The Ref Stop

A strange one

Phonesurgeon

Phonesurgeon

Cook, Cleaner and Bottle Washer
Level 7 Referee
As title a bit of a strange situation...
Home team to contact referee to confirm fixture, details etc...
Is this done out of pure courtesy, or written in any competition rules?
3 of my 4 games this weekend, haven't contacted me, luckily for me know where their grounds are!
 
The Ref Stop
Should be in comp rules.

The 'usual' advice I have seen is for referee to contact home club if he/she has not heard anything 48 hours before the match.
 
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Rule 10(D) from SCoR ...

The Secretary of the home Club must give notice of full particulars of the location of, and access to, the ground and time of kick-off to the match officials and the Secretary of the opposing Club at least [ ] clear days prior to the playing of the match. If not so provided, the away club shall seek such details and report the circumstances to the competition.

So the only thing leagues below step 7 can change in this is how many day's notice the home club needs to provide.

I would never turn up without confirmation as anything could have changed - kick off time, it gets postponed, or even the venue may have changed due to unforeseen circumstances that you can't possibly know about.
 
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Half the Sunday League games I've done this season I've had to search for the home teams contact details. I'll text them on Wednesday evening. If I've heard nothing by Thursday I send a politely worded text that says I have other teams asking on my availability and that the league rule is for you to contact me no later than Tuesday so if I haven't heard anything from you by 5pm then I'll accept other offers.

I Always get a text back then! When I've been unable to find contact details I've rang the league sec for them and they usually agree with me that if they haven't contacted you by now then just look elsewhere and they'll "soon learn"
 
I am at the moment chasing up the home team for tomorrow. I can't find the ground on google maps or anywhere.
 
I'd check the competition rules. There's also usually a reporting procedure for it. In my local league for example, the home club must confirm arrangements with the referee 5 days before the match. Then a sub-rule: If no contact has been made 48 hours before the match, a report is to be sent to the league secretary who will then chase them up and issue a fine.

I don't know what I'd do if that step failed, never quite got to a stage where they club would ignore the league's orders...
 
RustyRef said:
Rule 10(D) from SCoR ...

The Secretary of the home Club must give notice of full particulars of the location of, and access to, the ground and time of kick-off to the match officials and the Secretary of the opposing Club at least [ ] clear days prior to the playing of the match. If not so provided, the away club shall seek such details and report the circumstances to the competition.

So the only thing leagues below step 7 can change in this is how many day's notice the home club needs to provide.

I would never turn up without confirmation as anything could have changed - kick off time, it gets postponed, or even the venue may have changed due to unforeseen circumstances that you can't possibly know about.
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I would as get paid for nothing.... as per the comp rules ;)

I am of course joking and would actually initiate contact myself and as last resort get in touch with appointment officer to verify the fixture and of course report the non contact
 
I do one league where its in the rules that no contact, means, no turn up.

That aside for run of the mill grass roots, if I have not heard by Fri am, I inform the league secretary, and I will try myself to contact the home club.

I this season went to the extreme of contacting a FIFA delegate who I knew would have the contact for a SPL teams chief exec because I had not heard from their womens team and on this occasion, I had been contacted by the away team because they also had not heard from the home team!!!

worst case then no, I will not turn up without confirmation, I also like to have a contact in case, am running late, hopefully it will never happen but it might.
 
The FA contact for the county cup isn't impressed. He has contacted the club directly but I am still waiting, and so are the opposition.
 
If the rules require pre-match contact and you don't get it, then you should still turn up at the ground ready to do the game. Do the game and the next part is really important... don't whinge, don't post to a forum or Facebook or any other social media... just report it to the league. Report it to the League Secretary and to the Referee Appointments Secretary. If the home club doesn't turn up or the game doesn't get played, then ask the league to pay you in accordance with the competition rules.

Don't do chasing before a game, don't phone them, don't email them, don't text them, don't WhatsApp/Snapchat/FB Messenger. Just turn up and if they don't, then report them... as above.

The club will be charged and fined if necessary. The fines aren't intended to be punitive but to encourage compliance with the rules, which are there to make your life easier and the league's life easier.
 
Brian Hamilton said:
If the rules require pre-match contact and you don't get it, then you should still turn up at the ground ready to do the game. Do the game and the next part is really important... don't whinge, don't post to a forum or Facebook or any other social media... just report it to the league. Report it to the League Secretary and to the Referee Appointments Secretary. If the home club doesn't turn up or the game doesn't get played, then ask the league to pay you in accordance with the competition rules.

Don't do chasing before a game, don't phone them, don't email them, don't text them, don't WhatsApp/Snapchat/FB Messenger. Just turn up and if they don't, then report them... as above.

The club will be charged and fined if necessary. The fines aren't intended to be punitive but to encourage compliance with the rules, which are there to make your life easier and the league's life easier.
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Turn up where though and at what time? Take a league like the Amateur Football Combination in London and the home counties, teams don't always play at the same venue and kick off times often vary depending on when sunset is.
 
We don't have this as our competition and our appointment system is completely different. However from time to time, teams change the game venue/time amongst themselves without telling anyone else so even calling the club or competition Secretary wont work. If that happens we charge the clubs anyway.

In your case, I don't see it to be too much different to team sheets. It is usually to be handed out to the referee X minutes before kick off without the referee having to chase it. In reality you end up chasing it until you get it. It sounds like confirming games pretty much ends up your responsibility to chase in many cases.
 
Things seem to work very differently here in Western Australia. Everything is centralised: all fixtures are given out through a Referees' Secretary who works for FootballWest. We are given a number of fixtures each weekend, and are then sent a comprehensive list of all unallocated games. If we want to take on extra, then we request games from this list by email via Ref Sec. All details of venues and kick off times are kept centrally and sent out from Ref Sec. We never have to contact any clubs at all. If games are forfeited we are told in advance and can request replacements. If any team just fails to show up on day, we get paid from FootballWest and they chase up the clubs to pay. All fees for matches are given in cash BEFORE the game starts (half from each club). Works very well.
 
Yeah, I think everywhere in Australia does it that way. The UK method that a lot of areas seem to have makes no sense whatsoever to me. I can't think of anything worse than managers having my phone number. Refereeing shouldn't be that complicated.
 
Very similar here in Sydney. Our local association is even better that it's all don't by account and invoicing. Clubs are invoiced once a month and we (the referee association ) pay the referees once a month into their account. Not as feel good as seeing the cold hard cash on the day but it remove a lot of risks especially with junior referees.
 
(It's a little off topic, but previous threads have gone there, so... my regional FA have 800+ matches a week in the capital area to organize with officials. I get a venue change or cancellation by text about once a season. Only the elite youth leagues and top 3 tiers confirm with refs before the game, usually because long travel distances might be involved... and we get paid to bank accounts, with our individual "secondary employment" tax deduction. I can access every monthly pay slip and the details of every game I have officiated in my 6 seasons. Oh and all my assessment reports on one tab.

We can "buy/sell" (give/take) games to each other when we can't make it, or want more, via the same online system. I can access the contact details of every referee in the region, and every game in the country, I can see everyone's levels, if I need to find a replacement at late notice at my level... in the calendar I can block out day parts down to the hour if necessary... oh and if you play, your team's game days are automatically blocked from the ref calendar... it's amazing... and normal here!

AFAIK it's a customized version of this software: https://www.torneopal.com (no affiliation) Little tournaments around here also typically use the same service, this is cool, as it means we have the same easy buy/sell features even for little weekend tournaments etc etc)
 
Brian Hamilton said:
If the rules require pre-match contact and you don't get it, then you should still turn up at the ground ready to do the game. Do the game and the next part is really important... don't whinge, don't post to a forum or Facebook or any other social media... just report it to the league. Report it to the League Secretary and to the Referee Appointments Secretary. If the home club doesn't turn up or the game doesn't get played, then ask the league to pay you in accordance with the competition rules.

Don't do chasing before a game, don't phone them, don't email them, don't text them, don't WhatsApp/Snapchat/FB Messenger. Just turn up and if they don't, then report them... as above.

The club will be charged and fined if necessary. The fines aren't intended to be punitive but to encourage compliance with the rules, which are there to make your life easier and the league's life easier.
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For Bostick Under 23s referee appointments officer has said its up to referee to contact home club if not heard anything 48 hours before a match.

This is also in 'Guidelines for match officials' on the web site.
 
RustyRef said:
Turn up where though and at what time? Take a league like the Amateur Football Combination in London and the home counties, teams don't always play at the same venue and kick off times often vary depending on when sunset is.
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Turn up in accordance with the info provided in the advice of the appointment. Yes we vary our kick off time as well but this info is published in the competition rules and on the email advising the appointment.

PinnerPaul said:
For Bostick Under 23s referee appointments officer has said its up to referee to contact home club if not heard anything 48 hours before a match.

This is also in 'Guidelines for match officials' on the web site.
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Belt and braces springs to mind.
 
Brian Hamilton said:
Turn up in accordance with the info provided in the advice of the appointment. Yes we vary our kick off time as well but this info is published in the competition rules and on the email advising the appointment.


Belt and braces springs to mind.
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????? - Don't understand that at all and doesn't change the fact that surely more sensible and correct to follow procedures you have been told about rather than just the 3 of you ignore them and turn up anyway.
 
santa sangria said:
We can "buy/sell" (give/take) games to each other when we can't make it, or want more, via the same online system.
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Is this controlled in any way by an administrator? What stops a referee ending up out of their depth because they thing they are good enough to do a certain game?
In our system referees can only swap/move or pick up extra games if they get the OK of the appointments officer.
 
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