2 minutes silence
- Thread starter Kent Ref
- Start date
Yes. Ours are before the match.
Had it been today (Armistice Day) then I could've understood it. Seems odd not to do it before the game tomorrow but there may be mitigating circumstances. For example, last year I was doing a Sunday League game on a pitch which had the village war memorial next to it. As it was remembrance Sunday (like tomorrow), we were asked to stop the game at 11 so we didn't impact the silence at the memorial. We were actually asked to attend the silence and listen to the speeches which refered to the footballers who died during ww1 & ww2 that played on the same village pitch. It was a nice moment.
Back to the actual point. Any requests for silences etc in amateur football, just do it.
Back to the actual point. Any requests for silences etc in amateur football, just do it.
I had an email from my league this week...
"Evening all Referees
Please can we observe a 1 min silence at all games over the course of the weekend,
Ideally at the start of the game.
Thank you"
I must admit, tomorrow's game kicks off at 10:30am and the pitch is in a residential area amongst houses and playing through the 11 o'clock silence feels wrong.
What would you guys suggest? Do as the league says and do it at the start...?
"Evening all Referees
Please can we observe a 1 min silence at all games over the course of the weekend,
Ideally at the start of the game.
Thank you"
I must admit, tomorrow's game kicks off at 10:30am and the pitch is in a residential area amongst houses and playing through the 11 o'clock silence feels wrong.
What would you guys suggest? Do as the league says and do it at the start...?
Last edited:
R
Runner-Ref
Guest
I'd have a conversation with the clubs and see if everyone can come to an agreement on when is best to do it
Some leagues are advising referees to stop the game for it apparently
So I asked the coaches if they wanted to kick off early which would allow us to do the 2 minutes silence before the second half but they both agreed they would rather stop the game and do it.
So at 10:59am I blew the whistle when the ball went out of play and we formed around the centre circle and did the 2min silence just as the gun went off in the distance at the remembrance parade. Every player, coach and parent observed it perfectly and we restarted with a throw straight after.
This probably wasn't the correct way to deal with it, but in a public park surrounded by houses I did not want to be blowing whistles and have shouting while those around us observed. It didn't feel right.
So at 10:59am I blew the whistle when the ball went out of play and we formed around the centre circle and did the 2min silence just as the gun went off in the distance at the remembrance parade. Every player, coach and parent observed it perfectly and we restarted with a throw straight after.
This probably wasn't the correct way to deal with it, but in a public park surrounded by houses I did not want to be blowing whistles and have shouting while those around us observed. It didn't feel right.
One of the adult Sunday leagues in our area made it absolutely clear it was mandatory that you CANNOT play between 10:59 and 11:02 am. The games kicked off at 10:30am.
I have a funny feeling that their sanctioning county might have a view on that. Leagues are not allowed to make up rules, particularly rules which contradict the LOTG.
Last edited:
bester
RefChat Addict
Can you imagine the headlines if a county raised a charged regarding this issue?
The National Futsal Series which is FA affiliated made it mandatory to stop all games at 11 AM yesterday and today.
There was an Aston Villa Vs Leicester game stopped for a one minutes applause to remember a little kid who had been murdered.
Seems sensible to me. If you do as asked then everyone is happy. Don't do it and everyone thinks you're being a ****. The silence is incredibly important to many people.
We are encouraged to stop the game for those coming to the end of their fast during Ramadan which I fully agree with. This should also be done for the silence on Rememberance Sunday
One obvious problem, that being if the ball doesn't go out of play. You get to 10:59 and decide to call a break when it next goes out of play, but that doesn't happen until 11:02. Granted that is unlikely at grass roots, but I have seen games be unstopped for several minutes. What do you do then, engineer a break in play, it is just fraught with difficulties? If leagues want the silence to coincide with the national period they should change the kick off times from 10:30 to 11:00 just for that weekend.
Southerner In The North
Well-Known Member
Another issue although unlikely to be playing would be military teams as they would be duty bound to observe it and I don’t believe fall under the regular CFA.
Same issue with stopping for the end of the fasting period with Ramadam. But we manage and we manage with the silence too.
It's only on Armistice Day that being ready for exactly 11am is important. The minutes silence on Remembrance Weekend takes place before every game at various times on various days, whether that's 8pm Friday or 2pm Sunday. So if the 11am Sunday deadline was missed by 1 minute yesterday (12th) nobody is bothered.
ChasObserverRefDeveloper
Regular Contributor
Except at grassroots, where locally we had three games in progress within earshot of each other, one was stopped for the silence, and others continued for a minute or two before stopping.
We can't control what others do. If someone asks to stop for a mi it's silence then that's what I'll do. Everything that's out of my control is not something for me to worry about. It's not ideal if others haven't asked for it but it's not an issue for us
Some leagues are advising referees to stop the game for it apparently
My response email would be full of litany of what-if questions regarding this advice. What if the ball is sailing into the goal at 11:00 AM but has not yet crossed the goal line? What if there is a goal scored at 11:00 and the players celebrate - should those players be cautioned for failing to observe the silence, or should they be allowed to celebrate; should the moment of silence begin at 11:00 or should we wait for the goal celebration to end? What if there's a mass confrontation at 10:59? So many unanswered questions.