A&H

First game - random / probably obvious question

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Aaron0812

New Member
Hi all,

Recently passed my course and have my first game to ref this afternoon. I've spent ages reading all the useful threads on here ahead of it.

One thing though that occurred to me last night that I hadn't considered before. At half time, what do you do as the ref? I am not expecting there to be dedicated changing facilities at the venue for today's fixture, so unlikely to have anywhere to retreat to for 5 mins to gather my thoughts. At the same time though, just standing on the pitch for 15 mins doesn't feel paticularly official either.

So question, what tends to be your half time routine?

Thanks!
 
The Referee Store
At grass roots the teams won't want 15 minutes, that is a maximum not an expectation. Generally if you blow the whistle after 5 minutes they will be happy with that.
 
Aaron0812 said:
Hi all,

Recently passed my course and have my first game to ref this afternoon. I've spent ages reading all the useful threads on here ahead of it.

One thing though that occurred to me last night that I hadn't considered before. At half time, what do you do as the ref? I am not expecting there to be dedicated changing facilities at the venue for today's fixture, so unlikely to have anywhere to retreat to for 5 mins to gather my thoughts. At the same time though, just standing on the pitch for 15 mins doesn't feel paticularly official either.

So question, what tends to be your half time routine?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Wander off to where you left your bag (inside the back of the home keeper's goal was my place). Grab a drink. Eat a banana. Check you've recorded any cards correctly. Ask both teams if they want any subs. Wander back to the middle and get ready for the second half.
Believe me, almost nobody will be paying you any attention. You're just a faceless person in a black kit to them.
 
Brian Hamilton said:
Wander off to where you left your bag (inside the back of the home keeper's goal was my place). Grab a drink. Eat a banana. Check you've recorded any cards correctly. Ask both teams if they want any subs. Wander back to the middle and get ready for the second half.
Believe me, almost nobody will be paying you any attention. You're just a faceless person in a black kit to them.
Click to expand...

Pretty much this. When I started refereeing in the Sheffield Sunday leagues & Sagurday morning league I'd take a thermos flask and pour myself a brew at half time. Sometimes I'd chat to people (not the teams as they're all having team talks) or sometimes just have my drink.

One tip (especially when cold) is to make sure you walk off the pitch at half time as if you stay on it there will be no rush from the other teams to get back out there. Once you've had your 5/10 min break then walk back out there with the ball and 9 times out of 10 the teams will immediately follow and you can get going quickly.
 
Pretty much what everyone above says. My league recommends 5 minutes, so usually after 3/4 minutes once I've had a drink and a breather, I go back on and the teams are straight on afterwards. As others have said, no one is paying any attention to you. You are the ref, not their star striker. Just do what you think suits you. Welcome to the refereeing community!
 
Aaron0812 said:
Hi all,

Recently passed my course and have my first game to ref this afternoon. I've spent ages reading all the useful threads on here ahead of it.

One thing though that occurred to me last night that I hadn't considered before. At half time, what do you do as the ref? I am not expecting there to be dedicated changing facilities at the venue for today's fixture, so unlikely to have anywhere to retreat to for 5 mins to gather my thoughts. At the same time though, just standing on the pitch for 15 mins doesn't feel paticularly official either.

So question, what tends to be your half time routine?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
my league says 5 mins for half time, usually by 3 or 4 minutes both teams are ready and are back on before me. i usually just sit down and have some water, no one will care or notice you. if they aren't on after you're ready just give them a whistle and a polite nod that you're ready to go.
best of luck!
 
The Ginger Ref said:
I have been wondering this for a while. Where do the ref's of Ref Chat put their bags during games? (Park football)

I have an irrational fear someone is going to pinch my bag mid game 🤣
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Leave it with the home team, especially if it is a game that is likely to have a lot of people walking between pitches. You wouldn't believe the number of referees that have left their bags in one of the goals at Hackney Marshes and had them stolen. Someone walking past just opportunistically lifts up the back of the net and walks off with it.
 
Thanks for the useful advice all.
As it happens, the game ended up getting called off an hour and a half before kick off... home team didn't have enough players 🙄
 
RustyRef said:
Leave it with the home team, especially if it is a game that is likely to have a lot of people walking between pitches. You wouldn't believe the number of referees that have left their bags in one of the goals at Hackney Marshes and had them stolen. Someone walking past just opportunistically lifts up the back of the net and walks off with it.
Click to expand...
Fortunately I rarely refereed at multi pitch sites and "crowds" could usually be counted on the fingers of a closed fist :)
 
I always used to leave it with whichever team seemed to be friendlier towards me pre-match (although that can come with it's own dangers as if the other team feel hard done by post-match, it's an easy stick for them to beat you with that you 'sided with the other team before the match even began')
 
I typically leave my stuff opposite side of the pitch as the dugouts. Where I can easily see it, nice and central.

It is nice, as if there is some stoppage time drama. You get to walk away from the majority of players when you blow for half/full time.

Then you can keep yourself warmed up, a safe distance from inflammatory comments "even though this ref has given us nothing...".

No one is typically going to trot the 100 yards over to you to make a remark.
 
It's better for everyone if you're not within earshot of either team at half time (they should be able to talk freely without fear of you overhearing dissent/OFFINABUS and then having to either interrupt a team talk to issue cards or feel pressure to ignore an offence), and it's sensible to place your bag with that in mind. If both teams set up on one touchline, I'll go on the other side, if they set up on opposite sides the I'll pick one side and go right down one end.
 
GraemeS said:
It's better for everyone if you're not within earshot of either team at half time (they should be able to talk freely without fear of you overhearing dissent/OFFINABUS and then having to either interrupt a team talk to issue cards or feel pressure to ignore an offence), and it's sensible to place your bag with that in mind. If both teams set up on one touchline, I'll go on the other side, if they set up on opposite sides the I'll pick one side and go right down one end.
Click to expand...
This probably comes down to where you live and what type of venue you are refereeing. I can think of loads of venues near me where if you left your bag unattended the chances of it still being there at half time would be very slim. For all I leave it with the home team, at half time I'll just grab a drink from it and then wander off out of ear shot.
 
If you have someone with you at the game, the no-brainer is leave it with them. The problem is most don't go with anyone, which is when it becomes a full on battle to find somewhere to leave it.
 
RustyRef said:
This probably comes down to where you live and what type of venue you are refereeing. I can think of loads of venues near me where if you left your bag unattended the chances of it still being there at half time would be very slim. For all I leave it with the home team, at half time I'll just grab a drink from it and then wander off out of ear shot.
Click to expand...
This is my experience, too. There are places I leave my bag out, and places I don’t. (One of the “don’t” places the parking lot is right there, so we typically just go to our cars at half.)
 
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