Evening fellow lovers of the dark art,
just wondering if everyone else is feeling it (?)...
I run a group on Facebook that is for managers to post fixtures for tournaments and friendlies in Kent. But since the start of GRF football season - We have been inundated with club posts for referees, tonight i authorised 10 posts - for next sundays fixtures!
Now... our group caters for the ref that is at a loose end, by letting clubs post their fixtures where a referee has let them down (aka cried off ).
I'm guessing the league secretary(s) are appointing where they can, but there is a severe shortage it would seem on Sundays.
Managers are now quipping "are there actually any referees in this group"
And seem genuinely shocked when i posted the following:
Group Members: I thought I’d explain to you all the probable reason behind why there are not an avalanche of Referees responding to Club posts;
Some of you may not know the process of a Qualified Referee - under FA Regulations; we must advise our availability to local leagues (that we signed up to in pre-season). Failure to ‘close off dates’ is a chargeable offence with potential suspension from our FA.
Therefore – many referees will already be committed to fixtures weeks in advance.
On top of this we all receive emails from our RDO for fixtures without cover.
However, it is not pointless to post your request on this page…
If I use myself as an example; I am signed up to XXXX – but have closed off all my dates, due to parental commitments (academy football & XXXX parental duties).
However, there are dates that I can referee and will help where I can; fixture and time dependent – it is possible to cover 3 Sunday matches as I have done in the past!
And there are many other Referees on here (with similar situations) who will take games on here.
Coupled with this, Grassroots Football across the country hasn’t done itself any favours over the years with Referee abuse widely reported up and down the country.
My long winded question being... are clubs now reaping what they sowed in GRF football; with "no ref, no game" becoming more and more a reality?
just wondering if everyone else is feeling it (?)...
I run a group on Facebook that is for managers to post fixtures for tournaments and friendlies in Kent. But since the start of GRF football season - We have been inundated with club posts for referees, tonight i authorised 10 posts - for next sundays fixtures!
Now... our group caters for the ref that is at a loose end, by letting clubs post their fixtures where a referee has let them down (aka cried off ).
I'm guessing the league secretary(s) are appointing where they can, but there is a severe shortage it would seem on Sundays.
Managers are now quipping "are there actually any referees in this group"
And seem genuinely shocked when i posted the following:
Group Members: I thought I’d explain to you all the probable reason behind why there are not an avalanche of Referees responding to Club posts;
Some of you may not know the process of a Qualified Referee - under FA Regulations; we must advise our availability to local leagues (that we signed up to in pre-season). Failure to ‘close off dates’ is a chargeable offence with potential suspension from our FA.
Therefore – many referees will already be committed to fixtures weeks in advance.
On top of this we all receive emails from our RDO for fixtures without cover.
However, it is not pointless to post your request on this page…
If I use myself as an example; I am signed up to XXXX – but have closed off all my dates, due to parental commitments (academy football & XXXX parental duties).
However, there are dates that I can referee and will help where I can; fixture and time dependent – it is possible to cover 3 Sunday matches as I have done in the past!
And there are many other Referees on here (with similar situations) who will take games on here.
Coupled with this, Grassroots Football across the country hasn’t done itself any favours over the years with Referee abuse widely reported up and down the country.
My long winded question being... are clubs now reaping what they sowed in GRF football; with "no ref, no game" becoming more and more a reality?