield Wednesday. I said: 'Could I have a little of your time? I don't know whether I'm coming or go- ing.' 'Wilkinson,' he said, 'you're definitely going.' HOWARD WILKINSON, Leeds manager, on under-achieving as a player, 1992 Being top won't change much. It'll probably rain tomorrow and the traffic lights will still be red. HOWARD WILKINSON, Leeds manager, on leading the league for the first time in his career, 1991
I feel like Korky the Cat, who has been run over by a steamroller, got up and had someone punch him in the stomach. WILKINSON after Leeds's FA Cup de- feat by Arsenal, 1993
When one door opens, another smashes you in the face. TOMMY DOCHERTY on his dismissal as manager of Preston, 1981
You are always one defeat away from a crisis. On that basis, we're in deep shit. JOHN GREGORY, Aston Villa manager, during a losing sequence, 1999
I never heard a minute's silence like that. GLENN HODDLE, England manager, at Wembley after Princess Diana's death, 1997
Courtesy of the book of football quotations 28 WARBLER REFERENCE GUIDE 2010/11
THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION Wembley Stadium PO Box 1966 www.TheFA.com London SW1P 9EQ FAMAO National Managers Dean Mohareb Workforce “name”@theFA.com Roger Vaughan Recruitment and Retention
Surrey County Football Association Connaught House 36 Bridge Street Leatherhead, www.surreyfa.com Surrey, KT22 8BZ 01372 373543 Referee Competition Manager Mark Wood [email protected] Appointments Secretary Rod Wood 0208 979 2477 & 07860 400995 [email protected] Referee Development Officer Tim Lawrence 01372 373543 The Referees’ Association Unit 12, Ensign Business Centre www.footballreferee.org Westwood Way [email protected] Westwood Business Park Tel 024 7642 0360 Fax 024 7767 7234 Coventry CV4 8JA Surrey County Referees Association [email protected] Honorary Secretary Brian Fish 01483 420007 [email protected]
Guildford & Woking Alliance League Rob Weguelin [email protected] Referees’ Secretary 01932 878379 0785388967 Surrey County Intermediate League Adrian Freeman 01483 894351 / 07814 516911 (Western) Referees’ Secretary [email protected] Suburban League Denis Hayes 01252 330213. Mobile 07814 548352. Assistant Referees’ Secretary e-mail [email protected] Combined Counties League Philip Nash 07951 415046 Assistant Referees’ Secretary [email protected] Southern Youth League Peter Harris 01252315856 / 07967 988840 Assistant Referees’ Secretary Peter.harris1767ntlworld.com Camberley & District Sunday League Richard Harris 07708 813978 (m), Referees’ Secretary [email protected] Surrey & Hants Border Sunday League Bob Dick 01483 300155 Referees’ Secretary [email protected] Farnham & District Sunday League Colin Barnett 01252 328953 Referees’ Secretary [email protected] Surrey Elite Intermediate Football League Richard Brum 07956 185602 Referees’ Secretary [email protected] Surrey Youth League www.wsyl.org.uk Referees’ Secretary Alan Wiggins 01932 789376 [email protected]
Surrey Primary League Martin Etheridge Referees Secretary [email protected] Middlesex County FA 39/41 Roxborough Rd Harrow, Www.middlesexFA.com Middlesex, HA1 1NS 0208 424 8524
Hampshire County FA Winklebury Football Complex, Winklebury Way Www.hampshireFA.com Basingstoke, RG23 8BF 01256 853000
Berks and Bucks County FA 15a London Street, Farringdon Www.berksandbucksFA.com Oxfordshire, SN7 8AG 01367 242099
London FA 11, Hurlingham Business Park, Sulivan Rd Fulham Www.londonFA.com London SW6 3DU 0870 774 3010