The Ref Stop

New Ref- some fairly basic tips

T

Tom Gibbins

New Member
Level 9 Referee
Hi all,

I completed a referee course and am looking to get my 5 games on board so applying for local leagues. To be honest i took this course on as i am not always the most confident of people but improve once i get going, and I am really interested in refereeing. I am a bit nervous to get started and admittedly taken a while to register due to this but i have now bitten the bullet and i am going for it. I went to watch a game for the league i applied for just to get a general feel of what goes on.

I have some very basic questions to ask, but this is more about pre game tips to ensure i am fully in control when i do get my first match. With regards to team sheets do referees copy names down on to their match sheet to make it easier when cautioning or do you always ask for a players name in play and then write it down (even if they say "Mickey Mouse!").

i have looked on a few sites to get some ideas for pre match advice and it looks like referees do it differently, but this looks like a good place for advice :)
I have read the law book so match wise feel fairly comfortable and will learn the ropes as i gain more experience, its more to do with match reports i am unclear on. Although a referee should get a copy of the team sheet as best practice i am just wondering if its best to write down so substitutions and cards are monitored appropriately.

Any advice greatly appreciated

many thanks
Tom
 
The Ref Stop
Welcome @Tom Gibbins

Works differently for different leagues as you say, maybe if you post which league you are in then someone with in might be able to give you an accurate answer.

Pre match advice -

Turn up promptly (45 mins- 1hour before ko), smartly dressed and introduce yourself to the managers
Carry out your pitch inspection point anything out to home team manager
Will you be going with a pre match chat or not?
Be prepared i.e. clean kit
Get team sheet as early as you can
Get a warm up even if it is a light jog
Be ready for anything from you blow whistle
Be confident, be calm and enjoy yourself!

For match cards leave in dressing room so if it rains they don't get soaked....note number and initials of offender...check match card when you get back inside and if they don't match talk to appropriate manager. If they say Mickey Mouse then it's number 10 Mickey Mouse when you see it isn't on the match card confirm id with manager and then report what he said i.e. false name.
 
I'd echo all of the above, especially the one about getting there early. I aim for 45 minutes before if I know the ground and the teams and an hour if I don't. That means you have plenty of time to do everything you need to do before the match and won't feel rushed. You'll feel much better once the game gets going if you've had good time to prepare, collect your thoughts, check you're happy with team sheets etc.

With team sheets, if you have them then I just jot the number down when doing cards and then cross check after the game. If you don't get one, then take the names as well and then speak to managers afterwards to confirm details.

The other thing is do things in a way that you feel comfortable with. At grounds with multiple matches, you might see other referees rock up 30 minutes before the game and stay in the changing room until 5 mins before KO. Don't let what other referees do influence what you do. Just because some other ref is happy to ignore their duties doesn't mean you should as well! I know when I first started refereeing I felt stupid for doing everything by the book, but the book is the book for a reason!

And most importantly, enjoy it. You're giving up spare time to do this, so referee every game with a smile on your face and have a good time doing it!

Good luck!
 
Hiya @Tom Gibbins - Welcome, a fellow Essex ref, where about in Essex are you based? be good to sign you up to a RA Society.

@A Freethinker has covered most things ... just to re-cap a few points:

Smartly dressed - 95% of the games you are going to be covering will be park/council pitches and no/rubbish changing rooms - go with your kit under a smart tracksuit

45 minutes - 1hour is great, it gives you that extra time to sort any issues

Most of the matches won't have team sheets, which unfortunately means more writing during the game!

Pitch inspections I very important, anyting from dog mess on the pitch to not enough pegs in the nets - all of this is down to the HOME manager to sort out once you've brought it to his attention - once he says he has 'done it' check it again, even if it takes 3 attempts - best to have a safe/appropriate pitch and a peeved manager than a hole in the net and trying to decide if it is a goal or a goal kick!!

Best of luck!
 
Clear instructions to CARs and be positive.If you look confident players will accept your decisions, but if you show you are not sure they then sense weakness and will start to play up. As I said in a different thread it is really good to get some AR as it gives you an oppurtunity to observe and to work as a team. If you end up doing youth football you will never get a team sheet so always make a note of the shirt number
 
Welcome to the forum, Tom.

Just to reiterate what the chaps have said, but especially Charlie - starting out, you'll be very lucky if you have changing rooms or even a toilet to use - most of the games I've reffed have been like this, it's my first season too - and the same thing with team sheets, only in youth football have I ever been given a team sheet, and even then I prefer to write everything in anew during the game.

Personally, I aim to get there 45 minutes before - if there's no changing rooms, or no sheltered area - it's pretty chilly to be stood there or warming up for that long prior to KO. Introduce yourself, check the pitch, then do the inspections - if you need to do them.

Don't be worried at all about being nervous, this is something entirely new, so it's completely natural. You're not the first ref to feel nervous and you certainly won't be the last - you will get shouts etc. from players and it does take a bit of getting used to - but try to be confident and decisive in your decision making. That's something I learnt very quickly, mostly from the lovely people around here, that if you're quick and confident in your signals, players will be much more accepting.

Of course, if you need anything or require advice then see your mentor, but otherwise, as a fellow newbie, I've found this forum to be incredibly helpful (and cathartic).

Best of luck, mate.

D
 
The other thing I'd add is about how you approach refereeing. I really struggled when I started out as a referee because I felt the need to deal with every single objection to a decision, and acted too much like a disciplinarian. I later realised that so many of the bad tempered games were being made worse because my refereeing style was antagonising the players. That's the reason why I gave the advice about refereeing with a smile on your face, because if you have a positive attitude it'll generally make your job alot easier.

So when a player says 'Oh come on ref, he's won the ball' for the first time, it's perfectly ok to ignore it, or crack a joke, or just give the player a polite smile back. Obviously if it becomes constant or abusive then you can escalate, but my enjoyment of games and refereeing performance increased markedly when I learnt to not leave my sense of humour and fun in the changing room!
 
guys, thank you so much for your tips, very helpful!

I have just got an email and a date for my first game in a couple of weeks :)
Got the slight issue that my local FA only have 4 exam dates in April so might not be able to get my 5 games done before the date, i will have to see if there are any other local games around my area i can take part in to build my games up fairly soon. Otherwise i will have to see if theres a way of booking a unit 6 exam at another time, but looks as if they are set dates.

Thank you guys, much appreciated
 
hello tom welcome to a great forum, there are loads of experienced and less experienced refs on here happy to help and remember the only daft question is the one you are worried about but dont ask
 
Tom, the fact that you are posting questions here and have been to watch a match in the league you'll be doing means you will be better prepared than 95% of new referees.
 
Cool thanks @martin avis

That's good to know, i was thinking there was a deadline as my county only set out a few dates. I didn't want to commit to a league whilst i had to work numerous weekends due to an office move, it would have been unfair to keep cancelling on the league but im available now and got my first match on 12th March, looking forward to it.
 
Be confident and dont dwell on anything until after the game. If you are thinking about the decision you just gave you are more than likely to make a mistake in your next decision
 
Hi guys

So i had my first game yesterday and i will be brutally honest, it didn't go well at all.

I think i performed every cardinal sin there is to refereeing. All was going ok for first 10-15 minutes but then i give a couple of decisions that one team did not agree with and started getting some flack. It all started from me giving a goal kick, in all honesty i couldn't see who touched it last so went with the decision for the defending team., i put that one down to positioning, i was fairly close but the wrong side to see it properly.

My biggest problems was the offside decisons and i think this was what initially angered both sides. I did find it tough as this league puts faith in club assistant referees and i just did not trust them to be honest and from then on self doubt just kicked in, i felt nervous whenever a suspicion of offside come up. It got to the point where one was too close to call and i didn't want to trust the linesman so let it go, which really angered the defending team (despite being 3-0 up at the time).
The goalkeeper was time wasting for the team winning, i stopped my watch as a few times the ball was kicked quite far away so it took a while. I did warn him the second time of wasting and stopped my watch for each goal kick as the team that were losing were questioning it.
After this i think i really went into my shell when people on the touchline were shouting "handball" at every touch, "red card" after every tackle and shouting something opposite to every decision i made. The biggest issue in my opinion, and its horrible to admit was that i looked defeated and it showed to the players, i feel terrible but i just couldn't wait for the game to end. It was a one sided 6-0 win and i still feel i had no control over the match.

The losing team moaned i did not give one free kick to them in the game, however i honestly don't think they competed. They had a very bizarre attitude to the game. It kicked off at 11am, they were just about dressed a few minutes before kick off time as they arrived late and the opposition were ready to kick off and none of the goals had been set up. So i chased them up to get a move on, inspected the pitch long before they set up and then i checked the goals so we could get on with the game. Ever since kick off the players were asking me how long left, the first time they asked was after 9 minutes which goes to show they didnt want to be there...
They complained i never gave them any free kicks but in all honesty they didn't even go in for one tackle or one 50/50 all game, they went through the motions so i had nothing to give in my opinion, it was a pretty clean game of football.

My biggest mistake was near the end, i give a penalty. I stand by my decision, the losing team were furios but he come in from the side as a last ditch tackle and clipped the leg. According to law it should have been a yellow card now i play it back as there was a genuine attempt to play the ball but i decided to keep my cards in my pocket (another mistake) but i felt at the time the damage was done and didn't need to hand a card out and let things boil over. I know this is wrong, and to be honest it has played on my mind all day and night, i have really found it tough as i didn't give a good account of myself.

I think the only true positive for me is that the first game i went through, near enough most things you can do wrong when it comes to match control i did, so can only learn from that. I think my positioning needs to be better but most importantly i need to be a hell of a lot more assertive, naturally i am a quiet bloke but i need to stand up more and after the first few complaints i should really have warned the players and stamped my mark on the match. It really is true where everyone watches a game of football and thinks they are the ref with their opinions but it is so much harder out there, you really are on your own and self doubt can kick in when so many others are not in agreement with you, you can start to question yourself.

I do apologise for the essay, but i had to get out, i think its easier to admit it on a forum then face to face with those i know personally.:)
 
Ok let's start with the Positives Points -
You did your first game - massive achievement to stand in the middle and be ridiculed by those around you so well done.
You made decisions and you weren't afraid to give them - well done
You gave a penalty massive KMI - well done
You tried to manage the game rather than flash cards - well done
You didn't let the side line influence your decisions - well done
You recognise where some of your weaknesses are and will be able to change your mind set next time - well done

Learning Points
You recognise you were maybe too lenient
You recognise your positioning needs to be better for future matches
You need to be more confident
You don't always need to card when you give a penalty, you say this was nailed on but f you were managing the game not using the cards, then I would say you were correct in not giving it in this instance as it would have elevated an already tense situation

Overall I would say a job well down learn from it and be more positive next week, don't be so hard on yourself. Good luck with your next game.
 
Hi Tom, welcome to the third team! Don't be too hard on yourself, we've all been through it.
From personal experience, anyone who thinks they had a great first game is probably either wrong or kidding themselves. Did you have anyone from the league present at the game? Round here they try to get someone to watch so that if it does go horribly wrong (and not for a second am I saying that your game did) then they are there to pick up the pieces. If there was no one there then that's pretty poor.
As far as I remember my first game was awful, but I got better (at least, I think so!). I believe I actually called for an offside, before remembering that I was meant to blow the whistle! I think that told the players it was my first game!
When you call the captains in for the coin toss, blow the whistle really firmly. That sets the scene because it's the first impression they have of you as a referee. If you stride out to the middle rather than strolling out looking like you don't want to be there that does the same thing.
If you're 5'6" try to look 6'. It's easier for me being 6'5" and built like the proverbial, but we can all make ourselves look bigger.
As far as going into your shell goes, we all go through that occasionally. When you feel it happening, make all signals, shouts, whistles etc much louder / sharper. That makes you look more confident even though you don't feel it. Also, hold signals for longer, because a quick point in one direction before dropping the arm looks uncertain. Stand still before signalling, because that looks smarter and therefore more confident.
The other thing is, slow the game down as much as possible. If the game appears to be getting away from you then giving every free kick going for every knock however minor can help regain match control, even though that's counter-intuitive because you want it to end as quickly as possible. It tells the players that you're in charge. If there's a heavy tackle then take time to talk to the player, making sure to take him somewhere neutral to do so.
Every team generally has a player who is louder / nastier than the rest. Try to spot him and get him in the book. He will generally be the loudest one giving you most grief. Then he has to watch his step because one mis-timed tackle could see him off, so he is less likely to keep going, although he's probably used to being sent off.
Unfortunately, players are like sharks and smell what they perceive as fear. If you're uncertain and aren't dealing with them then they will keep going, and it will get louder. The way to deal with it is to be strong.
Even though you think there weren't many positives, there will have been more than you think. Focus on those, and try to remember things you did well rather than things people said you did wrongly. If you look back at things you got grief for, it was probably right and it was just them moaning that makes you think it was wrong.
Well done for getting the first game out of the way. It gets easier from here, at least until you do it again!
 
first of all @Tom Gibbins - well done for game one! everyone starts here ... I believe even Mark Clattenberg once had a game number one! :eek:

I'm not going to sit here and tell you the same stuff everyone else has said ... you already know everyone on this forum has been in your shoes etc. and you know we all congratulate you getting out there ... big old world isn't it? scary? hmmm I still get nervous going out on a Sunday on my own, it is a lonely world mate - but push through all that and you'll find yourself out with NAR's every week in a nice set up stadium.

one thing i'll pick up on ... it was your first game, don't start off being the ref that over rules his CAR's all the time - nail the basics, work on the tricky bits.

even now I give every offside to the CAR's, right up until I have had 2-3 moans from the attacking team - that's when i'll start to get into a better position and maybe over rule him/her.

out of interest how did you over rule the CAR? ... always do it in a nice thumbs up and a loud 'thank you Pete (other names are available)'
 
Thanks guys, appreciate the tips

@Charlie Jones i only overruled one decision, but admittedly i just played on rather than being more vocal which does make more sense. Its a tough one, the offsides were probably the part i found hardest as it just appears difficult to see play from behind. Looking back, i think maybe i should have just trusted every offside decisions and given them due to my limited experience. I think its being authorative and just making the decision, coming in from behind play i honestly couldn't tell whether it was offside or not, maybe i was too central to play and should have come wider so i could look across. Next time i think i will go with the majority of their decisions unless its obvious whilst i work on the rest of the game
 
As in say @Tom Gibbins ... if the players are actually contesting the decision (every attacker will do the 'never was that offside@ etc. but if it is quite vocal and insistant then still give it, but say you'll keep an eye - and then do for the enxt 2 or 3 opportunities, maybe over rule one as a bit of a 'showing your watching' (unless it 100% isn't offside obv lol)
 
Tom Gibbins said:
Thanks guys, appreciate the tips

@Charlie Jones i only overruled one decision, but admittedly i just played on rather than being more vocal which does make more sense. Its a tough one, the offsides were probably the part i found hardest as it just appears difficult to see play from behind. Looking back, i think maybe i should have just trusted every offside decisions and given them due to my limited experience. I think its being authorative and just making the decision, coming in from behind play i honestly couldn't tell whether it was offside or not, maybe i was too central to play and should have come wider so i could look across. Next time i think i will go with the majority of their decisions unless its obvious whilst i work on the rest of the game
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that's a sensible approach. You'll have players moaning about every offside even if obvious, so I wouldn't worry too much about players moaning meaning that the AR is wrong to start with. You have other stuff to get comfortable with and to be honest the flag basically means a freebie. If it's blatantly wrong you will hopefully see it, but if you don't then you have the flag to take the grief away from you.
If you do over-rule then try to remember to thank the AR.

A few years ago I had a Saturday off so went to watch some mates playing. The teams have to appoint a CAR, which is never popular, so I said I'd do it. (a bus-man's holiday!) The away centre forward didn't have a clue about offside and was frequently 10 yards off, but still moaned about every one, shouting across at me every time even though he was usually the only player in the half apart from the goalkeeper. In the second half the team manager came to stand directly behind me, obviously because the player had told him to "keep an eye on the lino, he's cheating!" After the second blatant offside of the half I looked at the manager as the player again shouted at me, at which the manager shouted back at him to "shut up! He's right, now stay onside!" After that the player shut up

Don't worry about players moaning about decisions. They're trying to get under your skin to make you think it would be easier / less painful to give a decision against them so that next time you'll think before penalising them.
 
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