The Ref Stop

Different colour referee kit

R

Redref34

Well-Known Member
Level 5 Referee
Hi all

An away team manager has emailed me today stating that they play in black when playing away and that the referee usually wears another colour shirt when they do.

In our county we are instructed to wear black so that is all I have.

The league have said that it’s entirely up to me what I do.

Any advice here please? I assume they will have to be the ones in bibs and not me should it come to it.

Thanks
 
The Ref Stop
The league and the club are ultimately at fault here. Black kits cannot be used below step 7 in England, so the club shouldn't have bought it and the league definitely shouldn't have sanctioned it. You can only wear black, so that can really only mean one thing: the team have to change.

If you get grief over it I would be tempted to report the league to your CFA. They should be backing their referees, and that means telling the club they can't play in black.
 
RustyRef said:
The league and the club are ultimately at fault here. Black kits cannot be used below step 7 in England, so the club shouldn't have bought it and the league definitely shouldn't have sanctioned it. You can only wear black, so that can really only mean one thing: the team have to change.

If you get grief over it I would be tempted to report the league to your CFA. They should be backing their referees, and that means telling the club they can't play in black.
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Thank you.

I should have been clearer the kit isn’t completely black.. apparently it’s more the back of it. I assume your advice is exactly the same though…

I have emailed the club back to say I will be wearing black so be prepared for that, at least that gives them time to get their home kit washed (assuming that isn’t black as well)
 
Often a problem arises when players' shirts are black and blue front/black back or black and red/black or black and white/black.
Should not be approved but if they advise the authorities "black and blue stripes" (or similar) someone should be checking!
 
Redref34 said:
Thank you.

I should have been clearer the kit isn’t completely black.. apparently it’s more the back of it. I assume your advice is exactly the same though…

I have emailed the club back to say I will be wearing black so be prepared for that, at least that gives them time to get their home kit washed (assuming that isn’t black as well)
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Doesn't really matter as the rule says no black or very dark shirts. If a shirt is black on the back and sleeves and stripes on the front that means 70% to 80% of it is black.

I've refereed teams with predominantly black shirts, usually on the back, and when they pass the ball to me I've had a standard response. "Sorry lads, but I have to wear black, you chose to"
 
Until CFA or Leagues pay for different colour shirts for officials— then black will be worn.

I wouldn’t be digging into my own pocket just so one team can “look nice”.
 
One of my leagues authorises yellow in the event of a kit clash, I think only a couple have forked out for a yellow kit
 
george.g said:
One of my leagues authorises yellow in the event of a kit clash, I think only a couple have forked out for a yellow kit
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They can only do that if the CFA have authorised non-black kit for their referees. If you are registered with a county that only allows black you could end up getting charged for wearing a coloured shirt when refereeing.

And what does the referee then do if one team is in black and the other yellow?
 
BAFRA #77 said:
Or one team in black, the other in yellow, one goalkeeper in green and the other in red?
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That must be the theory behind why we have FIVE colors in the US. Yellow is officially the primary color, and the only one (theoretically) all referees are required to have. But there is a lot of pressure in many places, at relatively low levels, for refs to have all five. (At least USSF got past it‘s prior mind-numbingly stupid edict that all three officials had to have the same sleeve length, but refs still tend to have at least some of both and it is far from uncommon for grass roots refs to have 10 shirts.)
 
Redref34 said:
Hi all

An away team manager has emailed me today stating that they play in black when playing away and that the referee usually wears another colour shirt when they do.

In our county we are instructed to wear black so that is all I have.

The league have said that it’s entirely up to me what I do.

Any advice here please? I assume they will have to be the ones in bibs and not me should it come to it.

Thanks
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When I started observing on the SCEFL (step 5 supply league) we had Fisher wearing this kit, and all Kent referees were told specifically that they had to wear black, even when refereeing this team. The FA said that anyone wearing another colour would be suspended with no exceptions and we were instructed to report anyone who wore another colour. It made it incredibly difficult to assess the referee because if you lost sight of him for a second it was almost impossible to find him again.

A team on my Sunday league reported their new colours as ”black and red stripes”, which turned out to be all black with thin red pin stripes down the sleeves! When I said they shouldn’t be allowed to wear this the team said they couldn’t afford to waste the money they’d spent on it so would have to fold, and the league caved in and allowed them to wear it. Made their games interesting! At the end of the season they bought a new kit.

We are now allowed to wear another colour for Kent cup games (yellow) if we wish and leagues can allow us to wear another colour, but they have to apply to the KCFA. I guess your league hasn‘t done so. Even then, the SCOR states that teams must not wear black

However, if you’re not being observed I’d wear black because the team should not be wearing it. If the league get complaints they may make a decision to do something about it - I wouldn’t hold my breath though!
 
RustyRef said:
They can only do that if the CFA have authorised non-black kit for their referees. If you are registered with a county that only allows black you could end up getting charged for wearing a coloured shirt when refereeing.

And what does the referee then do if one team is in black and the other yellow?
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Has this changed?

When the coloured shirts were first brought in I sought guidance from my RDO.

I'm affiliated to Lincolnshire FA, who don't allow referees to wear anything other than black, but I officiate on the Peterborough Saturday, which is affiliated to Northamptonshire FA, who allow their referees to wear coloured shirts.

My RDO told me that when I officiate on the Peterborough league I am allowed to wear an alternative colour.
 
holbeach ref said:
Has this changed?

When the coloured shirts were first brought in I sought guidance from my RDO.

I'm affiliated to Lincolnshire FA, who don't allow referees to wear anything other than black, but I officiate on the Peterborough Saturday, which is affiliated to Northamptonshire FA, who allow their referees to wear coloured shirts.

My RDO told me that when I officiate on the Peterborough league I am allowed to wear an alternative colour.
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It is complicated, something I pointed out when the FA canvassed CFAs to see if they wanted to allow referees to wear coloured shirts. I live in London where there are many leagues, and a large number of them spread across multiple counties. If you referee on the AFC as an example, their clubs might spread across London, AFA, Surrey, Middlesex, Essex and Kent CFAs. What happens if you have a team of 3 officials from London, who only allow black, Middlesex who only allow black and yellow, and AFA who only allow black and green (those policies are made up by the way). What colour do the officials wear if a team is in black?

Although, and this is the absolute key thing, when the consultation was done with CFAs it stated that this was just to be an option for referees, for example to be more comfortable when temperatures were very high. It made it very clear that it wouldn't change the rule that grass roots clubs cannot wear black or very dark shirts. The fact you are refereeing in Northamptonshire is somewhat irrelevant, the league might allow referees to wear an alternative colour but they are absolutely not permitted to let teams wear black, so you should never need to change.
 
Agree it is complicated and that no team should wear a black or very dark kit.

The part I was querying was being charged for wearing a coloured shirt by a CFA that doesn't allow coloured shirts when operating on a league affiliated to a CFA that does.
 
holbeach ref said:
Agree it is complicated and that no team should wear a black or very dark kit.

The part I was querying was being charged for wearing a coloured shirt by a CFA that doesn't allow coloured shirts when operating on a league affiliated to a CFA that does.
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Don't know the answer that that. Although in reality CFA staff are much more modern these days and I would say very unlikely to pursue a referee for such a trivial breach as wearing a coloured shirt. 10 to 20 years ago they tended to be much older and more "by the book" and rule based, and would be far more likely to go after this kind of thing.
 
RustyRef said:
Don't know the answer that that. Although in reality CFA staff are much more modern these days and I would say very unlikely to pursue a referee for such a trivial breach as wearing a coloured shirt. 10 to 20 years ago they tended to be much older and more "by the book" and rule based, and would be far more likely to go after this kind of thing.
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You go by your CFA I’m in one that does and can change in one of my leagues based in a CFA that doesn’t asked our RDO about it we actually had a odd situation which it helped get around.
 
I have a few colours and only referee as a bit of fun on a Sunday morning as the players who play in the leagues I referee. If I feel I can wear a different colour if someone is in a dark kit I will. If my CFA have an issue, they'll be a referee short. What does it hurt to wear a colour other than black as long as the players and spectators can differentiate me from the teams.
If I were interested in progressing it would be different, but I'm far too old for that now.
 
MDempster said:
I have a few colours and only referee as a bit of fun on a Sunday morning as the players who play in the leagues I referee. If I feel I can wear a different colour if someone is in a dark kit I will. If my CFA have an issue, they'll be a referee short. What does it hurt to wear a colour other than black as long as the players and spectators can differentiate me from the teams.
If I were interested in progressing it would be different, but I'm far too old for that now.
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Because it might affect the next referee for that team who, if he is with a CFA that don't allow an alternative colour, and perhaps is interested in progression. He will get it in the neck and will get the age old comment "well last week's referee was OK with it so why are you being awkward?"
 
RustyRef said:
Because it might affect the next referee for that team who, if he is with a CFA that don't allow an alternative colour, and perhaps is interested in progression. He will get it in the neck and will get the age old comment "well last week's referee was OK with it so why are you being awkward?"
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Issue comes when you have clubs linked / reserves of those higher up who technically can wear dark kits then try to avoid being last weeks ref and end up in a situation where you get wrong.
 
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