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University Football

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Kieran W

Well-Known Member
Will hopefully be heading to university in the Autumn and want to continue my refereeing while there, so have thought about doing some university matches.

How do I go about doing this? Is it through the university itself, BUCS or the County FA?

I'm sure there's a few members on here that are at university that could help.
 
The Referee Store
In my county there is one brave soul who co-ordinates all the 'non traditional league' midweek games i.e. schools, colleges, universities etc. Through him I've ended up with a diverse mix at my local Uni .. from Men's 1st team through to Women's 3rd team! However, as with most things in the footballing world, I'd be 100% confident that the procedure on this varies significantly from county to county :rolleyes:
 
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When I first qualified and went to Uni, I spoke to the University sports department and they seemed positive about the possibility of them giving me games - I didn't go for it in the end as they were only really offering me Wednesdays and I wanted to pursue other sports on those afternoons.

However I think if you're looking for matches that take place at the university itself, they're definitely your best bet as a first port of call - at the very least, they'll be able to tell you who appoints referees for their matches.
 
A warning - if Uni games, especially those within the intramural league are not affiliated to the local FA - you open yourself up to trouble. These are counted as unaffiliated football and can lead to suspension for you, and invalidate any insurance you have through them or your RA.

Many have gotten smart and affiliated - you can see many of these on the Full-Time website. My current Uni (Northampton) for example has done just this for all games. Often you'll find that affiliated leagues also use a local referee as their appointing officer who are worth getting to know.
 
GraemeS said:
When I first qualified and went to Uni, I spoke to the University sports department and they seemed positive about the possibility of them giving me games - I didn't go for it in the end as they were only really offering me Wednesdays and I wanted to pursue other sports on those afternoons.

However I think if you're looking for matches that take place at the university itself, they're definitely your best bet as a first port of call - at the very least, they'll be able to tell you who appoints referees for their matches.
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Wednesday afternoon's are the sports time for pretty much every University up and down the country.
 
YorkshireReferee said:
Wednesday afternoon's are the sports time for pretty much every University up and down the country.
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Exactly - I was hoping to referee at the weekend and do either squash or ultimate on the Wednesdays, but they weren't able to offer weekend matches and refereeing lost out.
 
My one and only area of knowledge!!
Like others have said, it obviously will determine from county to county and university to university. However, the university will be very happy to get a referee on board.
Be very careful not to fall into the trap of the universities campus referee though. Seen it happen to a few people, you start of helping them out doing BUCS games on a Wednesday and before too long you've become the university referee appointment officer. Honestly, I enjoy my refereeing as much as the next person but it is a huge role without any real benefit to yourself. Just be very careful.
In terms of moving to a new area in general, I've also started doing a local Saturday league. In my opinion, age/level/ability makes very little difference for the first few months. You've got too make yourself a totally fresh reputation for yourself, but that's the downside (of a massive positive depending on your past ;)) of moving away from a refereeing perspective.
The fixtures themselves give you an array of challenges that you won't face at any other level - they can be interesting to say the least - widely enjoyable though
 
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