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This would actually have been more than 20 years ago. The team were absolutely awful and routinely kicked opponents off the ball to get them sent off, but they kept getting spotted doing it and sent themselves. The manager was always coming up with ways to get an advantage, so suggested they...

A mate of mine was a player on a local Sunday league team - he was probably the best player on the league and scored a lot of goals in the top division. I saw him at work one Monday morning after he’d played against a team with a reputation for dirty tricks, and he showed me his arms. They were...

The rules are very different here. The CFAs control discipline and leagues are limited on what action they can take, especially before the FA have dealt with it. We had a team who had absolutely shocking discipline issues. The league kicked them out the next season, but the CFA said that wasn’t...

Unfortunately if there’s a club referee they tend to get an easier time than a qualified one. The players usually think a qualified ref should be Howard Webb, while they’re obviously Cristiano Ronaldo! If someone from a club does the job they often cut them a lot of slack. Also being from one of...

I do a lot of youth games, and most of these are club appointed, so the CFA wouldn’t know who I was unless I told the reporter. However, I’m definitely over 18! 😂 I’ve not had someone say they’re going to report me at youth level, but have occasionally at OA. I just tell them that the...

I believe so, but the game was replayed because I did that one as well

If that's your rule of thumb then it's up to you, but you shouldn't encourage anyone else to follow your lead. If you approve a pitch that is obviously unsafe and someone is seriously injured then that's on you, and you could be sued. I abandoned a supply league game many years ago because the...

One of the teams I regularly see had a problem with me because I abandoned a game. It cost them points and money, but now they don’t push it any more. I sent one of them off for swearing at me and he refused to leave, so I said he had to. His mates told me he could stand there and I couldn’t do...

One of my Sunday leagues is stopping the cards teams fill in to send to the league, because we are moving to full time for team lists. The league spent hundreds on postage each season so it will save us a lot. However, we are still having team sheets for them to give to referees so we have subs...

This is something you should make sure you enforce because as Santa says, it will bite you at some point. I had a player confront an opponent last week as he prepared to take a throw in. I thought he’d left but he’d changed direction and was standing with his team on the sidelines. Players think...

This was definitely a thing when I was in the system, but I think the rationale for it is no longer valid. We were told that the first named had the checked flag so the assessor knew who was who. At the time it was rare for contact to be made at the game so they needed a way to tell assistants...

My rule of thumb is “what’s my reaction to it?” rather than “what’s player reaction to it?” If I think “ouch” it’s likely to be yellow. If I think “oh s**t” or wince at a challenge that’s likely to be red. As others have said, age can determine the severity of a challenge and therefore the...

I’ve come across similar in the past. A mate is a really good player, and one of the local teams would pinch him while off the ball. The idea was that the ref would not see the initial action but would hopefully hear a noise and then turn round to see him retaliate so he got sent off. One...

It sounds like commissions used to be here before they became more professional, as Rusty says. I had one where they did a similar thing to me and I took it really personally. The player got away with a head butt because his manager told him to say he was trying to kiss the opponent! When he...

I’ve had both good and bad at hearings. I had one where I got so much grief from the chairman of the commission that the player apologised afterwards for putting me through it! However, the charge was still found proven, they just wanted to make sure I stood by my report. I also had an occasion...

Thank you. I was sure I remembered this but couldn’t find it. When I first qualified I was given a sheet listing examples of things that could be classed as USB (obviously then it was ungentlemanly conduct) and this was shown on there. Maybe it was considered “ungentlemanly” but not necessarily...

A friend of mine did this - her kids were playing and they struggled to get refs so she took it up. She’s been doing it about ten years now and is level 5, so a senior county referee. She’s had issues, the same as all of us, but there is support. In fact there’s probably more support for female...

No one is saying it's "better and superior refereeing" to apply the LOTG rigidly. What we are saying is that what you are doing isn't supported by Law and it causes problems for people who do apply the law correctly. If the same teams are playing the week after you have them and the same thing...

I've also had players shout their name very loudly as an opponent getting ready to shoot (ie "DAVE'S!") to put them off. Because they've been told they must call a name they do and then don't know why they get cautioned when this distracts the opponent. I had one tell me "I shouted my name! I...

Yes, LOTG says that a sending off offence is "denying a goal....... by an offence punishable by a free kick" It doesn't say that it has to be direct. Since the player isn't making an attempt at the ball this is a sending off. Then because it's a verbal offence the restart is an indirect free...