The Ref Stop

Match fee for friendlies

B

bmace3

Active Member
Hi all,

Do you charge the same amount for a friendly as you would in a league?

I’ve had a team offer me £20 whereas I said it would be £25 due to mileage and they said they’d been paying all refs £20 for friendlies and would source elsewhere if I couldn’t do it for that. I told them to source elsewhere. Was I correct?

Thanks
 
The Ref Stop
Up to you really! There’s no set fee - depends what you want the friendlies for. I’m not particularly bothered about the match fee as I use them as an opportunity to get match fit and sharp before the season, but you’re more than entitled not to do them! Just try and remain respectful though, you never know if you might come across them later in the season.
 
alexgr said:
Up to you really! There’s no set fee - depends what you want the friendlies for. I’m not particularly bothered about the match fee as I use them as an opportunity to get match fit and sharp before the season, but you’re more than entitled not to do them! Just try and remain respectful though, you never know if you might come across them later in the season.
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It’s a team I used to play for. I just politely said that it was £25 for me as the mileage costs and they said they’d seek elsewhere if I wasn’t willing to do it. I just said that’s not a problem.
 
Having moved here recently, I don't have personal associations with any local clubs really. So I'd be looking for my standard league payment, or if mileage is normally paid I'd accept a round number near that - so if league fee + mileage added up to £41.60, I'd be happy with £40.

Friendlies are often anything but friendly, so I'm not massively interested in reducing my fee for them any more.
 
step 7 or above I'm claiming standard league fees (minus expenses if it's not far), below (assuming local) I ask for £30 all in
 
GraemeS said:
Having moved here recently, I don't have personal associations with any local clubs really. So I'd be looking for my standard league payment, or if mileage is normally paid I'd accept a round number near that - so if league fee + mileage added up to £41.60, I'd be happy with £40.

Friendlies are often anything but friendly, so I'm not massively interested in reducing my fee for them any more.
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£20 considering 20 mile round trip, plus refereeing a game doesn’t leave much with the price of fuel these days. Just doesn’t seem worth it.
 
bmace3 said:
£20 considering 20 mile round trip, plus refereeing a game doesn’t leave much with the price of fuel these days. Just doesn’t seem worth it.
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i agree, tell them £20 isnt worth your while and get on with your day! £20 is an insult tbh
 
es1 said:
i agree, tell them £20 isnt worth your while and get on with your day! £20 is an insult tbh
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I did politely reply that I’d be asking for £25 to do the game. But did state that it was no problem if they wished to find another ref for £20.
 
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All our pre season fees are set by county. All flat fee. They are a little less than the normal fee but it's accepted across the board.
 
es1 said:
i agree, tell them £20 isnt worth your while and get on with your day! £20 is an insult tbh
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Yeah, I don't know what age group or where in the country our OP is working in, but my lowest starting fee now is £26, which also comes with up to £15 mileage as well. £20 for anything other than a U12s game basically outside my front door is nonsense nowadays.
 
GraemeS said:
Yeah, I don't know what age group or where in the country our OP is working in, but my lowest starting fee now is £26, which also comes with up to £15 mileage as well. £20 for anything other than a U12s game basically outside my front door is nonsense nowadays.
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This was OA in Notts but in a lincs league (odd boundaries around here). It just seemed a bit low when I’ll be out the house for about 4 hours.
 
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bmace3 said:
This was OA in Notts but in a lincs league (odd boundaries around here). It just seemed a bit low when I’ll be out the house for about 4 hours.
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Yeah, I think you're being over-generous saying you'd take £25 to be honest.

I once got £20 for 7 1/2 hours out of the house, but a) that was a one-off opportunity to do a FA Vase match, b) it was on the line, c) I was driven and d) I didn't know what I was letting myself in for! For a bog-standard local OA match in the middle, £20 is way way under market value.
 
i'd add that (i'd like to think) the team are kidding themselves if they can get another ref for £20. that's an absolute shambles of a fee
 
GraemeS said:
Yeah, I think you're being over-generous saying you'd take £25 to be honest.

I once got £20 for 7 1/2 hours out of the house, but a) that was a one-off opportunity to do a FA Vase match, b) it was on the line, c) I was driven and d) I didn't know what I was letting myself in for! For a bog-standard local OA match in the middle, £20 is way way under market value.
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Well that’s the standard fee and mileage for that league. So that’s why I just went off that. I don’t mind the cost so much, it’s the fact that when he asked they said they’d pay £20 so I just said I would need £25 and they said they’d paid other refs £20 and would look elsewhere if I wasn’t willing to do it for that. I just said that it was fine and to find someone else.

Yeah I know a few have commented that the mileage especially hasn’t increased in years.
 
Ooof. That still seems really low in general to me.

But to go back to your original question - yes, they should be starting at your usual rate and going from there. If £27 (at "normal" mileage of £0.35/mile) would be what you'd get for a league match there, then £25 is a very reasonable ask. If they've found a ref who lives near the ground and is willing to do a flat fee of £20 + £0 mileage then that's fine (and is actually quite common for teams to have a book of local refs they like to try and book for friendlies for this reason), but you're still entitled to ask for something towards the mileage.

Remember as well that mileage isn't just supposed to cover fuel - it's also supposed to be a contribution towards insurance, maintenance etc. If their entire fee doesn't even cover your petrol, then they're asking for you to cover their share of your insurance costs, maintenance costs AND donate your time essentially for free. Of course you might be willing to do that....but it definitely shouldn't be an expectation.
 
I usually ask for £35 for open age middle friendless. I also coach at a youth football club and usually they’ll pay me £20 or so- I only do their home games if there is no referee, league or friendly or cup, and I don’t mind £20 as I am a coach and I will always do it neutral, no warming up players etc and it’s youth football. The home ground is a 3 minute walk from my door so I have no issue with that. Most of it is down to the fact that I coach them so am not bothered about fee. Because I would still referee them if I didn’t get paid for it as I am the youngest out of all the coaches so I would be doing it wether I was qualified or not!😂
 
dylanbailey4444 said:
I usually ask for £35 for open age middle friendless. I also coach at a youth football club and usually they’ll pay me £20 or so- I only do their home games if there is no referee, league or friendly or cup, and I don’t mind £20 as I am a coach and I will always do it neutral, no warming up players etc and it’s youth football. The home ground is a 3 minute walk from my door so I have no issue with that. Most of it is down to the fact that I coach them so am not bothered about fee. Because I would still referee them if I didn’t get paid for it as I am the youngest out of all the coaches so I would be doing it wether I was qualified or not!😂
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I’ll happily referee my sons club for free, often do a few games if they’re all at home. But I’m the same, I’m generally there taking him there anyway.
 
GraemeS said:
Ooof. That still seems really low in general to me.

But to go back to your original question - yes, they should be starting at your usual rate and going from there. If £27 (at "normal" mileage of £0.35/mile) would be what you'd get for a league match there, then £25 is a very reasonable ask. If they've found a ref who lives near the ground and is willing to do a flat fee of £20 + £0 mileage then that's fine (and is actually quite common for teams to have a book of local refs they like to try and book for friendlies for this reason), but you're still entitled to ask for something towards the mileage.

Remember as well that mileage isn't just supposed to cover fuel - it's also supposed to be a contribution towards insurance, maintenance etc. If their entire fee doesn't even cover your petrol, then they're asking for you to cover their share of your insurance costs, maintenance costs AND donate your time essentially for free. Of course you might be willing to do that....but it definitely shouldn't be an expectation.
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It isn’t a great amount but that’s the rate. I’m happy if they do find a ref who does that but I’m not going to cover all that myself. If it was higher I’d have no issue. I think they believe with it being a friendly there will be less issues, incorrect 🤣
 
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