The Ref Stop

Competition Rules Are Important

The Ref Stop
Justylove said:
A stark warning that not knowing the specific competition rules can have serious consequences, in this case a replayed FA Cup fixture with a lot of disruption for all involved.

www.google.co.uk

'Free hit' for Brixham as referee's blunder puts them back in the FA Cup

'We have nothing to lose' says manager after dramatic decision by the Football Association
www.google.co.uk
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National cup game was replayed few years back as ref took a replay to extra time when should have been straight to pens.

The big one to watch for at the moment is subs, the amount of differs depending on tournament at the moment
 
I agree however, FA communication into this year's competition did not reference Sin bins at all. Easy mistake to make as both teams and officials operate at level where they are in place. I had the same discussion with my Assistants regarding this. As there was no information we decided that any cautions would go down as AA or similar to avoid issues. Fortunately teams behaved with regard to this.
bester said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1425761539823390724
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Comedyjock said:
I agree however, FA communication into this year's competition did not reference Sin bins at all. Easy mistake to make as both teams and officials operate at level where they are in place. I had the same discussion with my Assistants regarding this. As there was no information we decided that any cautions would go down as AA or similar to avoid issues. Fortunately teams behaved with regard to this.
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Correct - however as Sin Bins only operate at Step 5 and below, competitions that have teams above Step 5 in it don't have them by default.

I've referenced this before, but it's a huge jump from being a Level 5 referee to being a Level 4 referee. You are a Semi-Professional match official at 4, not a parks referee and you are entrusted with refereeing meaningful games (such as the FA Cup). If there is ANY DOUBT in your mind around an aspect of the competition rules which were provided a number of days in advance to referees, then the onus is on that referee to go and ask the question. It's an added element to the things you need to do pre game day on top of confirming the game on MOAS, acknowledging the clubs, making contact with your assistants etc.
 
I've fallen victim to the 'rules' once, in a cup game funny enough, back when I started. It was local, so it wasn't as major, but the game did get replayed and I did get a nice suspension for it.

Funny enough, guess who reported it? :angel:

Anyway, important take away, find the rule books, read the procedures, especially subs (this season) and sin bins. If in doubt, or if the rule book isn't available online for whatever reason, ask the ref's appointer, as if they don't know they'll definitely know someone who does!
 
There was a strange one in the NCEL league cup this week. Two matches finished level at 90 minutes, one went straight to penalties but the other went to extra time.

League Cup extra-time clarification

The Toolstation NCEL has clarified the situation regarding extra-time in the League Cup following confusion earlier this week.
toolstation.ncefl.org.uk toolstation.ncefl.org.uk
 
And yet the Referee looks accomplished going by his demeanour and body language in the clip
He'll be distraught. No hiding place whatsoever in today's Social Media 'free for all'
 
Yampy said:
There was a strange one in the NCEL league cup this week. Two matches finished level at 90 minutes, one went straight to penalties but the other went to extra time.

League Cup extra-time clarification

The Toolstation NCEL has clarified the situation regarding extra-time in the League Cup following confusion earlier this week.
toolstation.ncefl.org.uk toolstation.ncefl.org.uk
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i once did a league where this applied, cup ties, both teams were to agree beforehand as to extra time or pens, without agreement it was a coin toss before the game, and team sheets to be signed to accepting the conclusion.
 
All three officials will be having a 21 day "rest" All referees have to know competition rules, but even more so those at L4 and above. They will be officiating on their CFA senior county cups FA Vase, Trophy, Cup, Youth Cup, County Youth Cup, all of which have different rules around things like extra time, sin bins, etc. Get it wrong and the game will be replayed and you will be suspended for 21 days, not to mention having a considerable blemish on your refereeing record.
 
Yampy said:
There was a strange one in the NCEL league cup this week. Two matches finished level at 90 minutes, one went straight to penalties but the other went to extra time.

League Cup extra-time clarification

The Toolstation NCEL has clarified the situation regarding extra-time in the League Cup following confusion earlier this week.
toolstation.ncefl.org.uk toolstation.ncefl.org.uk
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Seems like that's their own fault if the rule was voted in 2019, then they've had two years to update the online handbook... :wall:
 
In that clip, you can clearly hear someone shouting "Ref, ref - there's no sin bins in the FA Cup."

As a ref, if you heard this, what do you do!? Talk to the benches -see if they know something different from you? That could certainly have solved his problem in this case...
 
cdsman said:
In that clip, you can clearly hear someone shouting "Ref, ref - there's no sin bins in the FA Cup."

As a ref, if you heard this, what do you do!? Talk to the benches -see if they know something different from you? That could certainly have solved his problem in this case...
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You don't put yourself in that situation in the first place. Kills credibility and match control if you don't know what you are supposed to do.
 
Justylove said:
You don't put yourself in that situation in the first place. Kills credibility and match control if you don't know what you are supposed to do.
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Whilst I agree with the sentiment, I think it a bit harsh that the 2 assistants are being treated the same as the guy in the middle.

Unless I'm going blind, I couldn't find anywhere in the competition rules issued before last week's matches that even mentioned sin bins?

With the blanket directive out (3?) years ago that sin bins applied to all Step 5 and below, is it not reasonable to assume that the referee simply fell foul of competition rules being ambiguous or not updated correctly?
 
Sin Bins - Check and double check.

Isthmian U18s No Sin Bins, Isthmian U23s DO have sin bins, just one example where rules are not always consistent/what you would expect.
 
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