The Ref Stop

Goalkeepers Shirt Colour

The Ref Stop
Monotone Whistle said:
Spookily, the FA have today asked the County FAs to see if there is a desire for referees to wear coloured kits. To this end, I have just received a questionnaire and will be confirming my agreement with the proposed change.
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We do over here in Norn Iron! Any standard of ref can wear whatever brand/make/colour of kit they like to avoid clashes, especial given the number of teams who now have a black kit! Additional expense as per GraemeS is down to how much you want to spend you can get last season's on line relatively cheaply or get them from China and get you Association badge added. I have 6 Umbro Blue, Pink, Orange, Black long and short sleeved, 7 adidas green, navy, light blue, orange, two yellow and again mix of long and short sleeves so easy on match day just throw three colours in a bag and head to game, no worries about clashes.
 
lincs22 said:
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Those are stripes. I mean more along the lines of some of the black Adidas kits.
 
Monotone Whistle said:
I think it's a great debate, and we all know that eventually this will get implemented. It's just whether it is this season or next, and you're right there are lots of details to sort out. It's a shame the questionnaire doesn't offer more options as I think this should be more detailed to include what levels it applies to, how the kits would be funded etc.

The next great debate is going to be about referees wearing shirt and ties to matches, I know the FA are looking at this on Supply and Contrib Leagues. But that's a whole new can of worms.
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I always do to Ryman U18/U21 and Womens games (Levels 3 & 4 of their pyramid)
 
Monotone Whistle said:
Understood, but again this misses the actual key point of the questionnaire - it asks if you would like to be permitted to wear another colour.

It doesn't say you have to, must, will be forced to, etc. In 2 options of Q3 it says black is the over-riding primary choice for most games. So in your scenario above, the three officials just wear black as they don't match on any other colour. I struggle to understand how we reach a conclusion that all three officials are wearing different colours when clearly they will all have a black kit anyway.

People seem to be extrapolating a generic 'option' into something they have to do when that's clearly not the intention. Don't want the kit, fine keep in black. But you have the choice.

And on another point, I think non-black will actually attract youngsters to the game.
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By trying to restrict the discussion to just this question, I think you're ignoring important context.

If the question is truly about an option and it will only ever be an option, then fine, I have no problem. But as soon as teams are allowed to wear black (and I very very very strongly suspect this is the aim of this vote in the first place), then it stops being an option and becomes a necessity. And that's what I'm strongly opposed to and I think it's foolish to vote for the "option" and assume black will definitely remain a reserved colour.
 
That's a fair point Graeme and yes I am sure we will see the all-black kit appearing as a result.

I did add this point in the Notes on the questionnaire as I wanted to understand how it work if the referee didn't want to buy a coloured shirt. One would hope the FA would make it clear that the referee has 'priority' on kit and if the ref is in black, the team isn't, or they do not allow black kits for a period of x years while the changes bed in.

Alternatively, as the ref would now be allowed to wear non-black, then he would be ok to wear a bib. :eek:
 
Monotone Whistle said:
That's a fair point Graeme and yes I am sure we will see the all-black kit appearing as a result.

I did add this point in the Notes on the questionnaire as I wanted to understand how it work if the referee didn't want to buy a coloured shirt. One would hope the FA would make it clear that the referee has 'priority' on kit and if the ref is in black, the team isn't, or they do not allow black kits for a period of x years while the changes bed in.

Alternatively, as the ref would now be allowed to wear non-black, then he would be ok to wear a bib. :eek:
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That isn't part of the proposal. If it is voted in that teams can wear black kits then this will come in from next season, and referees will be expected to have kits that mean they don't clash with these teams.
 
RustyRef said:
That isn't part of the proposal. If it is voted in that teams can wear black kits then this will come in from next season, and referees will be expected to have kits that mean they don't clash with these teams.
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Then someone needs to get a crow bar and prise some kit money out of the local FA's..........
 
Monotone Whistle said:
how the kits would be funded etc.

The next great debate is going to be about referees wearing shirt and ties to matches, I know the FA are looking at this on Supply and Contrib Leagues. But that's a whole new can of worms.
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Mintyref said:
Then someone needs to get a crow bar and prise some kit money out of the local FA's..........
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As the York League is a supply league, the league could not find the coloured kits. Additionally, we sometimes have to appoint mid- week due to unavailability, so is the Ref Sec going to have to appoint ARs on kit colour as well;-)

It will be the referee that has to fund. The best option is that teams cannot have black & yellow kits as alternatives. Referees will always have a simple choice - black or yellow.
 
lincs22 said:
As the York League is a supply league, the league could not find the coloured kits. Additionally, we sometimes have to appoint mid- week due to unavailability, so is the Ref Sec going to have to appoint ARs on kit colour as well;-)

It will be the referee that has to fund. The best option is that teams cannot have black & yellow kits as alternatives. Referees will always have a simple choice - black or yellow.
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Well they'll be disappointed to find I'll be officiating in any colour they want . Just as long as its black!
 
RustyRef said:
The referees who do these games are generally money hunters who will stand in the centre circle all game.
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I didn't want to be unduly critical of a fellow referee but your description actually flatters this one. Following a goal the losing team kicked off without waiting for a whistle and charged up the field. The attack ended with a shot off target. The referee meanwhile was still in the wrong half facing the wrong way when the shot was taken.

I wouldn't have noticed any of this but there was a mass confrontation which caused me to pause my game and observe theirs for a bit in case there was proper violence.
 
Had to clash again yesterday with a keeper. We do confirm the colours days before the match, however the keeper colours are checked on the day.

We have 3 colours in Scotland; black, blue and yellow. Seems to be that more often than not a team will deck out in black, and at least a keeper in yellow. Game yesterday, one keeper had yellow and black, the other yellow and blue. With players in black it forced me to have one keeper yellow, one blue and me in blue.

Going by the LOTG, I probably should have had both keepers in yellow and me in blue. But it seems better for the match officials to clash with a keeper and not each other.

Then I watch St Johnstone v Motherwell highlights in the SPFL and keeper and referee in black :D.
 
Well, it's not a new thing. The mighty Lev Yashin almost always wore black. Look at this from the 1966 World Cup - and no, there are not 4 officials.
soccer-world-cup-england-66-third-place-play-off-portugal-v-ussr-wembley-G8P9P1.jpg
 
I can't really see the upside of this proposal? Teams would be allowed to wear black, but how is that better for anyone? Does the FA suspect that there people not playing because black is the only colour that's slimming enough for them? Is there a Goth team skulking in Camden somewhere refusing to appear because they can't stand bright colours?
 
I haven't come across a team in 12 years of refereeing that has a black kit,( although league rules always state no black kit allowed) so why change things now............??
 
It is a bit old fashioned, especially as there are many different colours available to referees now.

I see where you are coming from, why change things that aren't broken, however, to not change something because it's always been done that way doesn't make sense.

Does anyone know of any other national FAs that only allow their grass roots officials to wear one colour?
 
zarathustra said:
I see where you are coming from, why change things that aren't broken, however, to not change something because it's always been done that way doesn't make sense.
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I agree with that sentiment in general, and I have no objection to wearing coloured shirts, but in this particular case there is the unresolved question of who is going to pay for all the extra referee shirts. It seems like a lot of expense for not much gain.
 
Trip said:
I agree with that sentiment in general, and I have no objection to wearing coloured shirts, but in this particular case there is the unresolved question of who is going to pay for all the extra referee shirts. It seems like a lot of expense for not much gain.
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This is the biggest stumbling block imho. Who is going to pay for the extra shirts?

Interestingly one of the options on a recent survey from The FA was allow the coloured shirts (and teams to play in black) but only if the leagues/competitions provide them for the referees
 
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