A&H

Requests To Be Tougher On Fouls

OldNavyRef

OldNavyRef

Well-Known Member
Level 5 Referee
Had one today. At the end of a match for an academy that I referee once or twice a week, the gaffer asked me to have a higher threshold for fouls against his players. Not to blow early for his defenders as well.

Now he wants the best for his players so I will obviously allow him to work on his build from the back and he wants his players to be tougher and he's probably building them to see how they will handle themselves in a physical league (league one academy so the coaches are top class).

However, sanity check here. If there is a foul against a defender, and the defender recovers (say a kick on the ankle). Do you always blow that right away as you aren't going to be playing advantage that far back?

Or am I being too soft, if a defender takes a bit of kick, nothing serious, just enough that you hear the loud clash of boots, and the defender stumbles but recover instantly and is now in acres of space, do most of you just allow that to play on?

I do it in my adult games all the time, whistle soft offences (but offences all the same) against defenders, and it has been quite a good technique to keep the game from spiralling out of control. As a boot kick becomes a shove and so on until we are in revenge challenge territory.
 
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I think it depends on the tempo of the game and the skill level of the players involved. I personally try to accommodate as much advantage as possible but if the game is hot I will rein that in and be much more circumspect. Of course I am not letting serious fouls go in either scenario at community or academy level. Good teams can develop attacking moves from deep in their own half but as a general rule the further back the less willing I am to play the advantage unless it looks iron clad. I think it is probably a mindset thing for me. If I am honest I like to play advantage and see a move develop further and occasionally lead to a goal scoring opportunity. I will also often talk players through my thinking on the run (keep going, waiting, advantage or no advantage/whistle). In my experience most good players just want recognition that you saw the foul and are dealing with it in some way. However, I don’t think there is only one way to approach this as it’s really about your personal style as a referee, what you feel comfortable with and what helps you in maintaining good game control. It doesn’t surprise me that an academy team may be looking for more advantage to be played as they often have the quality of players who can actually realise that advantage in a material way.
 
Tricky one for me. Did find myself stopping the game a lot yesterday.

An opponent who is 6 - 0 down, who are just kicking out tend to not really care if they are stopping the game.

To the frustration of the academy who want to see their lads move the ball.
 
You can afford to let a lot more go in academy games than grass roots games as the standard of football is vastly higher, and it is very unlikely there will be violent reactions after a heavy challenge that you have let go or played advantage from.

That said, you can absolutely guarantee that, having asked you to have a higher threshold for fouls against his players, that he then goes ballistic if one of his players gets clattered and you let it go. So I would advise caution, play more advantage, don't penalise contact that you deem to be inconsequential, but a foul is still a foul.
 
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