Recent content by Simon Haydon

An old chestnut this one, I know, but it's relevant for me at the moment because I'm on the Level 6-5 assessment scheme. Assessors are clear. With club or neutral assistants, the referee should be positioned in the vicinity of the edge of the penalty area with a clear view of the players and the...

A colleague advised me to check out the winning goal for Iceland in the 95th minute against Finland at the weekend. In turn that encouraged me to check the latest laws on IFAB. And I'm really still not clear when a goalkeeper has contorl of the ball. In the game in Iceland, the Finland goalkpeer...

So do I still stand a chance of getting my Level 5?

Good Grief Gentlemen, a bit of decorum. Now I haven't seen any big game hunters recently in Snodland on the River Medway in Kent (although there are some dodgy looking geezers hanging around outside Tesco's), so I'm concluding someone had been taking pot shots at the wildlife, using the...

This has reminded me. Half a rabbit - buried. A fox had clearly stored away Mr Bunny for a snack later and buried half of it in the centre circle.

Thanks Kes. Oh yes, rabbit droppings everywhere and even evidence (feathers everywhere) of a hunting fox!

Two minutes into the game a player hands me something and says, "Don't really want to stand on this." I look down at the bronze coloured metal object. It's a bullet. A live bullet at that. And not any old little bullet either. it's about two inches long. Looks more like a rifle bullet, but I'm...

After losing almost 7 stone in the past year, decided to go for my 5. Have had 2 assessments so far, one above standard, one expected standard. Fitness still an issue as I have a couple of stone still to lose and I'm old, but my weight doesn't seem to be too much of a block any more. Anyone out...

I had a GK on Sunday insisting that the 6-second rule did absolutely NOT apply if he caught the ball and threw himself to the ground. He was adamant that he could lie on floor for as long as he liked and the ref could only start counting from when he stood up. I sighed loudly at him.

Realise this was just the highlights (or lowlights) but that was indeed a challenging game. I lost count of the cards. Was it 3 or 4 reds? And you could probably have handed out a few more as well. You battled hard to keep control in a most difficult atmosphere. Well done! You also had what...

You're right, context is crucial. I'm pretty tolerant of msot swearing but as I blew the final whistle on Sunday I was berated by a losing team player who used f***ing at me 3 times in as many seconds to describe my abilities as a ref. I decided that was OTT and showed him the red.

87th minute on a chilly Sunday. Home team looking for first win of season to get off the bottom of the table is leading 2-1 against 4th placed team. Home goalkeeper catches ball in his area and hits the floor shouting and rolling around claiming to have been punched in the eye by an attacking...

I should know the answer to this but it escaped me halfway through Saturday's game and I'm still not 100% sure of getting it right. I thought the ball had gone out for a red throw but players suddenly began shouting and complaining and the CAR was waving his flag in a confused and annoyed way. I...

I can't work out whether it was deliberate or not but I suspect I was the victim of a fast one recently. This season, after players continually complained about balls being too soft, I finally bought a gauge and pump and checked balls before every game. At least it enables the ref to tell...

I have to confess to being disturbed that we cannot find a consensus here. Rather than being a reflection of our lack of knowledge, I have to conclude that the ambiguity lies within Law 11, or rather in the tweaks introduced at the start of the season. Dartford gained a point because of this...