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Congratulations on an outstanding lifetime contribution to football. No doubt you have seen a great many changes over your career and have myriad stories to tell. I am only a relatively young referee at 19 but this forum has been invaluable to my development over the past 6 years. Mentors are...

Some excellent advice has been provided by others. I very much feel for your situation and hope you are OK. Refereeing OA football as a new referee and with little or no support must be very challenging, and if I am completely honest, seems like a sure fire way to burn through new referees. I am...

Hi Matthew, it is always sad to hear of a long term but otherwise fit and healthy referee contemplating leaving the game. However, it is also understandable. As much as being a referee can be enjoyable it does involve many challenges and some sacrifices as you have highlighted. Have you...

A couple of things to consider… did you engage with the captain of the away team at all? Would it have helped to have a real come to Jesus discussion once the second card had been racked up for dissent? Where there opportunities to take more time out of the game when it felt like control was...

Great. Thanks everyone. That makes sense.

I don’t watch a lot of EPL or other tier 1 football due to paywalls etc. I do watch A League because that is my local competition with some games free to view. I only note this as I haven’t seen the situation that I am referring to below in my local league. With AR’s in these games now not...

Although the LOTG do not indicate a difference when it comes to foul location, it is generally accepted by most referees that a higher threshold should operate for fouls in the penalty area (and this is the guidance offered to referees by most professional competition bodies). One reason for...

it’s a slippery slope too. Once you give away some of these things where do you stop? I have both been given these kinds of red cards (instinctive hand ball when ball was travelling toward goal as a player) and issued them (as a referee) In my experience, teams of all experience levels...

Keeper is an idiot and deserves what he gets. Nevertheless, for me the attacker does challenge the keeper in possession and the goal should be disallowed. Agree that it is highly debatable though.

The great irony of course is that parents of young referees mostly think that they need to be at the game to protect their young son or daughter from the criticism and abuse they receive at pretty much every week without fail and irrespective of how good a game they have. I am sorry, but if you...

Agree with everyone that this is tricky in terms of level of contact and location. Different referees will interpret the events differently and it is difficult to say they are wrong in doing so. At the end of the day, the defender puts himself in a frame here. Although the contact wasn’t...

If I am completely honest, one of the reasons I don’t use the sin bin more is the mental strain it puts on my very small brain to remember the implications of the various combinations of sin bin with conventional yellow card and having to recall all this at the same time I am looking to see...

I am happy with DOGSO here. It is a cynical challenge and the defender is effectively playing Russian roulette with the decision of the referee. I agree there is uncertainty about some of the considerations but I also feel like some posters are asking a lot of the referee to balance everything...

My view is that if you don’t see it, and you don’t have AR’s to confirm it, then you can’t give it. This is especially so for incidents involving high consequence. Curved runs and angles are your friend here. Get side on (when you can), push wider than the play and try to avoid running directly...

It is often the case that game control is lost progressively rather than as a consequence of one incident. Even when we attribute blame to a particular incident there is normally a back story. OA games can be difficult and there is often a heard mentality to pressure and undermine referees to...

We learn a lot from our poor performances and particularly from our responses to them. The fact that the game bothers you is a good thing - it means you care and are capable of honest self assessment and reflection. You have thought carefully about what you might have done differently and will...

Very sad that a new young referee had to endure this abuse and nonsense. Precisely why we have such trouble attracting and retaining young referees. When I was a junior (not that many years ago) I used to dread that march from the coach across the field at half or full time to bemoan something…...

Not for me either. Driving forward in what is a build up but with many well positioned defenders in the mix. Doesn’t seem all that promising in the context of the phase of play. Some interesting fouls in subsequent clips. Cards clearly at a premium.

I think most of us have probably felt like this at some point. It is a pity that you lost your temper but understandable in the circumstances. There have been plenty of games when I have needed ground officials and security to get back to the ref room and when I have felt the outrage of fans...

Great notes. Thank you for sharing. Recognising these as tactical offences and thinking about the potential for them to occur before / as they happen (scanning player locations, distance and angle to goal, speed of play, etc.) certainly helps with identification and these are great tips.