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There's not a lot of summer football played in my area, at least at the level I referee at. What do you get up to during the close season? Enjoy the break? Other pastimes? Search around for any game that's going?

Following my game on Saturday I hung around to watch the second half of a game on a nearby pitch. Fairly competitive but nothing out of the ordinary until the final whistle. With the game almost over two players collided (there was a foul in there too) and the referee blew his whistle for full...

This past weekend I refereed a good cup tie between two well matched teams. It had all the signs of being 0-0, extra time and penalties until I awarded the home team a penalty with 7 minutes left. Attacking player in the corner of the penalty area, going nowhere when a defender came towards him...

Prior to my game on Saturday I spent 5 minutes watching a youth match on the adjacent pitch. One of the teams were awarded a penalty and the designated kicker had a moan that the penalty spot was in a hollow but the referee insisted on the ball being placed on the marked spot. Actually from...

After a couple of weeks of friendlies tomorrow was to be my first competitive fixture since last October. I've just been informed that the game is off as several players from one of the teams are isolating due to COVID links. Very frustrating, hopefully I'll pick up another game somewhere.

I had my first competitive game of the season last Saturday but came away frustrated with the match and my performance. It was a niggly match with lots of little things going on and I felt I lost control towards the end. There were lots of little comments, silly challenges and players mocking...

From China, a new way to mark out lines ...

Had an interesting conversation about VAR with some mates at the weekend. One question that came up is who is responsible for the integrity of the TV coverage? For example, what controls are there to prevent a biased/bribed/incompetent camera operator from 'accidentally' deleting footage?

Astro facilities are increasingly common at grass roots level. Certainly here in Scotland this trend will continue as local authorities and community organisations seek facilities which can be used and generate income more or less year round. I think it is fair to say they players prefer grass...

I'm having problems copying quote into my replies with the following error message .. "Oops! W ran into some problems. Please try again later. More details may be in the browser console" Any suggestions how I overcome this?

Have you ever been able to extract revenge on an annoying player, coach, spectator etc away from the football field. I don't mean doing someone over in a dark alley but have non football circumstances ever given you the change of getting your own back? Last year I had a difficult sending off and...

Can anyone access and attach footage from this game - I watched it on TV and there were several decisions worthy of debate, particularly the disallowing of Bromley's "3rd" goal.

I like a game that challenges me and certainly got that this past weekend. Two youth teams (18s) who I know fairly well and never cause much trouble - until now! Both teams seemed intent to kick lumps out of each other right from the kick off, starting with a penalty in the first minute. Ended...

We're all used to players asking how long there is left to play. I'm happy to tell them - it doesn't cost anything and I always feel a refusal makes you look a right arrogant sod - but this past Saturday I must have had more than ever. One player asked after only 6 minutes of the second half. In...

Barring any unexpected phone calls I had my last game of the season this past Sunday. What do you do in the summer? Do you enjoy the break, do you miss refereeing or do you find a summer league to get involved with?

I've seen a couple of youth matches recently, played in warmer weather, where the referee allowed a drinks break. This seems to be increasing acceptable, we've seen in in major tournaments. I have no problems with drinks breaks but I can envisage a scenario where a unfit team can use a drinks...

Had an interesting situation this past Saturday, something I'd never really thought about before. Good, competitive 17s game, home team won 2-0 but away team very much in the game throughout. As normal in this area teams used rolling subs. During second half, home team manager made many...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-4169118/Shettleston-keeper-sent-urinating-goal.html To me, the behaviour of the goalkeeper is not acceptable. Urinating in public is an offence and I see no reason why a football field or surroundings should be exempt from this. Assuming you...

I had an interesting one this past Saturday. A player presented himself for the pre match inspection with a tape covering his left ear lobe. When challenged he said that he wasn't actually wearing an ear ring and the tape was simply to protect the hole - he proved this by removing the tape. I've...

I see some degree of obstruction or impeding progress in almost ever match but it is rarely penalised, myself included. This past Saturday I had an instance that was so blatant I felt I had to penalise. Yellow played a long ball into space between last red defender/yellow attacker and red...