A&H

Palmers FC Referees

TheRef

New Member
Not sure how many people watch them, but I follow a Essex Sunday League team on Youtube who record all their games and put them online - https://www.youtube.com/PalmersFC.

I've got a couple of questions about some of the refereeing that I see on there.

There's been a few games this season where there has been no referee for the games but it gets played anyway, with the manager from each side refereeing a half each. Is this common down there to play the game anyway if there is no referee? Where I am the game gets postponed if there is no referee available.

The most recent video had me confused as well. Watch from 11:20
. There was a delay at half time so the second half kicked off late. The referee was scheduled to have another match after this one, so he just walks off the pitch with 13 minutes left to play, and is replaced by Troi from Palmers as the game is still going on. Surely this can't be right?

Not trying to get anyone into trouble here but I've never seen anything like this happen before at a game.
 
The Referee Store
Unfortunately, that referee can expect a letter from the CFA about his conduct. Once he starts a match, he is expected to continue unless he become injured. The kick off of the second match should have been delayed or started with an alternative referee.
 
It's fairly common to have a match refereed by a nominated person if no official referee is appointed, especially in the lower divisions of a league. Most leagues have a line in their rules saying something like "A suitable person must be nominated by the home club and agreed by the away team". It's a bit stranger to have each team supply someone for a half each, but I guess the rules allow it if both teams are happy with that arrangement.
 
There have been a few of their videos post on here in recent years.

Standard of football appears poor at best even by Sunday league standards.

The official referees that are appointed to their fixtures appear to turn a blind eye to eye watering nailed on red card challenges! :mad:

As for this video, seriously WTF?!!! Referee walks off whilst play continues and players don't even appear to notice! :eek:
 
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If you think Palmers FC is bad, you want to have a look at SE Dons on Youtube

I could rant for days about so many things that happen on that channel, some refereeing related and some general but every time I watch the videos it gets me so worked up
 
If you think Palmers FC is bad, you want to have a look at SE Dons on Youtube

I could rant for days about so many things that happen on that channel, some refereeing related and some general but every time I watch the videos it gets me so worked up
For the sake of your sanity, stop watching.......see I do well-being advice too! Feeling smug.
 
Covered by rule 13(B) in the FA's Standard Code of Rules (SCoR) that all adult leagues in England below step 7 have to adopt.

In the event of the non-appearance of the appointed Referee the appointed senior Assistant Referee shall take charge and a substitute Assistant Referee appointed by the competing Teams. In cases where there are no officially appointed Assistant Referees, the Clubs shall agree upon a Referee. An individual thus agreed upon shall, for that game, have the full powers, status and authority of a registered Referee. Individuals under the age of 16 must not participate either as a Referee or Assistant Referee in any open age competition.

The key phrase is "the Clubs shall agree upon a referee". The game has to go ahead even if there is no referee.
 
For me "An individual" and "for that game" are also keys. I do half and you do half or someone better / more qualified turn up are not options. The person starting the game should stay until the end unless becoming incapable.
 
Maybe it’s an Essex thing...:ninja:

They do seem to have their fair share of bad tackles etc getting missed/let go.

But, I imagine that if any Grass roots team in any part of the country were to film every single one of their matches you would see similar things with the same regularity.

Before I continue we should remember everyone can have an off day. But, sadly there are also plenty of referees out there who either desperately need to read the current laws of the game, or are just interested in their money so don’t care much about putting the required effort in.
 
Maybe it’s an Essex thing...:ninja:

No need for that! ;)

If I'm honest, I think that while some are genuine errors, I feel as though some refs are unwilling to make the difficult decisions because they know that they'll take a battering on the YouTube comments...
 
I think as well that it's a good example of how varied refereeing can be at the lower levels we all work at. One of the recent videos had my yellow card hand itching about 5 times, but the ref didn't go to his pocket at all. And I referee on leagues that border the one Palmers play in, so these are almost literally my "last week's ref"...
 
No need for that! ;)

If I'm honest, I think that while some are genuine errors, I feel as though some refs are unwilling to make the difficult decisions because they know that they'll take a battering on the YouTube comments...

Possibly, but I personally wouldn’t accept that excuse, and while the comments on their videos are normally full of uninform d rubbish and made by people who don’t know the laws of the game, there have been a few times where I’ve agreed that the referee did ruin the game, either through inaction, or obviously poor decisions.

There was one posted just before Christmas for their reserve team, and the ref was allegedly cautioning players for swearing. Apparently not in a dissent manner but in a try to psyche your team up way.

Obviously you can only go off what the guy narrating says as you can’t hear what was said, but if true then is a prime example of a referee making up his own sanctions.

I.e. if the ref felt the players language was abusive, insulting, or offensive then the only option is a red card. If he didn’t find the language any of the above and it was dissent then he should have let it be, maybe with a quiet word asking the player to keep it down.
 
If you think Palmers FC is bad, you want to have a look at SE Dons on Youtube

I could rant for days about so many things that happen on that channel, some refereeing related and some general but every time I watch the videos it gets me so worked up
SAMEEE!!!! two footed challenge on there last season not even a free kick! Horrific.
 
Late to this one. Having played and ref’d in this league over the years, I can confirm that the attitude and approach by some referees and some (most) players is awful, hence the struggle to find qualified officials. The league used to have approx 100 teams and has seen a significant reduction over the years. The fundemental problem is there just are not enough officials to cover all of the games and rightly most officials move on to a higher standard of league all though still at Step 7 or leave all together due to the abuse and dissatisfaction. However I do not feel this is unique to Essex or in particular Thurrock (were the league is based), I think it is more where demand is high, performance can lack, players and officials alike.
 
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