The Ref Stop

Club assistant referee - Responsibilities.

JamesL

JamesL

Moderator
Staff member
Level 3 Referee
Okay, so I am new to the forum and one thing I keep seeing being discussed is the use of CARs for offsides.

It seems depending on what neck of the woods you're from we all do things slightly differently based upon County/district instructions or personal preferences.

Here, Cheshire, Unless I am mistaken, CARs are doing in or out & direction. They aren't invited to be involved in anything else (offside, F&M, Goal/no goal) or certainly aren't when I am in the middle on my own.

So I'm interested to know what duties are people giving their club assistants and how much trust do you put into their decision making?

For me personally I want to make the big calls, not as a big time charlie, but I feel it contributes to my match control and there are less external factors that pose a threat to it. It also gives me an increased level of accountability for my decisions. Never had any team complain too much and if its a tight offside I always say "rather give a dodgy offside than a dodgy goal" Or the "I only get one look at it, looked offside from my postion" and players are usually more than accepting.
 
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Some on here will have experience of some very good CARs. Like you, CARs here only give in, out and direction..........with a very few exceptions including one delightful 13 year old girl a few seasons back, most struggle because they have the mobility and attention span of a finless goldfish!
 
I tell mine that their top priority is ball in/out of play in all situations, even if they're not sure which way. You can't see the lines from 10 yards away on half the grassroots pitches I find myself on, so you absolutely need that flag.

It also seems common in my experience (Surrey and Essex) to have them flag for offside. What I don't tell them is that although I'll happily overrule their flag sometimes when it does go up (or at least let play go on and then have a chat with them), there's almost no chance of me giving an offside without a flag. You do get a sense after the first decision or two if they're inclined to stick their flag up for anything, or if they're trying to do a good job - and you can tweak your positioning accordingly to aid an overrule if needed. But.....

I've done matches where one side can't provide an AR and although I was sometimes able to put myself in a position to make a call, I don't know how people feel they can honestly be in a fair position to judge offside AND a good position to make FK decisions in every situation that might come up. It very much feels like one aspect or the other has to be compromised at best, and a complete guess at worst.
 
James Long said:
Okay, so I am new to the forum and one thing I keep seeing being discussed is the use of CARs for offsides.

It seems depending on what neck of the woods you're from we all do things slightly differently based upon County/district instructions or personal preferences.

Here, Cheshire, Unless I am mistaken, CARs are doing in or out & direction. They aren't invited to be involved in anything else (offside, F&M, Goal/no goal) or certainly aren't when I am in the middle on my own.

So I'm interested to know what duties are people giving their club assistants and how much trust do you put into their decision making?

For me personally I want to make the big calls, not as a big time charlie, but I feel it contributes to my match control and there are less external factors that pose a threat to it. It also gives me an increased level of accountability for my decisions. Never had any team complain too much and if its a tight offside I always say "rather give a dodgy offside than a dodgy goal" Or the "I only get one look at it, looked offside from my postion" and players are usually more than accepting.
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When in Rome...

If Cheshire says in/outs and direction, don't be a trailblazer.
 
Referee's perogative to decide how much/what responsibility they give to their assistants.....
 
Padfoot said:
Referee's perogative to decide how much/what responsibility they give to their assistants.....
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Well yes, of course. But the OP came on here for advice, and the general advice is "if in doubt, do whatever's standard around your way".
 
I had a situation this Sunday where home side had bare 11 players and the manager was a player, so could not provide a linesman. However one of the players girlfriends offered to run the line , as she has done ( apparently) a couple of times before. I just said to her " just flag for throw-ins but i might over rule you, and i will do all offsides. Told both sets of players in pre-match talk. Only on one occasion did a player shouted out to her " that was offside lino" I was but feet from him told him to shut up as i was calling the offsides ( and it wasn't) and told him to remember the pre-match talk abut the lines-woman. No probs after that....
Normally i ask the CAR's to signal for offsides but be prepared to be over ruled if i think otherwise, but i do use the third eye to watch for offsides.
 
yup @GraemeS thats consitent with what ive been told too, in/out and offside but dont get offended if i overrule .
A couple of weeks ago i had a local ref run as CAR for the home team, but i still only asked for the above
 
richard ramjane said:
yup @GraemeS thats consitent with what ive been told too, in/out and offside but dont get offended if i overrule .
A couple of weeks ago i had a local ref run as CAR for the home team, but i still only asked for the above
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Yep, I think that's exactly the right way to do it. I've had a couple of "level 4's" run lines for me on occasion, but unless you know them personally, you've got no way to verify that and so are best to treat them as you would anyone else. If they're really a referee, they'll understand and if they're not, it doesn't matter.
 
In Dorset, they do what you tell them! I say something like 'You have 3 main priorities: throw ins, goal line decisions and offside. Make sure that the flag is full unwound and try to keep up with play. Good luck!!!!' I have started saying that I am allowed to over rule them!
 
East Yorkshire FA are pushing this discipline a bit far Minty, Get Er Indoors to loosen the shackles a bit! :p

Not recommended in SHCFA either, it must be a Sovvern thing where they need as much nursemaiding as possible! :(
 
I think around our way it is an "unwritten rule" i never had any form of directive sent by the County to tell me which way to do it. I think the clubs on Sunday get instructions sent to them unbeknownst to us informing them that they should always be looking the opposite way, give ALL decisions to your club and preferably be smoking and drinking a can of strong bow while you do it and if you do go against them throw the flag on the floor and say something along the lines of "whats the point if your not gonna go with me"?
 
In my early days of refereeing I used to like CARs, some were happy to help, some were absolutely useless. All, in my experience were OK as a go to on throw ins but when it came to offsides were just an accident waiting to happen. No idea, no perception of not interfering and all eager to flag at the earliest opportunity if there was even a hint of a decision. Either way, you are asking for trouble. With that experience 3-4 years ago I stopped asking because they made situation worse and if they were going to shout at anyone make it me!! I have tools to deal with that!!
 
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