The Ref Stop

Blowing up on time

Z

Zimmyman

Well-Known Member
So yesterday's u14 game goes off great only for one little ditty ! Half time approaching watch goes off on my arm for time I look around reds have the ball on an attack which does look that promising i blow up
Then two 14 year old reds come screaming at me you can’t do that you can’t do that ref it’s not allowed we were on the attack ! I get the two players to calm down with the threat of a sanction and explain its time on
My watch ! And I run the game and I also explained there’s nothing in law that says when the half is finished that I have to wait
For an out come when I explained if it had been the other team attacking you would
Not have said a thing they walked off happy enough with the explanation but one wonders where on earth they get these ideas from !
Just thought I’d share it
 
The Ref Stop
They get the idea from real life.
Ok it has happened, and there have been clips of it posted, but, its common practise (not in law of course), to stop in a neutral area/ball out of play
This is proactive and eliminates the issue you had.

Unwise also to use alarm, again, it just causes a problem, not solves one.
 
I use a watch that vibrates. All the advantages of a beep,and none of the disadvantages. (And it also vibrates every 30 seconds after time is up, which helps if I'm adding time that I did not stop the watch for, and if I punch the button to track added time, it vibrates every 10 or 15 seconds to make sure I don't forget to turn it back on.)

Another thing to be careful about beeping watches: Almost none of us actually start the watch precisely correctly, as we don't want to be fiddling with the watch as play starts. So even with no added time, the beep is a few seconds early, which is bound to cause problems.
 
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Zimmyman said:
So yesterday's u14 game goes off great only for one little ditty ! Half time approaching watch goes off on my arm for time I look around reds have the ball on an attack which does look that promising i blow up
Then two 14 year old reds come screaming at me you can’t do that you can’t do that ref it’s not allowed we were on the attack ! I get the two players to calm down with the threat of a sanction and explain its time on
My watch ! And I run the game and I also explained there’s nothing in law that says when the half is finished that I have to wait
For an out come when I explained if it had been the other team attacking you would
Not have said a thing they walked off happy enough with the explanation but one wonders where on earth they get these ideas from !
Just thought I’d share it
Click to expand...
A couple of things.

A player takes a long shot ball on the way to goal and your watch beeps. Will you blow the whistle for half time just before the ball goes in? If not, why not? If yes, you are not only making a rod for your own back for the rest of the game, but also not considering you are the only time keeper for the game and use the watch as a means of time keeping for you only. The game never goes for exactly 45min and 0.000 seconds (or whatever it is for U14s). Use common sense in how you start and end the game.

Second thing, don't threaten to sanction. It backs you in to a corner. Use "I will take serious action" if you must. It leaves you with a number of options on what a serious action is.
 
I never bother with all that alarm and beeping stuff. Why would you at Grass Roots level?

Just have your stopwatch on, let it get to 90 mins, decide how much you think you should add on at the end and once your watch shows that, blow the whistle at an appropriate time. Refereeing made easy.

*You've not been charged for this advice. :D
 
If said moany team is hanging on add a bit of referee relaxation time for yourself safe in the knowledge that they aren’t!
 
I was only introduced to the alarm beeping the other week. Apparently there's a setting for some watches that beeps if you haven't restarted the timer after 10 seconds.

That sounds pretty handy as I know I've forgotten to restart a watch sometimes. :wall:
 
The only person to gain an advantage from some decisions (like when to blow for time), is me 😁
 
There is an excellent refwatch app for Garmin watches, which is what I use. I believe it costs about 5 pounds for the ap. Can set for any length halves. Can include extra time. Shows both time into game and time remaining--you pick which one is the large display. Also tracks how far you run and can even show you a map of where you went on the field. (Low resolution, without density, but still can be interesting.)

As Kes, says, you don't really need it--you can do just fine with an inexpensive stop watch.
 
This is why I love doing games with no stoppage time - I don't care if the ball is in midair to an open goal, time's up when it's up!

But as for stoppage time games - if there's an attack but nothing overly promising then I'm all for stopping time. It's the promising attack that we've all found ourselves compromising on.

I long for the day when FIFA decide to be honest and put this in the LOTG.
 
CapnBloodbeard said:
This is why I love doing games with no stoppage time - I don't care if the ball is in midair to an open goal, time's up when it's up!

But as for stoppage time games - if there's an attack but nothing overly promising then I'm all for stopping time. It's the promising attack that we've all found ourselves compromising on.

I long for the day when FIFA decide to be honest and put this in the LOTG.
Click to expand...
So to rephrase, you would blow up on exact time no matter what I'd there is no stoppage. But you would 'adjust' your stoppage time to allow for a promising attack to finish. I think you can see where I am going here.
 
Nontheless it is a decision you have made prior to the attack for playing time. It makes no difference if announced or not. You are extending 'playing time' for the sole reason of finishing an attack using 'flexible stoppage time' as an excuse (sorry couldn't find a better word).
 
I sometimes think if you have three refs in a room you have four opinion on when to precisely to blow the whistle. My personal view is that the critical thing is for each ref to know what he is going to do and apply it consistently--not to make in-game decisions as to philosophy. The standard has to be set in the R's mind before the game--so that it is the same for both teams.

Mine is this: Added time is imprecise. (Generally so is when we start our watches.) I decide how much I am going to add (and may add more, if a cause, during added time. When I look at my watch and time is up, it's up. I can't look at my watch when immediate and active play demands my attention--so an immediate threat to score is not going to be stopped by me. On a CK or FK, if there are more than a few seconds when it goes/foul occurs, if they move quickly or the defensive team is causing a delay, I'll let them take it. YMMV.

I think this was the norm in the days before digital watches in every hand. When I took my very first refereeing class from a retired FIFA ref in the '70s, he recommended that if the goal is scored in added time, always take the kickoff. Two reasons: it helps quell debate about whether it scored before time expired, and it makes sure the referee team has time to communicate if there is some reason the goal should not count.
 
Just adding to the above, if the score is 5-0 and they score the 6th bang on my time limit, am not restarting the game
But yes, if its, close then restart, as above, to clarify that the goal was scored within the time frame.
 
socal lurker said:
When I took my very first refereeing class from a retired FIFA ref in the '70s, he recommended that if the goal is scored in added time, always take the kickoff. Two reasons: it helps quell debate about whether it scored before time expired, and it makes sure the referee team has time to communicate if there is some reason the goal should not count.
Click to expand...

I always thought the ball had to be in play before you could blow for time anyway? :confused:

I know a lot of referees overlook this at times and I can't find where it says so in the LOTG but I'm pretty sure I was taught that upon first qualifying. (?)
 
Kes said:
I always thought the ball had to be in play before you could blow for time anyway? :confused:

I know a lot of referees overlook this at times and I can't find where it says so in the LOTG but I'm pretty sure I was taught that upon first qualifying. (?)
Click to expand...
Not stipulated AFAIK, but generally unwise anyway
I once stopped on a foul... haha... won't be doing that again :punch:
 
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Big Cat said:
Not stipulated AFAIK, but generally unwise anyway
Click to expand...

Yeah like I said, I couldn't find any advice to that effect in the book but I'd be interested to know why you feel that blowing up whilst the ball is in play is generally unwise (?)

I've virtually always done it and note that most top level referees tend not to blow whilst the ball's out of play as well. ;)
 
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