The Ref Stop

BBC article - Ex pro's wanting to be referees

RustyRef said:
Perceived bias is certainly a significant hurdle to this. There was furore and outage last season when Bobby Madley was appointed to a Barnsley game as he used to play for them. In reality he had been in their youth academy as a kid, never turned professional and certainly never played for them, but PGMOL were forced to replace him on the game because of the backlash. Ex-players could have played for so many clubs they could find themselves precluded from their games but also those of their close rivals. Can you imagine the reaction if an ex Portsmouth player was appointed to a Southampton game? There would be conspiracy theories like we've never seen before.
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It’s ridiculous really and people only have to look at the cricket umpiring structure to show that.
 
The Ref Stop
I strongly suspect that the ex professionals are likely to come from further down the pyramid, reducing the risk of high profile conflicts. SG1/2 salary is likely to not be miles off, possibly more, than those playing at the lower end of professional game such as those teams on the National League, and full time teams at Step 2.
Time will tell but I am certainly not going to lose sleep over this. Personally think it should be welcomed.
 
Big Cat said:
And when anyone is fast-tracked, whether it be because they're an ex-player or in a minority group, the moment they have a poor game, the seductive argument 'that they're only there because of privilege' prevails. Those less privileged who missed out because of disadvantage become envious and envy is one of the least healthy emotions out there. Jealousy mixed with irritation.
The more I think about it, the more I'm against any form of discrimination, even if the intent is good. I want the world to be a better place, a fairer place with equal opportunity, but shortcuts are not the answer

It takes too long to get to the top. There are too many levels and not enough vertical movement (up and down) between the levels. Escaping Level 4 is a huge bottleneck. It should take no more than 3 years to identify potential, 5 years to realize that potential and 7 years to be competing for levels the ref has shown ability to reach. There's very little movement in and out of SG1/SG2, likely due to employment law. I don't know how that can be solved. It seems like a job for life from the outside
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SG1/SG2 can be solved by 1,2,3 year contracts etc, though the challenge is whether Referees would give up their current employment to become full time officials knowing they may not be offered another full time contract. I think that’s why Referees like Mike Dean were offered the contracts they had.
 
David G said:
SG1/SG2 can be solved by 1,2,3 year contracts etc, though the challenge is whether Referees would give up their current employment to become full time officials knowing they may not be offered another full time contract. I think that’s why Referees like Mike Dean were offered the contracts they had.
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Consecutive fixed term contracts constitute a continuous length of service, and therefore protected employment rights after two years, which can make it tricky for employees and employers. Good for lawyers' pension pots!
 
David G said:
Incredible really & something that I didn’t know until now.
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It is a minefield, all changed when IR35 was first introduced in 2003 and then further enforced a few years ago. That really brought about the concept of fixed term contracts. You were either truly self employed and therefore not subject to IR35, or deemed to be a "disguised employee" in which case you were subject to IR35. The latter had to be employed under fixed term contracts, and that gave them pretty much the same employment rights as an FTE (full time equivalent), so they got sick pay, holiday allowance, etc, and crucially employment protection status.
 
RustyRef said:
It is a minefield, all changed when IR35 was first introduced in 2003 and then further enforced a few years ago. That really brought about the concept of fixed term contracts. You were either truly self employed and therefore not subject to IR35, or deemed to be a "disguised employee" in which case you were subject to IR35. The latter had to be employed under fixed term contracts, and that gave them pretty much the same employment rights as an FTE (full time equivalent), so they got sick pay, holiday allowance, etc, and crucially employment protection status.
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And the IR35 is I am sure the process that Gary Linekar and Adrian Chiles have been having running battles with HMRC, with them claiming they are freelance!
 
David G said:
And the IR35 is I am sure the process that Gary Linekar and Adrian Chiles have been having running battles with HMRC, with them claiming they are freelance!
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Lots of TV and radio presenters have been doing battle with HMRC recently over it.
 
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