MOAS "Provisional" Appointments

[Kes]

Had two emails come through from MOAS advising me that I've been provisionally appointed to two fixtures in September.
No other info. Just the dates and time.
No idea if I'm officiating or observing!
Never had this before. Is it a new thing? Anybody else experienced this?

 

[RustyRef]

Used to be mainly used for Christmas and New Year games, to make it clear to officials that hadn't closed dates they had games but didn't know the specific games yet.

I'd guess you have provisional FA Cup appointments.

 

[ARF]

Never had this before. Is it a new thing?

Yes - was mentioned during the pre-season update Teams call, and the Step 3-Step 6 pre-season update document attached to the email sent out last Friday.

Notification of Appointments
Step 3/Step 4 league appointments will available via the Match Official Administration System and these
will be released on 22nd of every month (or the first working day afterwards). The only exception will be
the January appointments which will be released on 19 December 2025.
From season 2025/26, you may receive “provisional” appointments earlier than this date to give you as
much notice as possible of fixtures. Provisional appointments will not provide match details but will allow
you to plan your diaries accordingly. Additionally, these will not necessarily apply to all appointments
you may receive (eg late movement of games, FA Competitions etc) so please do not consider
provisional appointments as the complete set you receive in a specific month.
You will be notified of re-appointments through an alert distributed by MOAS. Consequently, as a Step
3/Step 4 match official you are expected to have access to a frequently checked email account.
Match Officials are expected to establish their own systems to ensure receipt of appointments.

 

[es1]

You can see what league your provisional appointment is in if you search for your fixtures under any possible leagues you officiate in. When you find the right league it will list a fixture (team a v team b).

Or just wait!

 

[JamesL]

Yes - was mentioned during the pre-season update Teams call, and the Step 3-Step 6 pre-season update document attached to the email sent out last Friday.

Does it apply to observers though? Surely those have been appointed and released by now?

 

[Runner Ref]

Provisional dates in MOAS have been around for as long as I can remember.

 

[JamesL]

Provisional dates in MOAS have been around for as long as I can remember.

Yes. They have changed how they appoint us though. We now get a provisional when the appointment is drafted. Earlier than we would have gotten it had we waited for the normal publication date.
So yea, provisionals have always been a thing but they are now more the norm.

That said I got tonnes of provisional last season which was I think in part due to some difficulty in appointing Cornwall and to stop me swanning off doing something else

 

[Runner Ref]

Yes. They have changed how they appoint us though. We now get a provisional when the appointment is drafted. Earlier than we would have gotten it had we waited for the normal publication date.
So yea, provisionals have always been a thing but they are now more the norm.

That said I got tonnes of provisional last season which was I think in part due to some difficulty in appointing Cornwall and to stop me swanning off doing something else

From what I remember, provisional was also used because they couldn’t change/delete fixtures. So you’d end up with a provisional for a really random date for a future than no longer existed…. Or along those lines

 

[CaptainsPlease]

Lots of good info above about how these are being used more this season. I have seen it myself with a Step 4 AR appointment.

 

[DavidObs]

Does it apply to observers though? Surely those have been appointed and released by now?

Observers often received provisional appointments for the National League North & South, though with there no longer being Observers at this level from the start of this season, then no longer the case. Observers sometimes receive provisional appointments on Supply League but my experience is that this has been rare in the past, but as per the recent guidance sent by the FA, looks like this is to become more regular.

 

[Cowboy Ref]

Had two emails come through from MOAS advising me that I've been provisionally appointed to two fixtures in September.
No other info. Just the dates and time.
No idea if I'm officiating or observing!
Never had this before. Is it a new thing? Anybody else experienced this?

Usually they'd be TBD from what I get told for games. If its that distant, a email will usually follow up at a recent time to the event. Observing or officiating it may be. I've never had a blank one before. Just mark that date.

 

[Steve Fall]

It's a great way for the appointment secretaries to allocate games based on your avalibility. Stops people getting a fixture and then dropping off the game. WOuld be great for it to say the league at least in the message (I know the "hack" to find out").

 

[RefereeX]

It's a great way for the appointment secretaries to allocate games based on your avalibility. Stops people getting a fixture and then dropping off the game. WOuld be great for it to say the league at least in the message (I know the "hack" to find out").

Feel free to share the 'hack'?


Yeah, as above, we were informed that we would now be receiving a provisional at the point the appointment is drafted where as in recent seasons this was only the case for particular big dates like Boxing Day.
I do know one little trick for level 3s (I think) which is that if you get a provisional and your calendar doesn't have rest days either side, then this will be a 4th man. Not sure how that's useful to know of course, but still.

 

[Kes]

Does it apply to observers though? Surely those have been appointed and released by now?

I've already had my Step 5/6 Observer appointments for August through mate. These provisional ones are for September.
Like I said, never had them before for officiating or observing so was just curious.
I'm hoping Rusty is right and that they're for match official appointments.

 

[RefereeX]

They can't be provisional FA Cup appointments, they won't even known Septembers FA Cup fixtures yet as the preliminary round is next Saturday.

 

[Kes]

They can't be provisional FA Cup appointments, they won't even known Septembers FA Cup fixtures yet as the preliminary round is next Saturday.

Yes but they'll know the dates surely?

Remember, these provisional notifications only give a date and time. No teams or venue.

 

[JamesL]

Feel free to share the 'hack'?


Yeah, as above, we were informed that we would now be receiving a provisional at the point the appointment is drafted where as in recent seasons this was only the case for particular big dates like Boxing Day.
I do know one little trick for level 3s (I think) which is that if you get a provisional and your calendar doesn't have rest days either side, then this will be a 4th man. Not sure how that's useful to know of course, but still.

Read post #4 again.

 

[RefereeX]

Read post #4 again.

missed that one!

 

[RefereeX]

Yes but they'll know the dates surely?

Remember, these provisional notifications only give a date and time. No teams or venue.

The fixture has to be on moas for it to be provisionally appointed. They won't put the fixtures on moas until they know at least 1 half of the teams!
Edit: I'm not sure whether you're on a wind up or not because of the winky faces

 

[Kes]

The fixture has to be on moas for it to be provisionally appointed. They won't put the fixtures on moas until they know at least 1 half of the teams!
Edit: I'm not sure whether you're on a wind up or not because of the winky faces

No wind ups this end mate. I probably do use emojiis too often - sorry.

I posted this thread because I genuinely don't know. I haven't even bothered looking at FA Cup/Vase/Youth Cup dates yet so maybe you're right?

Here's what the email looks like:

Provisional Appointment

Dear (Kes) You have been provisionally appointed to a fixture on Tuesday, September 09, 2025. Kind regards, The MOAS Team