How long Ref

[Richardp10145]

I’m a new ref and I am finding it particularly common for players to ask me how much longer ref. That’s not a problem as I will say about 10/20 mins etc. I will also get it from the coaches/managers too…. I am wondering what the thoughts are of people who have been doing this longer?

 

[one]

There are a couple of other threads on this you may be able to find from the past.

Yes no issues just let them know. Sometimes it gets annoying as it is being asked too much or at the wrong time. Respond with something witty so they don't get annoyed too. Something like "one minute less than last time you asked me".

When it gets to a couple of minutes left or less, I just tell them "very soon". If I say 20 seconds and it goes for slightly longer, it becomes difficult to manage.

 

[Max2]

“We’ve played 68”
“Last 15”
“In the final ten”
“6 plus stoppage”
“Last 5”
““
etc

Can feel like a pain in the butt, but tell someone loud, don’t be a smartarse, and let them do the rest.

 

[Anubis]

As above, nothing set in stone, but, played, tends to keep us more on track, than, to go

because we really dont know how long there is to go.

I stay clear of, " last ten" as that seems foolish when we are still out there 16 mins later.

 

[Wolf_Ref]

On a Sunday morning, my favourite line is… “that’s a personal question mate”…

 

[Gamespoiler]

How long ref. About 12 inches but I don't use it as a rule.

How long ref. Well I've never had any complaints

Not appropriate at junior football though

 

[GraemeS]

As others have suggested, just try to answer as loud as you can, hopefully a few other people will hear you which means a few less people that have to ask separately.

There's also no need to be particularly accurate - if it's a short time after the last person asked, give the same answer or a minute less, don't worry about taking your eyes off the game to check your watch. And especially in the last two minutes, try to be vague - don't give an answer in seconds, anything less than a minute should be "less than a minute" or even "probably got time for this attack and then we're done".

 

[Dazzykerr]

I always tell the benches “last ten” loud enough so everyone can hear

 

[Quarryref]

My view has always been there are plenty of situations that football throws up when our relationship with players and benches is challenged. Although being repeatedly asked can be a ballache, it's an easy opportunity to build a bit of rapport and show a human face. Being an a**e really doesn't help & if it's appropriate I'll try and respond with a bit of empathy - to the striker chasing an equaliser or the knackered centre-half dying for the final whistle. Just don't sell yourself up the swanny :

- Don't look at your watch when you should be looking somewhere else - 'just a second mate' or whatever suits your style / situation works
- As others have said, don't be too accurate toward the end of a match. I do go with time left, but will always say '10 plus added', rather than give an all-in response
- Anything less than 5 minutes and I'm going with 'we're inside the last 5/4/3 as appropriate', not an exact time. Big mistake I made when I first started was being too precise. I think I said something like '20 seconds to go' at a free kick and then had the bench counting down out loud. Of course sods law then intervenes and the ball is pinballing around the 6 yard box when they get to zero. Don't do that !

 

[socal lurker]

When I started eons ago, the advice I was given (by a retired FIFA at a clinic) was to give non-answers "plenty of time" "enough to score a couple of goals" or some such. I think the expectations on that (as well as other things) have changed over the decades. Now, all of my answers are framed with "about" and are always round numbers. Within the last two minutes, I typically say nothing more than "not much," which tends to be satisfactory. And when the same player keeps asking, I will say something like "probably about two minutes since you last asked me"--with a smile, of course.

(In High School games in the US, the official time is actually supposed to be kept on the scoreboard by a timekeeper, though I don't think any of the games I did this year actually had a timekeeper to manage. And the clock stops for injuries, discipline, following a goal, and for PKs, as well as if the R (or one of the two Rs ) deems it appropriate.)

 

[markref]

My view has always been there are plenty of situations that football throws up when our relationship with players and benches is challenged. Although being repeatedly asked can be a ballache, it's an easy opportunity to build a bit of rapport and show a human face. Being an a**e really doesn't help & if it's appropriate I'll try and respond with a bit of empathy - to the striker chasing an equaliser or the knackered centre-half dying for the final whistle. Just don't sell yourself up the swanny :

- Don't look at your watch when you should be looking somewhere else - 'just a second mate' or whatever suits your style / situation works
- As others have said, don't be too accurate toward the end of a match. I do go with time left, but will always say '10 plus added', rather than give an all-in response
- Anything less than 5 minutes and I'm going with 'we're inside the last 5/4/3 as appropriate', not an exact time. Big mistake I made when I first started was being too precise. I think I said something like '20 seconds to go' at a free kick and then had the bench counting down out loud. Of course sods law then intervenes and the ball is pinballing around the 6 yard box when they get to zero. Don't do that !

This. I'd definitely steer clear of being too accurate right at the end unless you really are on the point of blowing anyway. I had a team ask this, and when I said "about twenty seconds" they sent the keeper up for a corner. The other keeper got the ball and launched it and the ball went in at the other end for the winning goal just as my watch started beeping. The team weren't happy even though I'd only told them what they'd wanted to know!

 

[RustyRef]

Unless it is the same player asking repeatedly, in which case he will get the answer "about a minute less then when you last asked", I can't see any good coming from getting stroppy about players asking how long is left. I've been there as a player, you can't wear a watch, you don't have a stadium clock like they do at higher levels, and those last 5 minutes when you are clinging onto a one goal lead can feel like 30 minutes.

I will always say a time plus stoppages, then as it gets towards the end say we are going into stoppage time or we are in stoppage time. Back when I was L3 it was more tricky as you had to tell the home bench how much added time you were playing and they put the board up, but at grass roots they don't need to know how much time you are adding on.