So mods will be looking at this thinking I'm about to post the most un-Match Incident related thread ever in this forum but in fairness this all goes under here! Read on, prepare to giggle at my expense and listen to what will become a list of learnings and advice that everyone can both offer and learn from this ridiculous array of learnings! It is quite long....but I feel it's worth it!
So I'll take you back to Tuesday and where this joyous tale begins. I'm at work and I feel a buzz from my phone and check my e-mail to see that I've got a Saturday County Cup appointment in the second round.....I'm delighted, having not had one since I moved Counties (Scarborough to Bradford - North Riding to West Riding) so I find a work colleague and request a high five....he of course leaves me hanging and being the stubborn man that I am I refuse to put the hand down cue 10 minutes of me walking around with my left hand in the air until another colleague unwittingly saves me from the pain that was now beginning in my arms!
It was half an hour later when my phone came up with every referees favourite phone call 'County FA' pops up with the appropriate amusing picture I have in for all referees...I feel I'm digressing from the issue. Anyway he asks if I'm free 'tomorrow night' (this is now last night) because he wants me to referee an Under 21 League game which I had previously done a line for because it 'would be good for next year at Level 4'.
So obviously I am very excited, realising the hard work from this season is obviously working and now its starting to pay off. Promotion prospects are looking fruity....maybe the dream of doing the double jump might happen?! Who knows? But I need to make sure I prepare for this game and nothing goes wrong to put a spanner in the work.
On the way home we stop off at work and I explain to my Mrs how it is the Referees job to supply sweets for his Assistants, it's just the unwritten law. I then explain that the best Referees also throw in a Sports Drink as well so off we go to get a Lucozade multipack! Knowing that the following day was going to be a long one I also made sure I had enough food to have a decent lunch at work to make sure I had enough energy to get through the game that kicked off 12 hours after I had started work in the morning.
Get home, make sure all my kit is washed, folded and placed in my bag, make sure as well that I have all my cards, whistles, watches etc ready in my bag ready to go. Close my bag up and go to bed so I can have some sleep. Preparations are spotless having confirmed with the 2 AR's as well.
AND HERE IS WHERE THE FUN BEGINS!
Wake up to find that the dog has managed to get into my bag, everything looks fine she hasn't chewed anything......oh well everything except from my whistle! Brilliant cheers dog it's not like I need that! So I text a couple of refereeing friends and sort myself out a whistle which I will collect from them after work, it's a little bit out of the way but it's not a disaster by any means.
Work goes OK, eat my chicken lunch and feel refreshed and ready to do the game later.
No stress.....until I realise that I don't actually have any money/cards on me and I need to get to the ground! I was supposed to sort it out with my Mrs in the morning but hadn't! Brilliant! Best mate was working though....thought I could just borrow it off him till today....but he forgets.
Mrs has to come down to my work (out of work) to sort me out! She has a right good laugh at my ongoing misfortune in the meantime!
Get to mates house to get whistle....and all good. Quick wander down the road and I feel my bag against my leg and it's wet.....and this is where the Lucozade bottle comes in! A full one has entirely emptied into my bag and has SOAKED my entire freshly laundered kit. It is drenched - as in UNWEARABLE - at this point I actually laughed out loud.
Luckily I was 2 minutes away from my Mrs' Grandmas house so ran there, sink soaked my kit to get the lovely Caribbean Burst smell from my kit and throw it in the tumble dryer. Kit sorted. Taxi ordered. Straight to the ground I will go.
Finally once there the away side were running late owing to a traffic jam. Cue a 15 minute delay to kick off.
Now here's where the conclusion comes.....
I've had a million problems throughout the day. All stuff that could have thrown my confidence and concentration completely out of the window and here's my findings/tips for anyone else who has an atrocious preparation kind of day may be able to remember this post and remember these findings.
Now, as for the game, game went perfectly. Did struggle first 10 minutes getting used to having NAR's and my positioning but noticed and stayed on top of it.
Hope you've all enjoyed reading the ridiculous nature of what went wrong for me!
So I'll take you back to Tuesday and where this joyous tale begins. I'm at work and I feel a buzz from my phone and check my e-mail to see that I've got a Saturday County Cup appointment in the second round.....I'm delighted, having not had one since I moved Counties (Scarborough to Bradford - North Riding to West Riding) so I find a work colleague and request a high five....he of course leaves me hanging and being the stubborn man that I am I refuse to put the hand down cue 10 minutes of me walking around with my left hand in the air until another colleague unwittingly saves me from the pain that was now beginning in my arms!
It was half an hour later when my phone came up with every referees favourite phone call 'County FA' pops up with the appropriate amusing picture I have in for all referees...I feel I'm digressing from the issue. Anyway he asks if I'm free 'tomorrow night' (this is now last night) because he wants me to referee an Under 21 League game which I had previously done a line for because it 'would be good for next year at Level 4'.
So obviously I am very excited, realising the hard work from this season is obviously working and now its starting to pay off. Promotion prospects are looking fruity....maybe the dream of doing the double jump might happen?! Who knows? But I need to make sure I prepare for this game and nothing goes wrong to put a spanner in the work.
On the way home we stop off at work and I explain to my Mrs how it is the Referees job to supply sweets for his Assistants, it's just the unwritten law. I then explain that the best Referees also throw in a Sports Drink as well so off we go to get a Lucozade multipack! Knowing that the following day was going to be a long one I also made sure I had enough food to have a decent lunch at work to make sure I had enough energy to get through the game that kicked off 12 hours after I had started work in the morning.
Get home, make sure all my kit is washed, folded and placed in my bag, make sure as well that I have all my cards, whistles, watches etc ready in my bag ready to go. Close my bag up and go to bed so I can have some sleep. Preparations are spotless having confirmed with the 2 AR's as well.
AND HERE IS WHERE THE FUN BEGINS!
Wake up to find that the dog has managed to get into my bag, everything looks fine she hasn't chewed anything......oh well everything except from my whistle! Brilliant cheers dog it's not like I need that! So I text a couple of refereeing friends and sort myself out a whistle which I will collect from them after work, it's a little bit out of the way but it's not a disaster by any means.
Work goes OK, eat my chicken lunch and feel refreshed and ready to do the game later.
No stress.....until I realise that I don't actually have any money/cards on me and I need to get to the ground! I was supposed to sort it out with my Mrs in the morning but hadn't! Brilliant! Best mate was working though....thought I could just borrow it off him till today....but he forgets.
Mrs has to come down to my work (out of work) to sort me out! She has a right good laugh at my ongoing misfortune in the meantime!
Get to mates house to get whistle....and all good. Quick wander down the road and I feel my bag against my leg and it's wet.....and this is where the Lucozade bottle comes in! A full one has entirely emptied into my bag and has SOAKED my entire freshly laundered kit. It is drenched - as in UNWEARABLE - at this point I actually laughed out loud.
Luckily I was 2 minutes away from my Mrs' Grandmas house so ran there, sink soaked my kit to get the lovely Caribbean Burst smell from my kit and throw it in the tumble dryer. Kit sorted. Taxi ordered. Straight to the ground I will go.
Finally once there the away side were running late owing to a traffic jam. Cue a 15 minute delay to kick off.
Now here's where the conclusion comes.....
I've had a million problems throughout the day. All stuff that could have thrown my confidence and concentration completely out of the window and here's my findings/tips for anyone else who has an atrocious preparation kind of day may be able to remember this post and remember these findings.
- Prepare the Night Before - Yes my kit was ruined either by the morning or on the way to the ground but because I'd sorted my stuff out the
- Arrive early to the ground not on time - I arrived early, even after all the problems I'd faced. If you aim to arrive exactly on time then if something does go wrong then you'll have time to correct your errors. This also meant that when I realised that both penalty spots were 13 yards out I could get them corrected!
- Enjoy Yourself - Noone referees because they don't like it! Go out to enjoy yourself! I embraced the problems and just made sure they were fixed.
Now, as for the game, game went perfectly. Did struggle first 10 minutes getting used to having NAR's and my positioning but noticed and stayed on top of it.
Hope you've all enjoyed reading the ridiculous nature of what went wrong for me!
just made me think more about preparing for my comeback game next weekend
