A&H

Discipline in friendly matches

James Fox

New Member
Hi all,

I am a level 9 ref just trying to complete the necessary 6 matches in order to graduate! I have done two games so far, both friendlies (in the loosest sense of the word!) and so far I have kept my cards in my pocket even though there has been occasions where I know I should have taken action. My thoughts were that given the spirit of the occasion it was not necessary to and have given stern talking too's which did the job as well as a caution in my opinion.

Am I doing the right thing here or should I be applying the laws to the letter even in pre season?

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
The Referee Store
Hi

First, well done on passing the course :)

As far as friendlies go, its varies a lot. Personnaly, I try and use my cards only if it is blatantly obvious to everyone. Maybe this is the wrong approach as technicaly, you should officiate every game in accordance with LOTG.

Its up to you how you interprate the word 'friendly', and how strict you want to be with the laws. If you don't want to issue cards when you know you should, its up to you. Just remember, you never know who is watching.

Out of interest, what system of substitutions were used? And what age?
 
Hi Lewys, thanks for the reply.

In the two games I have done, rolling subs were being used. The games were open age (i.e. pub teams!)

I know what you mean about not knowing who is watching but at the level I am doing it would probably cause more harm than good if I start dishing them out!

The biggest problem i've had has been dissent and i've been very tempted to caution a couple of guys but they have drawn the line before I lost patience!
 
Ok, so there won't be the barrier of winey parents if you were to card.

Tbh, I know its a bit of a kill, but rolling subs should not really be used, they need to be as per LOTG.

I get you. I'm not saying get carding left right and centre, just make sure that if there is something that is without doubt a clear card, then don't be affraid to card just because its a friendly.

Well you never know, there could be a league official at the game watching his grandson etc, you would be suprised who watches friendlies!

On a similar note, if you do card someone, don;t forgett that you must send it in!
 
I think most referees are generally more lenient in friendlies. Myself included. I just tell the players that I will bring the cards out if necessary.

I know of one pre season friendly recently that got abandoned.
 
I've only had cause to wield a card once during pre-season. I'd warned both captains/coaches beforehand that I'd be lenient and only get the book out for certain things and I'd expect the benches to take action before I had to. Sadly, they didn't and the home captain saw red in the dying moments for telling me what he thought of me in no uncertain terms.
 
In friendly, I tend to be a bit more officious than I normally would be. Last night I did a friendly between two U14 boys games who I knew had knock-out matches later that week. I told them "Remember that this is a friendly so please keep it that way; I'm going to probably be a bit more picky than I normally would." In the first five minutes I issued a strong verbal warning to one player for coming in too hard on his tackles and, within the first ten, I issued two cautions to players for a bit of handbags that normally would have been a stern talking to. The reason was that I wanted to A) send a firm message (and it worked, temperatures dropped significantly) and B) because I had warned them that there would be absolutely no misbehaviour that ended with impunity. I had to give one more caution (but this was orange, frankly) for a bad tackle from the back. Both coaches absolutely thought I did a bang-up job and they were impressed with how I managed to take control early and keep the kids in line. To me, friendlies are to be friendly and, if not, than they are to be punished with the fullest extent of the laws.
 
Friendlies, personally I don't like the term. It definitely not a friendly for me in the middle, and if you started reffing differently for friendlies than n leagues you are only going to come a cropper at some point.

Ref the game as you would any league/cup game. However you can practice your man management skills. If there's a foul use the stepped approach and use big gestures because this helps sell the decision to other players, coaches and those spectators.
Inform the player that it's no acceptable and you may take further action next time. Basically good man management skills.

I talk to the players during the game, reminding them of trailing legs, arms skirts etc, but not too much as they will get annoyed. Using stoppages in the game is ideal to remind the players.

I hope my tuppence worth helps.
 
I firmly believe there is no such thing as a friendly all games are competitive. In preseason I was wanting to be in the team for the first game and that meant I was committed. No such thing as a friendly tackle DOGSO or Reckless Challenge, etc should still carry sanction non-competition, league or cup.
 
I can totally agree with the term 'No such thing as a Friendly game'. I refereed a so called pre-season friendly a couple of seasons ago between two local teams in the Lincolnshire area. I did my normal talk to both the managers and captains explaining that as far as I was concerned this was the same as a league game. Well I had 2 red cards for fighting and 4 yellow cards for blatant fouls, and whilst leaving the field of play with the home team manager I was struck on the arm by the home team goalkeeper because I hadn't given his team a free kick in his opinion, I also sent him off which as you can imagine didn't go down too well with the home team. Although I did play the second half, even though I have since been informed I could off and probally should have abandoned the game. I did send in all of the cards and Lincs FA dealt with all the incidents.
I have not been put off by my bad experiencei, however I truly believe 'Their is No such thing as a Friendly Game'
 
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