A&H

Progression without moving up the levels

Matthew

RefChat Addict
Apologies for the slightly contradictory thread title, but it sums up the situation I'm in at the moment. For context, I've been refereeing for 14 years (qualified at 14) and have mostly done grassroots and Academy games with the odd OA game thrown in. I picked up an injury which pretty much wrote off the 17/18 and 18/19 seasons and have just started doing league matches again this season.

I'm now injury free and really enjoying my refereeing again; it's a very welcome escape having been in the equivalent of Tier 3 since July, my club marks have been good and I've had very few issues with players/coaches. All of my league matches have been U15 and above and I'm also doing games for my local EFL team Academy, so the standard has been decent, but I just don't feel like it's really a challenge anymore. I'm slightly reluctant to go to OA as the few games I've done have been of a really poor standard and I've had numerous issues with player behaviour, which has been off putting to say the least. I've also only ever been allocated to one county cup game despite numerous conversations with RDO's who have assured me that I'm on their lists and moving from Lancs FA to Manchester FA; I always make myself available at the weekend and add closed dates in good time, so I'm at a bit of a loss to explain this.

Now, on to the dilemma. I have a stressful job in law with relatively long hours which means that it's almost impossible for me to be available in the evenings and sometimes means that I'm unavailable at the weekend (often at short notice). I haven't ever pulled out of games and have worked around them, which is fine at my level as there is limited travel, but this could be an issue higher up the chain. I've always accepted that this will limit me in terms of going for promotion and moving up the levels and I think a year of OA and then going 7-6 would be doable, but that would probably be my limit..

With that in mind, I'd really appreciate some input/suggestions on what I can do within the confines of my career to try and progress. I feel like I'm in a bit stuck at the moment.
 
The Referee Store
Broadly speaking you've kind of laid out the steps for progression already - do OA matches and work up the ranks, none of which sounds unachievable. For me, doing my 7-6 season was broadly speaking the same as doing a pre-promotion season, only that every so often someone would turn up with an FA clipboard and tell me how good a job I was doing ;) . And you will need to find one evening off midweek for a promotion evening...honestly if that's impossible to ensure once a year, the football isn't the problem!

Stepping up to OA does present challenges, but I honestly think if you look back far enough, you probably thought the same thing when you first moved from U16 to U18. Going from junior to OA should mean you immediately get less noise from the sidelines, which I personally see as a big benefit. And although the players on the pitch will give you more chat, learning how to deal with that and getting comfortable managing more difficult players is a great bit of progression that you'll feel within the first few months of OA.

Yes, you'll start in the lower divisions, but the only way around that is to grit your teeth, do the promotions and get yourself known to the appointment secretaries. When I first moved to Essex as a L7, I obviously started out in the lowest divisions and yeah, the standard was poor. I couldn't even get matches in the better of the two Saturday competitions I signed up to. 2 years and 2 promotions later, I was getting div 1 matches in my local Sunday league whenever I made myself available, and a mix of D2, D1 and Prem (with assistants) matches on the higher of my two Saturday leagues.

There's very little difference in terms of the time required to do 7-6 and 6-5, so if you can manage one then the other shouldn't be too much more work. The only options here are to keep doing what you're doing, or dive into OA, do the 3 years to get to L5 and reassess once you're there.
 
I’ve started to find my U16-18 games have been more challenging than my open age games. Players seem to be easier to manage and more mature (generally...). I was really nervous for starting OA football, but I’ve ended up preferring it to youth. The standard isn’t great and the academy games are more physically challenging, but it’ll 100% make you a better referee
 
Soon after qualifying as a referee I realised that availability was important to progress up through the levels and so, due to the nature of my job, was never going to be for me. That's not to say it can't be done - I know at least one Grade 1 referee who has an extremely demanding job. I'm not sure how he manages it but everyone has different outlooks and circumstances. From personal experience it is certainly possible to have a rewarding refereeing career without moving up the levels. Find an age group or league that best suits your needs and work on being the best referee you can in that environment. If you're doing well then better appointments and bigger matches within that league will follow.

You are absolutely right in notifying closed dates as early as possible. Accepting appointments then calling off late is one sure way to ruin your reputation.
 
To be honest ... in terms of availability and even the standard of football refereed, the difference youll encounter between Levels 7 to 5 is negligible. 😉🙂
 
One possibility is aiming to go from 7 to 5 in one season - you have to referee lots of games but it resolves your initial issue. Details are available from your County FA.
 
Thank you all for the really helpful responses - sounds like I'd perhaps overestimated the time commitment needed for promotion (at least 7-6-5).

I know a couple of OA appointment secs, so I may see if I can get a few games in this season to give it another go.
 
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