It was a cold one......

[mikedn]

Looked out the window this morning at 8.00 ... blue skies.... got to the venue at 10.15 dark grey sky.
Fifteen minutes into the first half snowy rain, biting win, for the whole 90 minutes my fingers were numb with cold (i had my gloves on too)and i had a job writing down the goals,luckily no YC/RC's...... All in all another match completed at the South Pole.....

 

[RegalRef]

Mine was exactly the same pal.

Absolutely freezing, was there an hour before KO, got changed stupidly quickly and was on the pitch 40 mins before KO.

Pitch turned into a complete mud bath, terrible.

One caution and it took an age to write the name.

T'was a cup game too, was dreading extra time if it came to it, relieved when red went 1-0 up.

A million times more relieved when blue attacker goes round keeper, and with the very last kick of the game, shoots towards the open goal....only for the ball to stop in the mud and red defender clears away.

Quickly blow for full time before anything else can happen......

 

[mikedn]

This made me laugh, giving the lino what i expected of him, and he told me last week referee wore a black coat throughout the match as he was so cold...believable?

 

[RegalRef]

It wouldn't surprise me I'm afraid.

But who knows, some players wear short shirts and gloves?

 

[DaveMac]

Lordy lord todays game was cold. Great pitch in a wide open space, the wind dries it off so they have games all the time. Today that meant nice pitch but biting wind with rain and hail for the whole second half. By the last ten minutes EVERYONE was asking how long was left as wanted to get off.

On a plus point the weather was so bad the manager overpaid me so he could get back to his car rather than sort his change out!

 

[mikedn]

Lucky you... i was paid in pound coins and like a magician coins came out of every orifice....

 

[DaveMac]

I know your pain @mikedn last week got given a sack of coins, it had 5p's in it! 5p's for heavens sake! Still has made my change pot look unusually full now!

 

[Brian Hamilton]

Coldest I have ever been on a field today (AR1 on U15 semi-final). Couldn't feel my arms from the elbows down after 2 minutes. Stuck them under a running shower at half time. Warmed me up for 5 minutes; froze for the rest of the game.

 

[Cheshire Ref]

Funnily enough @Brian Hamilton i was also AR1 on an u15 semi yesterday and i like you am follically challenged i actually had a numb head as well as numb everything else, even swapping hands with the flag seemed to go in slow motion as my body just wasnt working properly. The match was abandoned at half time due to the large puddles that formed on the pitch. Unbelievable.....are we not supposed to be approaching Spring??

 

[mikedn]

Just not right wearing any kind of head protection when one is officiating, just dont look right, yes! i'm follically challenged too....

 

[Cheshire Ref]

Couldnt agree more i wear gloves on the line but that is it, wouldnt even cross my mind to hear a hat

 

[xPositor]

On those truly cold and wet days, does nobody else wear an umbrella hat in the middle?

 

[CallumS]

I took about 3 minutes to caution and then another couple trying to show the yellow and put the pencil back in the notebook.

Had to sign for the home team at the end of the game and managed a circle.

Pitch soon became a mud bath and my whistle stopped working periodically in the first half.

Last 10 minutes saw the away team comeback from 1-0 to win 4-1. I silently cursed each goal scorer.

 

[DaveMac]

The wind was so bad at one point in my game that it actually made my whistle blow while it was in my hand. Still meant there was some absolute thunder bolt goals with some wind assistance.

 

[Matthew]

Coldest I've been in a long, long time yesterday.

U9 Academy game and my hands were so cold by the second half that I had to give up writing the score, I just couldn't grip the pen anymore.

Ended the game ten minutes early on the request of the coaches, can't even imagine how cold the players must've been.

 

[xPositor]

My worst experience in the past is where I have had to get someone else to unzip my jacket pocket, get my car keys out and unlock my car - zero feeling in the fingers.

 

[deusex]

I noticed the officials on TV were going short sleeved yesterday.
At certain points in the match you could see them phyically shivering!
Why, oh, why would an AR (who will not be covering anywhere near as much ground as the ref) go short sleeved in this weather?
Some kind of misplaced bravadoism?

 

[HullRef]

I had the exact same yesterday. Only difference was my mode of transport was a bike. After game (which was a brilliant match but drained me) I had to go and watch a friend refereeing as I am his mentor for my DofE. I couldn't feel my legs, upper body, fingers or feet. I had on a: skin, shirt, jumper, rain jacket and thick fleece on top and was frozen.

 

[heedmatt]

I was reffing on a very exposed pitch yesterday, so decided to go crazy on the layers. In this order: sleeveless base layer; puma black tech t-shirt; long sleeve base layer; ref shirt. Unfortunately, the base layer on top of a looser tech t-shirt made it roll up when i ran, so i looked like i had a small pair of bosoms. Oh, and I still was freezing, even with gloves on.