Milton
Keynes Referees Association
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Cup Finals
(Jonathan Collins May 2005) Thanks to MK Dons F.C , the Castles Estates Milton Keynes & Border Counties Youth Football League was able to play six finals in The Citizen Cup Finals Festival on Sunday and Monday. This was a great opportunity for MK lads to play on a Football League pitch whilst giving their supporters the use of the South Stand with its excellent views. I had pleasure in being able to attend all the matches and found them to be an uplifting experience - I needed one after officiating an adult game on Saturday far from M.K! Twelve teams played in very good spirits and I’m pleased to say that there weren’t any losers. The motto of the youth league is ‘Fair Play’ and the games lived up to this. Only one caution was administered over the two days, an excellent reflection on the players and officials. On the field we saw young lads of under-11 and U-12 slightly dwarfed by the pitch but maintaining the game admirably throughout, with middle and top age groups showing increased ball control and the positive effects of further coaching. There were some wonderful moments: top-class strikes (some from well outside the penalty area), resolute defensive tackling and fabulous saves by the goalkeepers (often unsung heroes - two particularly memorable point-blank saves altered the course of games in the dying minutes). Representing the MK Referees Association I was of course very interested in the performance of the six referees, twelve assistants and four 4th officials appointed to the finals who ranged from 16 years old to almost the reverse age. Here was reward for their performances and commitment to the league throughout the season and their chance to perform in front of far-larger crowds than normal – one I believe of 700! Many were thrilled to receive their appointments and they did themselves proud. At no point in the games was control lost and I can’t recall any dissent from the benches or crowd. Well done! In finishing, there’s no merit in recalling the scores, these can be read elsewhere, but to record that the event was a resounding success. Congratulations to all involved, particularly the organizing committee! Law Changes
(Jonathan Collins April 2005) This year there was an addition to the agenda – a presentation from Adidas of a ball containing an encrypted microchip. Adidas claims that the supporting technology can determine accurately if the whole of the ball has crossed a line. This could apply not only to determining whether a goal has been scored but also to monitor the ball over the goal-lines (for corners) and touchlines (for throw-ins). The IFAB gave FIFA the go-ahead to trial the ball in September at the World U-17 championships in Peru. More anon… Well, what are the law changes for next season? Remember the hoo-hah about Sven changing almost his entire team, then the reaction and confusion? Well IFAB have clarified this. For Class A international games a maximum of 6 subs is ok. Cheer up Sven, it could have been worse! Referees have been helped by stopping players standing in front of the player taking a throw-in. From July 1st ‘All opponents must stand no less than two metres from the point at which the throw-in is taken.’ Bliss! There has also been clarification that a tackle from any direction (not just from behind) that endangers a player must result in a red card for ‘serious foul play’. One interesting change is that the referee can now show cards to players after a game ‘…until he leaves the field of play’ (FOP) - and before kick-off after entering the FOP. Up to now all we could do was to report post-match incidents. At least Alan Green et al will be able to see that action has been taken and won’t be able to bleat that ‘nothing was done’. Apart from some minor technical changes, offside is revisited and clarified. ‘Nearer to the opponents’ goal-line now means any part of the head, trunk or legs (parts used to play football)’. Arms are ok!! Am I happy? Only partially. Why is it that we can’t get 6 votes to move play forward 10 yards if a player shows dissent? It would cut it out by preseason!
The most common reason is after an offside. The referee sprints forward into a side-on view where he feels the ball will arrive. You’ll then see the signal either before restarting with a whistle or simply allowing play to restart (more on refs’ signals and positioning another time). So, no IFK signal - it can’t have been offside. Perhaps next most common is after stopping play to give a yellow or red card. Here the referee should restart play where the offence occurred – this might be the other end of the field when a defender squares up to an attacker after the ball is cleared – very popular with your forwards!! Four causes of IFK penalize the goalkeeper: (1) ‘controlling’ the ball for more than 6 seconds with his hands (includes deliberate parrying of the ball); (2) handling the ball after releasing it before any other player touches it (includes bouncing the ball!); handling the ball directly from a teammate’s (3) pass or (4) throw. Any insights here? Well imagine the defence in dire trouble backpassing to the keeper who sees a forward bearing down rapidly. How many goals do we see from charged-down clearances? If the keeper is near the edge of his area it might be better to catch it allowing his team time to defend an IFK. Remember a goal cannot be scored from an IFK without the ball touching another player. A defensive wall may give a chance to score by a deflection. Football and thinking can go together! Preventing the keeper releasing the ball and any form of dangerous play (note not necessarily a card as it could have been careless (and so not reckless (yellow) or with excessive force (red)) lead to an IFK. Thierry Henry please note the FA state ‘ raising the foot to block the ball’ is dangerous irrespective of the result. Finally, ‘impeding’ leads to an IFK. Impeding is perhaps the most misunderstood foul - it does not involve player contact (this is regarded as ‘holding’ and a direct FK is given). It involves interrupting the progress of an opponent by crossing in front of him or running between him and the ball. If the referee gives a goal kick after your team ‘scores’ directly from a free kick, hopefully you missed his IFK signal! Promotion 2005/2006 (Jonathan Collins Jan 2005)How about going for promotion next season? Why? Well why not! The disadvantage (possibly ‘failing’) is far outweighed by the benefits – helpful advice to enhance your refereeing, another person’s perspective, realizing how you can improve without a great deal of change to your system, seeing your name at a higher level in the book and its free! What to do? Ask any Committee member or referee colleague who has undergone promotion for their opinion, don’t just believe me. Then when you’re convinced remember to tick the box on the County re-registration form saying that you’d like to be considered for promotion. What will happen?
Even if you were to fail – I did – you will have gained a lot and lost very little. I remember I felt deflated but I knew that it was the right decision because I wasn’t experienced enough at the time to cope with the next level of games that I wished to tackle. That said, there is no expectation that your current refereeing in your current leagues needs to be changed. Do what you want to do. Doing it better brings satisfaction to you and recognition by others that you have improved. Every referee can improve – putting yourself in for assessment will help you to do that. The Committee would be happy to come along to one of your early games next season – or even late this season – to give you advice to help before your first assessment. Finally remember to get a 2005/2006 copy of LOAF from our man in the corner John Dart! Language Please (Jonathan Collins Jan 2005) Well I hope you didn’t hear it but you probably did. On the other hand perhaps it was best that you did! I’m referring to the live ‘mike’ during Match of the Day last Sunday (Yeading v Newcastle). The assistant referee judged that the ball had last touched Craig Bellamy and awarded a throw-in to Yeading. Up steps (Mr) Bellamy in an aggressive manner and is heard to say ‘You ****ing s***head’ to the referee assistant. And what happened? NOTHING! Was this unusual? Sadly not. Some while ago Sky television wired up David Elleray during a Premiership game. The practice soon stopped when our favourites were shown to be much less than white. Many refs. all over the country will be disappointed. Why should officials have to suffer such abuse? Why did the official not do anything about it? The sad fact is that at the professional level such behaviour is institutionalized and the officials say they have developed ‘a high degree of tolerance for the sake of the game’. In reality it works against the interests of the game. The behaviour percolates downwards through the layers of football leagues to our local teams and to your sons and daughters. Quite why the FA does not deal with this I’m not sure. Would you really like to take your mum along to a match knowing that she’ll probably hear this? Oh yes and it comes from team officials and spectators too! More importantly to Referees’ Corner why should football officials have to put up with it? Imagine the same in televised darts, badminton, snooker or cricket?! I’ve written encouragingly about new referees qualifying but in today’s world they won’t be staying long if abused like this. The FA could help eliminate the worst excesses by clamping down on this practice by supporting referees’ decisions in enforcing good behaviour - perhaps at last by giving us permission to take play forward 10 yards against the offending team. We can, and do, send players off if we regard words or actions offensive, insulting or abusive. When we do, we need strong support with appropriate disciplinary action against players until the problem recedes. In a recent game a spectator shrieked at me ‘Referee you’re a cheat!’ There is no worse accusation. It appears that the portly gentleman may be a board member of the away club! Treatment of Injuries (Dave Richardson Dec 2004) You will all of seen when watching football on TV how injuries to players are dealt with. This procedure has to be carried out at all levels of football, and for the majority of local referees, that means North Bucks, MK Sunday League and MK Youth League. In future therefore, if a player goes down with an injury, and you stop play to allow someone to enter the field of play to attend to this player, he is to leave the field of play as soon as is practical, and then does not return until after play has re-started, and when given permission to do so by the referee. When he does return, please make sure that play is not taking place in the vicinity of his return. Footwear Inspections (Dave Richardson Dec 2004) A point to make regarding footwear inspections prior to the start of play. I am well aware that many referees were not too happy with this duty, and also that many are still not carrying out inspections at all. May I remind you that it is one of your duties as the match referee to carry out this inspection. Could I draw your attention to a referee in the North of England, who is at this moment having a court case brought against him by a player who was injured in a game, where this referee had not carried out a pre-match footwear inspection. Enough said I think!! US Observations (Jonathan Collins Dec 2004) I’ve been to the U.S. East coast since the last ‘Referee’s Corner ‘. It was great to see a distant relative Holly (she’s eight years old) playing ‘soccer’ each Saturday morning. The result was of little importance with every encouragement given to skill, enjoyment and fun. No qualified referee though – well, ok! That was the only live soccer I saw although I did come across a TV channel devoted solely to world soccer. U.S. football is growing rapidly with some predicting it will be THE world league in years to come. Whilst staying in the Boston area I witnessed the phenomenon of the Boston Redsox. I knew next to nothing about baseball, certainly nothing of their 86 ‘years of hurt’ nor the ‘curse of the Bambino’ (selling Babe Ruth to the NY Yankees in 1920), but I left with several observations that apply to football. Unpredictability: Surely key for the spectator. Imagine winning every game! Well the Redsox were about as near to losing in their ‘semifinal’ as you can be - the equivalent of being 0-3 down at half-time in the football World Cup semifinals and winning. Sensationally they then won the best of a seven match final 4-0. Popularity: Boston is consumed by baseball which dwarfs even the effect that football has in several of our cities e.g. Glasgow, Newcastle, Liverpool. Celebration day parade saw 3.5 million Redsox fans packed into Boston from all over the world with the ground Fenway Park regarded as a shrine. No violence, no overdrinking; the positive impact of sport - fantastic! Behaviour: Apart from some regrettable chants in the Yankees games directed at certain Redsox players, US sport seems little afflicted by violence and misbehaviour; more an entertainment and appreciation of sport. I went to a 44,000 gate American Football college game without any concern. Great atmosphere, well stewarded. Perhaps we can learn from this - UK football crowd and club officials’ behaviour still leaves much room for improvement and recent signs show that this can still easily re-erupt. Respect for officials: An obvious difference. Reasons for Redsox officials’ subjective decisions were discussed at some length on TV with apparently excellent knowledge of the rules of the game. Contrast this with our UK media’s repetitive, often uninformed, outright disagreement of football officials’ decisions. Perhaps wiring up our officials could help; explanations seem to go a long way in both game and crowd control. Referee’s Recruitment (Jonathan Collins Sept 2004) Well the new football season has kicked off. As with last year this column will aim to give views on referees and refereeing both locally and nationally to give the reader a different perspective on what can be ‘the beautiful game’. Our local Sunday (a.m. & p.m.) youth league and Saturday p.m. N. Bucks / Sunday a.m. adult leagues have now started together with a host of junior and reduced-side leagues. The trouble is there are still too few refs. to go around. We need to continue to recruit referees and in Milton Keynes (MK) – a national difficulty – but there is much in MK to reassure anyone interested in trying it out. The MK Referees Association (our branch of the national RA) provides training and encouragement to new referees at monthly meetings and invitations to watch more experienced referees in action. It’s one thing to learn the Laws of the Game, quite another to go out onto the pitch on your own and apply them ‘without fear or favour’. New referees are offered opportunities to be accompanied by other referees to matches, fitness training, a mentoring scheme is running and we also offer assessments of performance. So although you’d be in the middle alone you needn’t feel it! Refereeing has helped many to learn how to be appropriately assertive and to gain confidence as well as achieving and maintaining a good level of fitness with all the health benefits that that brings. We’ve found that referees taking up these initiatives are doing well, but most importantly they are more likely to continue refereeing so supporting 22 players each week to achieve their own fitness and fulfilment. If you’d be interested in taking up refereeing please ring 01296 730370. The next course will start on October 6th. We can return to Sir Clive Woodward, England’s World Cup qualifying etc. at a later date but just to clear up that one big Euro 2004 issue first - the disallowed header v Portugal. I wrote at the time that John Terry had prevented the goalkeeper jumping but this didn’t fit in with the gesture of the ref. Urs Meier that a push had occurred. Since then I have heard second-hand from a colleague who spoke to a Premiership ref. (who had spoken to Meier!) that a few seconds earlier a Portuguese player had been fouled but nobody heard the whistle – that explains it. Referee’s Corner Euro 2004 (Jonathan Collins June 2004) Euro 2004 – what a great opportunity to sit back and… watch the officials!! I’ve chosen two interesting incidents so far in Euro 2004. 1) Sweden v Bulgaria Indirect freekick (English referee Mike Riley with immaculate assisting by Messrs Sharpe & Turner) In the second half a Bulgarian defender was penalised for a tackle with a foot raised high against the attacker – yellow card given for reckless play. The commentator on TV shouted “Penalty!”. However this is ‘dangerous play’, a foul leading to an indirect freekick i. e. NOT a penalty (only fouls giving a direct free kick). The interesting thing about the incident was the position on the field – near the goal-line about 2 yards outside the 6 yard box. So, total distance to the near goalpost 8 yards. The Laws of Football state that for a free-kick nearer than 10 yards to the goal, players must be 10 yards away unless they are on the goal-line between the posts. Bulgaria formed a wall of ~ 4 players at 90 degrees from the near post with the first player in front of the post, not on the goal-line within the posts. So all players should have been moved but the kick was taken without complaints from the attacking side (probably the Swedes didn’t know the Law and so lost out). Mike Reilly could be criticised technically but imagine the difficulty of trying to explain and position the Bulgarian players properly! A good example of Law 18 – common sense - being applied by him. 2) France v Croatia – offside Late in the second half France was attacking and being blocked near the ‘D’ by Croatian defenders. France played the ball backwards and towards the touchline. Tierry Henry took up the ball and moved forwards on one of his mazy runs but having beaten a couple of defenders, and about to shoot, the whistle went baffling Mark Laurensen (BBC). Replays showed a lovely decision by the assistant as Henry had been offside (nearer the goal-line than both the ball and the second-last defender) when the ball was played backwards. He ran back to collect and thus was ‘gaining advantage’ from the offside position (Croatia had possibly decided NOT to mark him there because of this). The whistle was blown only when it was clear that Croatia had not regained the ball. The ref. would have been warned by the buzzer unit strapped to his upper arm activated by a button on the assistant’s flag – nice to watch! Portugal v England Campbell’s ‘disallowed’ 88th minute goal Don’t we all wish Urs Meier had given this goal and skipped extra time - but he disallowed it - why? Afterwards BBC studio guests used phrases like ‘we were robbed’. Not one of them considered why the referee did what he did - a lack of open-mindedness too often afflicting our football. Meier MUST have seen a definite infringement, not just a suspicion of a foul. He must have been CERTAIN that the Portuguese goalkeeper was fouled before blowing. Well, could he have been right? Was the goalkeeper prevented from making a legitimate attempt at preventing Sol’s goal? Try to watch the replays again. Look at the goalkeeper after the ball rebounds from the bar. Keepers have the huge advantage of being able to use their hands when jumping, but he did not jump. Why? Slow-motion shows that his jump was prevented by John Terry’s left arm. It took me a while yet Urs Meier made what appears to be an excellent decision on his one view. One commentator said Terry had every right to stand there and that the keeper was too far to one side to reach the ball. This might have been the case but then allowing him to jump would have exposed that. It doesn’t matter at all whether Terry meant to do this or not. It was ‘holding’ and a direct free-kick resulted correctly. Some might say Meier was too far away, and, possibly just guessed that a foul had been committed. I hope and think not. Anyway he guessed right and it’s surprising what a good line of sight you can find 20-25m away. Already Gary Neville has said “I don't think Sol was anywhere near the goalkeeper at the time he was penalised.” Learn the Laws please Gary! Please let’s not hear Meier’s impartiality questioned. The Penalty Mark Why was this area so different, behaving like quicksand? This needs investigating before a repetition. What could the referee do? He might have considered using the other end after an equal number of penalties had been taken but that mark had been questioned the day before by England. He could not have taken penalties from another position – this is defined in the Laws. If he considered the pitch unplayable he could have abandoned the game!! Still. Does anyone really feel we were the better team? I was embarrassed by England’s inability throughout the second half to hold the ball. Better luck in the 2006 World Cup, England. Referee Levels and Targets (Jonathan Collins May 2004) The end of the season is here bringing those familiar, recurring stories of success, triumph over adversity, sheer hard luck and programmed failure - the harvest of the year’s efforts not only for our football teams but also for referees. So what targets do referees set themselves and how can they be progress? Newly-qualified referees may have set positive targets to referee x games per year and to enjoy the experience (others may have feared failing to control a game or embarrassment in front of friends or peers, fears we hope to help them with). A move into refereeing adult football, going for promotion, refereeing at the same level in other leagues, supporting women’s football or dropping a level due to social, family or fitness circumstances will all have been targets. For a few referees though the target was promotion. All qualified referees of 16 years and above are automatically termed Level 7 (14-15 year olds are Level 8). In MK all referees all members of the Berks & Bucks Football Association (B&B) who administer promotions to County Referee (Level 6) and Senior County Referee (Level 5) usually from the Level immediately junior to it. These officials referee our local County leagues and so-called feeder leagues e.g. Spartan S. Midlands & UCL. These levels account for most of the referees you will see locally. Promotions above 5 are made by the national FA after acceptance onto a national list system consisting of a Supply list (Level 4 e.g. Ryman), Contributory list (Level 3 - Conference), Panel list (Level 2 -Nationwide), National list (Level 1 -Premiership) and International FIFA list. There are some variations but referees usually act as referee’s assistants in the level above (remember ‘linesman’ has been dropped although you wouldn’t know it!). Our two level 3 MK refs. this season, Ron James and Geoff Russell, can referee Conference games and assist in Nationwide games. Our other FA-appointed referee is Rob Hodges at Level 4. This year may I ask you to raise a non-alcoholic glass (until season’s end!) to the local Milton Keynes referees achieving County promotions: Peter Kelly, Martin Duke and Gareth Viccars to Level 5 and Derek Slater and Les Passey to Level 6. Well done all! Direct Free Kicks (Jonathan Collins Apr 2004) Part of Law 12 (Fouls and Misconduct) concerns the direct free kick (DFK). There are ten offences that lead to an award of a DFK which is recognized when the referee stops play and extends his/her arm ~30 degrees above the shoulder in the direction of the offended-against team (a yellow or red card may also be shown before this) before the freekick is taken. Let’s look at the first group of six offences; three offences with players’ upper limbs, three with lower limbs: Kicks or attempts to kick an opponent; trips or attempts to trip an opponent; jumps at an opponent; charges an opponent; strikes or attempts to strike an opponent; pushes an opponent. Notice that a referee can give a DFK simply because an attempt was made to kick, trip or strike an opponent and that they’re all against the opposition. However there are ways of dealing with offences against the same team, the managers or spectators. Once spotted (yes I know we don’t always!) the referee should judge whether the offence was committed ‘carelessly, recklessly or with excessive force’. Simple definitions are: careless - an error without malice; reckless - undertaken without thought for the consequences; excessive force - essentially an act of brutality that endangers an opponent. Try and picture each of these offences being applied ‘carelessly, recklessly or with excessive force’. Referees will simply award a DFK for a careless challenge, will always consider a yellow card (a caution) for reckless challenges and a red card (sending off) for excessive force. Watch your next game of football and see if all tackles that endanger players lead to a sending off. A DFK is also awarded to the opposing team if a player commits any of the remaining four offences: tackles an opponent to gain possession of the ball, making contact with the opponent before touching the ball; holds an opponent; spits at an opponent (always a red card); handles the ball deliberately (except for the goalkeeper within his own penalty area). Some of these may also warrant a caution. The DFK is taken from where the offence occurred. So if someone trips an opponent 40m from the ball (and we spot it!) that is where the free kick is and if it is committed by a defender inside his/her penalty area it’s a penalty! Off-Side Revisited (Jonathan Collins Mar 2004) It all seemed to start in the press and commentators’ eyes after the ‘van Nistlerooy incident’. The media assumed dark deeds at FIFA and managers were visibly confused. The background? At its business meeting in September the International FA Board reconfirmed its commitment to attacking play and to reducing the number of goals cancelled out through offside judgements. The Board delivered a clear interpretation of involvement in active play in Offside situations (The important thing to remember is that no change was made to the Law itself. The Board merely offered advice on its application.) The FA wrote to all referees: "Interfering with play" - PLAYING OR TOUCHING a ball passed or touched by a team-mate. "Interfering with an opponent" - PREVENTING an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball e.g. clearly obstructing the goal-keeper's line of vision or movements, making a gesture or movement while standing in the path of the ball to DECEIVE OR DISTRACT AN OPPONENT. "Gaining an advantage by being in that position" - PLAYING A BALL that rebounds off a post or the crossbar having been in an offside position; PLAYING A BALL that rebounds off an opponent having been in an offside position. The referee's decision is final.’ ‘There is no doubt that when the ball was played towards goal from the free kick van Nistlerooy was in an offside position. van Nistlerooy was not Interfering with play as the ball did not reach him. He was not interfering with an opponent as he was beyond the defenders and not in their view. He did not gain an advantage by being in that position as the ball was intercepted before it got to him. Had the ball rebounded to him from the goal post, cross bar or a defender he would have been given offside. By the time he received the ball from Wes Brown and scored he was comfortably in an onside position.’ For a fuller explanation see www.fa.com ) Fancy being a ref?! Meanwhile do support your local team in the semifinals of MK’s youth cups – see www.mk-youth-football-league.org.uk for details. Dissent (Jonathan Collins Jan 2004) Dissent is one of the seven cautionable offences…‘A player is cautioned and shown the yellow card if he (she) commits any of the following seven offences: shows dissent by word or action’. So what is dissent in practice? Let’s start with dissent by action. Some cases are obvious – a player kicking the ball away, shaking the head or laughing after a decision against his team. Others may be more subtle - deliberately taking a throw-in when it should be for the opposition. Concerning dissent by word of mouth, making sarcastic comments is clearly straightforward (‘You’re joking ref.’) but what about comments between players about the referee’s decisions e.g. ‘No offsides today lads’? The laws do not dictate how referees should interpret them and therefore different referees act differently. This sometimes leads people to say that there is inconsistency but for dissent this must be. Referees develop their own rules of thumb. Clearly if referees started to book players for each dissent then the game could be ruined. So, an early quiet word with a dissenting player may help but a more public word during a stoppage in play may at other times be more effective. It is a matter of judgement. However if the words or actions are blatant, public, considered or hostile (rather than an immediate throwaway remark) then the card must come out. Dissent from subs. or coaching staff also requires action. That includes Kevin Keegan (and most other Premiership managers) who this weekend openly accused his referee of bias against Man. City (v Arsenal). The F.A. should have the courage to take strong action against such actions and regain control over the game. In any other field of employment, real law would be used against such talk! I’m firmly behind FIFA which is considering allowing the referee to pick up the ball and move ten yards towards the goal where there is dissent following the award of a free kick. Any further dissent and the ball could be moved another ten yards forward. I hope it comes in next season, that would stop matters. Youth Football
(Jonathan Collins Dec 2003) Recently I’ve watched a number of games in the local leagues and have been heartened by several things. Most have been ‘occasions’ where family and friends have shouted encouragement and where the two teams met not only to pit their skills against one another but clearly to enjoy playing the game. Criticism of individuals has been minimal (usually by the parent(s)) and could be reduced further by alert managers / coaches having a quiet word for the benefit of all. The sheer numbers of local teams allow players across all the technical / athletic skill levels to participate, and participate they do! It’s been great to watch the enthusiasm from the youngest players running around like swarms of busy bees around a honey pot (the ball!) right up to the teenagers’ games of structured passing and specific positional skills. I’ve seen teams kick off enthusiastically when 5-1 down, players refraining from blaming each other after defensive or offensive howlers (this dogs adult football) and goalkeepers of great fortitude simply getting on with things when to many quitting might seem far easier. A senior girls’ game played in gathering gloom between teams with obvious dedication, enthusiasm, skill and athleticism was skilful, hard-fought, well supported, an excellent spectacle and entirely malice-free. Such games give young referees the chance to practice their skills in a safe environment that will encourage them to continue. There is much to admire and enjoy. May it continue. Give & Take
(Jonathan Collins Nov 2003) Throughout the tournament I’ve listened and read much from football followers about how impressed they are with the obvious mutual respect between rugby players and referee. It’s frequently asked why can’t football refs. talk more to players as in rugby and warn them about their conduct? Some of the best referees do but many have bitter experience of receiving the ‘back chat’ that consists of a million ways of flatly refusing to accept their decision. I believe the answer lies with football players and managers making a concerted effort to achieve such ‘give and take’. I don’t know a single football ref. who would want to be called ‘Sir’, but how nice for a sign of respect to be adopted across all levels of a game. To see on Saturday the way that the England rugby team reacted to the last-minute penalty against them surely demands huge respect. They just retreated and continued into extra time. No sign of the uncontrolled ugliness shown in that infamous incident at Man. Utd. where players surrounded the referee and pictures captured a depressing unrestrained hostility indicative of little player control or guidance. All should have been cautioned. ‘Treat others as you would wish to be treated yourself’’. The FA needs to re-exert its authority and the role of the referee for the good of the game. Law 5 states ‘The decisions of the referee regarding facts connected with play are final’ - and that, Sir Alex, also includes the length of time added to each half! Let’s copy the lead given by rugby. Off-side (Jonathan Collins Oct 2003) There are 17 laws of football and number 11 is about offside. It can lead referees (and their assistants) into difficulties. So what are the problems? It’s baffling, but not all players, team officials, spectators and commentators know the law (surely a disadvantage; imagine an F1 team not knowing grand prix rules!). The consequences? “He’s offside ref”. It is NOT an offence just to be in an offside position. Phew, its off my chest without anyone complaining! An offside position is ‘nearer to his opponents goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent’ but when is a player penalised? Let’s look at part of the answer. The offence occurs only when ‘at the moment the ball touches or is played by one of his team, he is, in the opinion of the referee, involved in active play…’. Good positioning and collaboration by officials is vital. Note that the referee makes the final decision but he /she cannot always reach a good position. Here the assistant is key by constantly changing position to keep opposite the second last defender. Between them the officials look hard at who last touched the ball and where other players are at the time. Try running hard and judging this, oh yes and throw in driving rain and players crossing your field of view, and you’ll realise the difficulties! So what is active play? This is ‘interfering with play or interfering with an opponent or gaining an advantage by being in that position’. The first may be easy to judge immediately but the second and third rely on time passing to assess a developing situation. Play changes very quickly. Look at the TV next time. Players are very often in an offside position but play continues because the criteria of interfering or advantage gaining haven’t arisen. Waiting a few seconds before deciding is often best. Do you want an instant decision only to see your goalkeeper who caught the ball prevented from catching the offenders offguard with a quick kick? If you’d like to see the whole law go to www.TheFA.com. Next time you hear your favourite commentator decrying a ‘late flag’, ask yourself if he knows the laws (he’s acting as your judge; judges know the law!) and why he’s so highly paid if he doesn’t! Grass Roots Football (Jonathan Collins Sep 2003) With a new local football season just starting I’d like to focus on refereeing at what is called the ‘grassroots’ of football - youth football. Locally we have a very well-run and well-supported M.K. youth league (look at their excellent website www.mk-youth-football-league.org.uk). Yes I hope it will act as a breeding ground for a future football or referee star but youth leagues mean so much more and provide so much to the local community: promotion of good health, involvement of different generations (whether assisting the team, acting as assistant (linesman) or supporting family), rewards for coaches and managers from teaching and learning from young people, sportsmanship, losing, winning and teamwork for players and vital experience for young and new referees. The season is starting well with a great response from the clubs to a training event for assistants showing the willingness of clubs and referees to work together to support the ‘grassroots’. Last season we watched and encouraged as many newly qualified refs. in MK as we could. Walking onto the field can be a daunting experience no matter what the age of the referee but they performed well thanks to the excellent teaching from Dave Richardson and John Fenner. They made some mistakes - every referee does! - but remember the referees that you see are trying to allow our young players to play the best football they can. It’s as simple as that. Please try like us to encourage them and follow the fair play rules of the youth league (see website). With a growing shortage of referees nationally this could not be a better time for any keen young referee to get out there. Encourage them, they’ll really appreciate it.
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