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A-men! Unfortunately, we typically have no spectator set-back on the touchline, which means those lovely folks in their armchairs crowd as close to the field as they're allowed. Tough on the fan-side assistant.

What benmc said... My biggest thought is protect the keepers. My experience with U13 & below here in Northern New England in the US (though I suspect it's universal(?), is that coaches focus way more on training their field players than they do on training their keepers. The result is a lot...

Ooops! Missed that (obviously)🥴 I'll go quietly now...

I'm with RefJef on this. Safeguarding all the way. In the U.S., refs are mandated reporters under our federal Safesport law, though very few know this yet. Same in UK? This IS our business. These are 14 year-old CHILDREN, not the Arsenal starting eleven - if not us, then who? If a coach...

So, in case of doubt, call on your friendly IFAB... It appears to me the the relevant section of Law 12 is as follows: "If the goalkeeper handles the ball inside their penalty area when not permitted to do so, an indirect free kick is awarded but there is no disciplinary sanction. However...

Two issues, right? What you call and then how you manage your call. In this specific situation, it seems to me that a quick and decisive call was needed, so making a call and then emphatically managing your call was most important. Two choices and either choice sanctions the attackers...

My, you do like to stir the pot! If we don't "KISS" the Laws, we'll all go crazy (keep it simple...) Maybe even that hasn't helped us. Ken Aston's Law 18 would have us accept an arriving "sub" as a player, relegating the yet later-arriving "player" to the bench. That is unless a coach wants...

A metastudy from the U.S. National institutes of Health publication database: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35593739/ Bottom line (and in my personal experience. over 25 yrs): Artificial turf is a big problem, especially as you get older; knees, shins, and achilles and ankles, but especially...

From the FIFA LOTG App Q&A: Though the Law 3 reference doesn't speak specifically to this.

As a long-time ref and former sufferer of exactly this pain, I'd suggest you consider one self-treatment option - triggerpoint massage... It has worked a treat for me over the years on this and many, many other muscle aches and pains. Who knows, you may eventually need a leg replacement, but...

Again from the left side of The Big Ditch... Wow. And I thought we had a problem with coaches in the US! In 25 years as a referee and 10 years as a Trainer/Mentor for juvenile referees, I've never seen that kind of blatant behavior in any game below U-17, let alone U-9/10. It is an...

One of our elite assignors; a young woman, used to wear earrings when she refereed - after all, what could possibly happen🤪? She took a hard shot to the side of her head, driving the earring post up behind her mandible. Emergency surgery was necessary to remove it. She is now a zealot about...

Again, over here in US, year after year, state after state, we lose 50% of our new refs within one year of training, and 50% more the following year. A 75% attrition rate, and getting worse. The reason? **** behavior from parents and coaches who start exhibiting that **** behavior when no one...

Pierluigi Collina, usually regarded as the best referee ever, said that he never refereed a game in which he did not make a mistake. He just hoped his error didn't affect the outcome of the game. He then said the key was to figure out what he could learn from his error, resolve not to repeat...

From the other side of The Pond... Wow! Dismissive! Here are my two cents (excuse me: "pence") worth... Sorry, but it's not about us, it's about those little kids - the future of the sport. Over here, between 1/4 and 1/2 of all kids quit after as little as one year on the pitch - it's...

IMHO, restart with a team off the field is a bad idea, no matter what. Warning, then coach caution, makes more sense to me. Plenty of cover from Law 12.3 (take your pick!): Warning The following offences should usually result in a warning; repeated or blatant offences should result in a...

On this side of The Pond we're lucky to have marked TAs for any game below U-18! When I Center, I mark my own TAs with flat practice cones and make my expectations clear, even for WeeOne games. I completely agree with many of the others: ask 'em nicely, then engage your CR. Also, as...

Two thoughts: 1) The U.S. Soccer Federation did a great video called The Myths of The Game, covering, among other things, throw-ins. Multiple slow-mo videos are shown to make it clear that in most instances, the ball has left the hands before the foot comes up. (Don't shoot the messenger...

What Social Lurker describes is the way the no-heading provision has been interpreted here in Maine in the far northeast U.S. - very straightforward: deliberate = IFK no matter what or where, incidental head contact = play on unless an injury is possible, in which case, whistle, check, restart w...