The Ref Stop

Pre match brief in centre circle

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The Ref Stop
HoofItYouDonkey said:
As I said, it's rare to get support from a captain. The Laws and Sanctions are the way to control the game.
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I guess it depends on the league, and team etc.

I’ve found that on a Sunday morning and Ladies football most captains are about as much use to me as the referee as tits on fish.

But, I’ve found that on a Saturday afternoon the captains are generally more useful. And when I have used them they have appreciated being involved.
 
I tend to say a little more than most here.

Something along the lines of thanking them for volunteering as captain, "What I need from you guys is to make sure your players listen to and understand what I'm saying. If I'm asking them to calm down or be quiet, it's your job to make sure they do so, otherwise I'll have to use my cards to get the message across" and that I don't mind explaining decisions, but we need to keep it at the volume/level we're talking at this point. Then toss the coin.
 
"work with me fellas, I'll talk to you all game so talk to me, just sure it is talking like this not yelling from a distance. If any players start getting out of hands get hold of them before I get hold of the and the cards will stay away. If I call you in it is to help, please don't add fuel to the fire if I do".

I think the last bit is important, as nothing worse than calling a captain in only for him to back the player you want to talk to. At least I can then say that I did warn them as I pull the yellow out after they don't co-operate.
 
Men in Black said:
Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere but I was wondering if anyone had a specific brief they give the captains in centre circle b4 kick off during coin toss.

I have made a bit of pigs ear of it until now, I almost get a little tongue tied i think partly to the fact that I don’t have a regular speach to read I sort of make it up on the spot.

The one thing I do stress is dissent and my zero tolerance but I’d actually like a confident clear message to give them, I listened to both refs over the wknd & still I’m unsure of what & how much I need to say.

Could anyone share there pre match brief..
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Nope, tried that, didn't work stopped doing it.
 
Mine’s very much like Rusty’s. I’ve found at L4, most captains can be relied upon not to be numpties and are willing to help. So I set out a couple of points, but keep each one short - no rambling. I’ll introduce myself and my NARs, then something along the lines of:

Right guys, I won’t give you a long lecture, but you know your players better than I do, so do your bit to help them out. If I’m calling you in, it’s for a reason, so don’t just back them to the hilt. Talk to me in the right way and I’ll always talk to you. So lead by example and let’s have a good game.
 
I’d be very wary of stating my approach to anything like dissent and particularly a zero tolerance - you’re just making a rod for your own back.

Because the first free kick you give, you can guarantee that at the very least, someone will say ‘what?’ as soon as you whistle. Is that dissent? A zero tolerance approach says yes. And if you don’t caution that, someone from the opposite team will pipe up “oi ref, thought you were zero tolerance?”. Is that dissent?

Why would you put your own match control needlessly under scrutiny so early?
 
Middleman said:
I’d be very wary of stating my approach to anything like dissent and particularly a zero tolerance - you’re just making a rod for your own back.

Because the first free kick you give, you can guarantee that at the very least, someone will say ‘what?’ as soon as you whistle. Is that dissent? A zero tolerance approach says yes. And if you don’t caution that, someone from the opposite team will pipe up “oi ref, thought you were zero tolerance?”. Is that dissent?

Why would you put your own match control needlessly under scrutiny so early?
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Sorry I meant zero tolerance on swearing or anything that crosses the line, infact I’ve never actually used zero tolerance so not sure why I used that as an example.
 
Men in Black said:
Sorry I meant zero tolerance on swearing or anything that crosses the line, infact I’ve never actually used zero tolerance so not sure why I used that as an example.
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Can I ask then based on that, every swear word you hear is a red card?
If not then either you are reffing in the local mute league, or, your zero tolerance stance is not really zero tolerance?
 
Men in Black said:
Sorry I meant zero tolerance on swearing or anything that crosses the line, infact I’ve never actually used zero tolerance so not sure why I used that as an example.
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Personally I don’t tell them anything like that.

The captains aren’t going to go off and tell their team not to swear. But what are you going to do if a player scuffs a shot in the second minute and swears at himself?

You’ve told them you won’t accept swearing, so you either bin him for offinabus, or you have the other team getting on your back.

Either way you can kiss your match control good bye. And if you don’t bin him you’ll have trouble trying to sell the decision if you need to bin someone for offinabus later on in the game.


Just go out and do your thing; players will soon learn what you will and won’t accept
 
Ciley Myrus said:
Can I ask then based on that, every swear word you hear is a red card?
If not then either you are reffing in the local mute league, or, your zero tolerance stance is not really zero tolerance?
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Don’t get picky it’s all fantasy remember ;)
 
zarathustra said:
Personally I don’t tell them anything like that.

The captains aren’t going to go off and tell their team not to swear. But what are you going to do if a player scuffs a shot in the second minute and swears at himself?

You’ve told them you won’t accept swearing, so you either bin him for offinabus, or you have the other team getting on your back.

Either way you can kiss your match control good bye. And if you don’t bin him you’ll have trouble trying to sell the decision if you need to bin someone for offinabus later on in the game.


Just go out and do your thing; players will soon learn what you will and won’t accept
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No not swearing in general, swearing at me directly or indirectly, forget I mentioned it honestly.

I’ve given one yellow for dissent in 20 games & im currently on 7 Games in a row without a card so I’ll carry on with my approach until that changes.
 
Ciley Myrus said:
Am curious as to your zero tolerance approach to swearing.
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I worded it incorrectly, of course i allow swearing on the field of play, anything aimed directly or indirectly at me is a problem.

That’s the problem with trying to work and write on forums the two don’t go hand in hand, I’ll be in the garden over the weekend I’ll write a lovely novel for you then.
 
I mention one or two pleasantries (meteorological conditions, Brexit latest, that sort of thing). Exchange first names and crack on. Anything else you say will be taken down as evidence and may be held against you
 
Men in Black said:
Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere but I was wondering if anyone had a specific brief they give the captains in centre circle b4 kick off during coin toss.

I have made a bit of pigs ear of it until now, I almost get a little tongue tied i think partly to the fact that I don’t have a regular speach to read I sort of make it up on the spot.

The one thing I do stress is dissent and my zero tolerance but I’d actually like a confident clear message to give them, I listened to both refs over the wknd & still I’m unsure of what & how much I need to say.

Could anyone share there pre match brief..
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This is a good question.

1) Don't back yourself into a corner. Don't say 'I won't put up with X or Y'. Because nothing's black and white and you almost certainly not exercise zero tolerance.....a great way to undermine yourself is to say that you're going to pull up all shirt pulling, then the first instance where there's a bit of a handful of shirt but not actually affecting anybody you'll hear about it - and rightly so!
2) Don't lecture on the laws. They know that can't hit, kick, trip, spit, elbow, blah blah blah. They know to play the whistle and not backtrack. And they're either going to abide by the laws or break them no matter what you say. I've seen lectures go on for 2 minutes or more. I've had games where by the end of the lecture I was left thinking that the ref was a total knobhead - can't imagine what the players thought!

If it's just the captains come in, smile, introduce myself and my AR's. Maybe a tiny bit of small talk....'man it's freezing....well I won't keep you, John, you're away, heads or tails?' The only thing I'll say is along the lines of 'you two are the captains for a reason. If your lads start to cross the line then look after them before I have to - because you don't want me having to take care of them'. Then if I do ask the captain for help I'll just say 'Before the match I asked you to look after your players before they cross the line, now I'm asking for your help keeping him on the field, because he's pushing the line but if he says anything further, he's going to talk himself into his second yellow'.

If it's a junior game and both teams come into the middle I won't even bother with that. "All the best today guys - I'm not going to lecture you on the laws, you all know how to play the game so let's get it going"

If it's preseason I'll discuss any notable law changes, or directives affecting how we approach the game. i figure education benefits everyone, myself included.

If there's anything particular to point out, I'll say so. On a field with multiple lines? "Make sure you go by the white lines, not the black lines. If you take a throw from the wrong line - or keeper carries it out of the box - then there's nothing I can do to help you". If it's juniors or low grade adults and it's a real slippery pitch I might say something about it's their responsibility to make sure they're going into tackles safely. Accidents happen but you need to take the wet ground into consideration (I like to say that only because I know some refs who outlaw slide tackles in wet weather!!!). All I'm doing is highlighting something unusual. Warm weather? I'll mention drinks breaks.

If it's a big game, winner takes first place, that sort of thing, I personally don't like to highlight that because for all I know the players have been trying not to think about it.

My area has a weird requirement that after the coin toss, ARs go and check the flags and the referee goes over and talks to the 2 managers......expectations around subs, only 1 standing in the technical area, that sort of thing. I always think it's stupid, but we're told we have to. So we do. You can tell after a few weeks they've heard it all before, so I sympathise - 'I know you hear it every week but you know we have to say it anyway!'



Let your whistle and your decisions set the standard. Not some prematch rambling on.

tl;dr don't bother with anything more than a smile and an introduction. Prematch lectures change nothing and can make you sound foolish very easily. Maybe just highlight anything unusual about that game. Don't try to tell them you have zero tolerance on this or that - because you don't, and you've lost all authority the first time somebody does it and you don't pull them up/send them off
 
Proves me well and truly wrong I thought it was an important part of pre match obviously not
 
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