The Ref Stop

Need some English vocabulary for refereeing

davidmt

davidmt

New Member
Hi everyone,

As I’ve mentioned in other posts, I'm a new referee in the UK, after having refereed in Spain and Canada. My English is good, but I would like some advice and ideas on how British referees communicate in certain situations where I feel I have less fluency or knowledge of what players can understand:

  1. What to say to the wall in the penalty box: What is the standard way referees communicate to warn players about unnatural arm positions, etc.?
  2. What to say when the ball touches a hand/arm during play but it is not a handball offense: What do you usually shout in this situation?
  3. Clarifying "play on": Does saying "play on" indicate that you are giving an advantage, or does it mean there was no foul, so they should continue playing?
  4. Dealing with corners: What do you say when players are pushing or grabbing each other during corners?
  5. Offensive language: This might be a funny one, but regarding insults like "****," "****," etc., could someone provide a summary of what kinds of language should be considered a clear red card offense? I understand that context is important, but some guidance on this would be helpful, especially now that I’m officiating in the lower divisions of the game.
  6. Polite ways to control player behavior: I would like to hear suggestions for "polite" ways to tell players to calm down or "shut up" without being disrespectful. Essentially, ways to maintain control when cards can still be avoided, but a firm response is needed.
Any help on this would be greatly appreciated!
 
The Ref Stop
davidmt said:
What to say to the wall in the penalty box: What is the standard way referees communicate to warn players about unnatural arm positions, etc.?
Click to expand...
I say 'hands down or close to the body in line with the body. You're inside the box, if they're out here (signalling hands up) and it hits them it's gonna be a penalty.

davidmt said:
What to say when the ball touches a hand/arm during play but it is not a handball offense: What do you usually shout in this situation?
Click to expand...
I don't think an in depth explanation is needed here unless someone asks for it. I would simply say 'no' or 'not for me', and then if asked the question I'd say 'yes it hit the arm but it was in a natural position' or similar.

davidmt said:
Clarifying "play on": Does saying "play on" indicate that you are giving an advantage, or does it mean there was no foul, so they should continue playing?
Click to expand...
It can mean either, and can be a good way of appeasing a team if they wanted a foul but they've retained possession. The correct shout for advantage by the book is 'play on, advantage'.

davidmt said:
Dealing with corners: What do you say when players are pushing or grabbing each other during corners?
Click to expand...
Stop the corner coming in and I say something along the line of 'holding, backing in and pushing are all offences - don't make it easy for me to give one against you when the ball comes in - no more'. Or words to that effect.

davidmt said:
Offensive language: This might be a funny one, but regarding insults like "****," "****," etc., could someone provide a summary of what kinds of language should be considered a clear red card offense? I understand that context is important, but some guidance on this would be helpful, especially now that I’m officiating in the lower divisions of the game.
Click to expand...

Many English referees will tell you that most language would come under the dissent banner unless directed extremely personally and accompanied by certain adjectives, but that the 2 'c words' are straight red cards. Those being c**t, because it's the worst one out there, and 'cheat' because it questions your integrity. I'm not sure I'd say, however, that there is any word I'd dismiss for regardless of context. (Except discriminatory ones of course). You'll come to learn / have your own tolerance of what is and isn't ok.

davidmt said:
Polite ways to control player behavior: I would like to hear suggestions for "polite" ways to tell players to calm down or "shut up" without being disrespectful. Essentially, ways to maintain control when cards can still be avoided, but a firm response is needed.
Click to expand...

Again, I think this is something that you'll only achieve with time. It's entirely situation dependant, so there are things I've said in the past to shut down a situation that has worked well, but if used another time it might inflame the situation.
 
davidmt said:
Hi everyone,

As I’ve mentioned in other posts, I'm a new referee in the UK, after having refereed in Spain and Canada. My English is good, but I would like some advice and ideas on how British referees communicate in certain situations where I feel I have less fluency or knowledge of what players can understand:

  1. What to say to the wall in the penalty box: What is the standard way referees communicate to warn players about unnatural arm positions, etc.?
Click to expand...
Simply remind them of their location and to keep their arms close to the body. We need to be clear about unnatural position and unnaturally bigger, they are very clearly different with the latter being when we would consider an non-deliberate handball offence.
davidmt said:
  1. What to say when the ball touches a hand/arm during play but it is not a handball offense: What do you usually shout in this situation?
Click to expand...
Not handball *insert reason* e.g. not deliberate, not making himself bigger
davidmt said:
  1. Clarifying "play on": Does saying "play on" indicate that you are giving an advantage, or does it mean there was no foul, so they should continue playing?
Click to expand...
In England the expetation is to signal it then arm/s and shout Play on advantage very loud so everyone can see heat advantage being played
davidmt said:
  1. Dealing with corners: What do you say when players are pushing or grabbing each other during corners?
Click to expand...
I tend to pull the worst offenders, remind them to be careful and remind the defender if they foul it's a penalty and attacker it's a waste of a good attacking situation
davidmt said:
  1. Offensive language: This might be a funny one, but regarding insults like "****," "****," etc., could someone provide a summary of what kinds of language should be considered a clear red card offense? I understand that context is important, but some guidance on this would be helpful, especially now that I’m officiating in the lower divisions of the game.
Click to expand...
Anything aggravated that references protected characteristics, this must also be accompanied by an extraordinary report.
I'm looking for "YOU" + profanity + profanity/implication of bias.

davidmt said:
  1. Polite ways to control player behavior: I would like to hear suggestions for "polite" ways to tell players to calm down or "shut up" without being disrespectful. Essentially, ways to maintain control when cards can still be avoided, but a firm response is needed.
Click to expand...
I tell them what the unwanted behaviour is, and explain that it the behaviour continues they run the risk of me taking taking further action.

For example "you've complained at every foul I have given. If you continue complaining at every decision I make you run the risk of me taking further action. Please let this be the last time I have to speak to you."
davidmt said:
Any help on this would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
 
JamesL said:
Simply remind them of their location and to keep their arms close to the body. We need to be clear about unnatural position and unnaturally bigger, they are very clearly different with the latter being when we would consider an non-deliberate handball offence.

Not handball *insert reason* e.g. not deliberate, not making himself bigger

In England the expetation is to signal it then arm/s and shout Play on advantage very loud so everyone can see heat advantage being played

I tend to pull the worst offenders, remind them to be careful and remind the defender if they foul it's a penalty and attacker it's a waste of a good attacking situation

Anything aggravated that references protected characteristics, this must also be accompanied by an extraordinary report.
I'm looking for "YOU" + profanity + profanity/implication of bias.


I tell them what the unwanted behaviour is, and explain that it the behaviour continues they run the risk of me taking taking further action.

For example "you've complained at every foul I have given. If you continue complaining at every decision I make you run the risk of me taking further action. Please let this be the last time I have to speak to you."
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot! So just to clarify, players associate the words "play on" with advantage, then? If there is no foul and you need to shout something, better avoid that term and use something like "no foul" / "nothing there", right?
 
davidmt said:
Thanks a lot! So just to clarify, players associate the words "play on" with advantage, then? If there is no foul and you need to shout something, better avoid that term and use something like "no foul" / "nothing there", right?
Click to expand...
Yes. "Nothing" / "nothing there" is my go to.
 
On No.7., be mindful that being polite doesn't make you come across as timid or weak. You are dealing with situations of unaccepted behaviour and you need to be assertive and firm (without being ****y) otherwise what you say will have little impact. Body language is very important. What works is not necessarily the same for everyone or every situation. As mentioned above you hone this skill with experience.
 
davidmt said:
  1. Polite ways to control player behavior: I would like to hear suggestions for "polite" ways to tell players to calm down or "shut up" without being disrespectful. Essentially, ways to maintain control when cards can still be avoided, but a firm response is needed.
Any help on this would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
I know this won’t be universally backed by any stretch of the imagination, and I’m not necessarily recommending it; but when pulling a player to one side for a ‘b*llocking’ I used to quite often ask them what they were having for their tea or what their plans were for that evening.

Obviously this can only be done in certain situations and with players with a certain personality, but would work like a charm when used at the right time. A lot of the times the players know what they have done is wrong, so you telling them it was wrong isn’t going to change much. If you ask them something a bit left field, it’ll engage them a bit more as they’re not expecting it….. may also confuse them a bit as well
 
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