The Ref Stop

Positioning Advice

kje2198

New Member
Has anyone got any advice around positioning.
I have refereed a few games now (mixture of 11v11 and 9v9 as there hasn’t been a large amount of OA games due to off season) and some games I feel I have got it spot on, keeping left and tracking in to have a good angle and proximity if ball is out toward the AR but recently I’ve been doing a few younger age group games and I keep finding myself too close to the play and having to play contortionist to avoid being hit or running into players or too far away when sticking left. Not sure if it’s to do with the pitch size which I imagine isn’t going to help compared to OA matches or something that I continue into the OA and larger size games. Any advice is massively appreciated 🙏🏻
 
The Ref Stop
Small field, 9v9, best place to be is out of the way! Quite understandable if you end up patrolling a touchline for a while. At least what I try to do is to avoid getting stuck in the same area/side too long and e.g. to change sides when there’s a break in play.
 
Just stand back. The more experience you get. The more you'll sort of hover further back, focusing more on the angle and removing uninvolved players from your field of view.

Something I did at the start of the season was stand about 10/15 yards from a throw in. Every so many games a player would charge into my back.

Now I just stand well back.
 
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