On Saturday 7th March 2012, I was appointed for my first game in charge of a ‘real-life’ football match – the boy became a man, refereeing (of a local league Division 4 game) became a reality… In the interests of fair play and, probably more importantly, in an attempt to avoid sounding boring, this blog was never intended to provide a minute by minute post-mortem of a match or individually name teams/players that I take charge of on a Saturday afternoon. A short summary and mention of any contentious decisions is more than enough, so here we go…
Overall, considering this was my first game, I thought things went rather well (I would say that, I’m a referee now) and I enjoyed being out on a football pitch for the first time in 20 years as something other than a player – or substitute! Both teams tried to play football and, in general, managed to decipher the difference between the ball and an opponents ankle. There was only one ‘real’ decision I had to make:
43rd min – home side leading 1-0 – away side have a corner and ‘swing’ it in – ball pops up to away team striker 7 yards from goal – strikes it flush towards goal – ball hits home team defender on the arm (which is raised) 2/3 yards from where the ball is struck – referees position…perfect ; ) – outcome: NO PENALTY.
Needless to say, the away side were not too pleased and I was subsequently given various interpretations of LAW 12 – coincidentally all of which would have resulted in a penalty – I won’t be adding these words of wisdom to my FA course pack. If you are unfamiliar with the handball rule in football – the ball must be handled DELIBERATELY. In this case, the ball struck an opponents arm and, in my opinion, he did not deliberately attempt to handle the ball. If your interested, the home team went on to win 3-1…
Things to work on: Remembering to bring my drink out of the changing rooms, whistle control and working the ‘diagonals’ – if you re a referee, please comment if you have any tips!
This weekend I’ve been appointed a local league Division 3 game – probably means nothing, but I’ll take it as a promotion. Watch out Michael Oliver…
Continue reading...
Overall, considering this was my first game, I thought things went rather well (I would say that, I’m a referee now) and I enjoyed being out on a football pitch for the first time in 20 years as something other than a player – or substitute! Both teams tried to play football and, in general, managed to decipher the difference between the ball and an opponents ankle. There was only one ‘real’ decision I had to make:
43rd min – home side leading 1-0 – away side have a corner and ‘swing’ it in – ball pops up to away team striker 7 yards from goal – strikes it flush towards goal – ball hits home team defender on the arm (which is raised) 2/3 yards from where the ball is struck – referees position…perfect ; ) – outcome: NO PENALTY.
Needless to say, the away side were not too pleased and I was subsequently given various interpretations of LAW 12 – coincidentally all of which would have resulted in a penalty – I won’t be adding these words of wisdom to my FA course pack. If you are unfamiliar with the handball rule in football – the ball must be handled DELIBERATELY. In this case, the ball struck an opponents arm and, in my opinion, he did not deliberately attempt to handle the ball. If your interested, the home team went on to win 3-1…
Things to work on: Remembering to bring my drink out of the changing rooms, whistle control and working the ‘diagonals’ – if you re a referee, please comment if you have any tips!
This weekend I’ve been appointed a local league Division 3 game – probably means nothing, but I’ll take it as a promotion. Watch out Michael Oliver…
Continue reading...
