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Referee and fan

OnlyUseMeWhistle

OnlyUseMeWhistle

RefChat Addict
Level 4W Referee
Going up the women’s pathway it’s occurred to me that I’m 1. A very public fan of Brighton and 2. My social media (public for work) makes this clear and probably has some other football opinions but mostly I stick to hyping up our wins 3. I will probably come across Brightons “rivals” much quicker than on the men’s path (thinking some south coast clubs not in the WSL)

I’m obviously very much unbothered personally by results and I know other refs are fans of clubs but wondered how the FA saw and handled these kinds of things?
 
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If you have publicly open social media showing your support for Brighton then you need to let whoever is appointing you to the games that you should not be appointed to Brighton games. Obviously that isn't going to happen while ever you are outside of the NLS and they the WSL. It is down to them if they decide not to appoint you to any rival clubs.

If you progress to senior levels then you will be "advised" to hide your social media, or at least change your name. That's why you see a lot of referees change their Facebook surname to their middle name, so any fan searching won't find them. You would also need to be sure that there is nothing on there that even comes close to verbally abusing match officials. That actually stands at any level, one referee on this forum knows that as a club he annoyed trawled through all of his social media history and got him in trouble with his CFA.
 
From my experiences, the FA would rather you didn’t have any form of Social Media. But if you’re going to have it, it’s maybe wise to turn it private or change your name slightly. If you need it to be public for work, it may be worth having a separate work and private account

As Rusty said, who you support won’t affect you too much at this stage, but if/as you progress, it could. Practically every referee will support a team, it’s just a case of letting it be known.

I once got in a little bit of trouble with my CFA back when I was a L7, as I went out for a couple of pints the night before running the line on a supply league game and got tagged in a post about it. By the following Monday I had an email from the county warning me I shouldn’t be out the night before a game. When you’re on social media, you don’t have full control as it is so simple for someone to upload/tag you in something. You’ll then have people snooping around to try and catch you out

Then you need to be careful on what you’re uploading there as well. Something you put there today could well come back and bite your backside in 5 years time.
 
Runner-Ref said:
Then you need to be careful on what you’re uploading there as well. Something you put there today could well come back and bite your backside in 5 years time.
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That also applies to applying for jobs. Most big companies pay a company to do a social media search before offering them a role, anything even slightly dubious on there and you won't be getting the job.
 
RustyRef said:
If you have publicly open social media showing your support for Brighton then you need to let whoever is appointing you to the games that you should not be appointed to Brighton games. Obviously that isn't going to happen while ever you are outside of the NLS and they the WSL. It is down to them if they decide not to appoint you to any rival clubs.

If you progress to senior levels then you will be "advised" to hide your social media, or at least change your name. That's why you see a lot of referees change their Facebook surname to their middle name, so any fan searching won't find them. You would also need to be sure that there is nothing on there that even comes close to verbally abusing match officials. That actually stands at any level, one referee on this forum knows that as a club he annoyed trawled through all of his social media history and got him in trouble with his CFA.
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Yeah I’ve never abused any officials. I’m likely to private my social media eventually because my current career will become secondary if I ever get to that level.

To be fair a cursory google would’ve given me the reassuring example of MO as a Newcastle fan reffing the PL.
 
Aside from Twitter (etc), keep an eye on your profile/bio/status on things like WhatsApp.

I was a late change to an appointment on the line a few weeks ago to an U19 academy game, two professional clubs. Didn’t know the ref, but had his details so popped him in my phone just to send a text ahead of the day.

His WhatsApp status was (and I’ll change the club): “Luton til I die. Season ticket since 2008”

Guess who the home club were.
 
FirsFox40 said:
Aside from Twitter (etc), keep an eye on your profile/bio/status on things like WhatsApp.

I was a late change to an appointment on the line a few weeks ago to an U19 academy game, two professional clubs. Didn’t know the ref, but had his details so popped him in my phone just to send a text ahead of the day.

His WhatsApp status was (and I’ll change the club): “Luton til I die. Season ticket since 2008”

Guess who the home club were.
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Oh no :wide:

I've flagged when I used to play for a Sunday team I've been assigned a game for, let alone a club I support that strongly!
 
I've been in several pretty public jobs in my career. I always use the guideline that if I wouldn't want to see it on the front page of my local paper or as the lead story on my local newscast, I probably shouldn't post it on social media.

I live in a city that has a VERY close-knit soccer community, so everyone knows that my son plays for "Club A". As long as I'm not officiating my son's matches, no one really cares a lot if I'm refereeing a match with his club against another club. But I don't advertise it over my social media that I have a kid who plays for that club. Who knows if an out of town club will stumble upon something showing that my kid plays for that club while I've run a line for a game of that club on the weekend. I do try to avoid it if I can, but sometimes referee shortages force me into action.

But if you use that advice I've provided, it will very likely serve you well in a lot of different areas.
 
I was twice appointed to man city women's lines Inc a live broadcast league cup semi final (no idea how or why...). Decided I'd best tell the appointing officer I was a city season ticket holder (mens) and they took me off the game.

This sort of conflict is almost guaranteed to happen at youth levels where you get relatively local 3s and 4s and professional academies (I've reffed city and United u16s), you just need to cover yourself and the fa more than anything.


Last thing anyone would have wanted with my situation above would be me making an honest error then someone googling me and seeing me in a city top.
 
I have a problem with this that I am hoping I will have to sort one day.

I have the club I support tattooed on my arm!! Had it done way before I became a referee so was not in my thinking then.

If the time comes I will probably have to have a cover up done and wear long sleeves all the time! Most likely will never get to to but good to have dreams 🙂
 
JamesL said:
I have a problem with this that I am hoping I will have to sort one day.

I have the club I support tattooed on my arm!! Had it done way before I became a referee so was not in my thinking then.

If the time comes I will probably have to have a cover up done and wear long sleeves all the time! Most likely will never get to to but good to have dreams 🙂
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With what is going on at the moment at that club I'd be keeping it covered up anyway, regardless of refereeing 😂
 
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