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Round red cards

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Having a wallet with both yellow and red card in is risky if both cards are visible. A player might see the red side and over react or see the yellow side, think they are safe and then go ballistic when you produce the red.

I was on the line for a Conference game once where there was a shocker of a tackle not far from the benches. I flagged as though I was bringing a plane down but then saw the red in the referee's hand. He then wrote the name down and pulled the yellow out from the other side of the book and all hell broke loose. Had I not seen the flash of red I would have hammered on the buzzer to get him over to talk to me and could have got him out of a hole. Ever since then if I use a wallet it won't have cards in it, I'll do the admin then pull the yellow from left front pocket or red from back right pocket.
 
RustyRef said:
Having a wallet with both yellow and red card in is risky if both cards are visible. A player might see the red side and over react or see the yellow side, think they are safe and then go ballistic when you produce the red.

I was on the line for a Conference game once where there was a shocker of a tackle not far from the benches. I flagged as though I was bringing a plane down but then saw the red in the referee's hand. He then wrote the name down and pulled the yellow out from the other side of the book and all hell broke loose. Had I not seen the flash of red I would have hammered on the buzzer to get him over to talk to me and could have got him out of a hole. Ever since then if I use a wallet it won't have cards in it, I'll do the admin then pull the yellow from left front pocket or red from back right pocket.
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Very interesting. I've always had my red in my back pocket (I think that's what we were told at my course, although that was a while ago so can't remember 100%), in order to use it quickly to potentially de-escalate a situation. I've still kept my yellow in the wallet in the top left breast pocket. I also like the card skins. Do you recommend keeping the cards separate like you said and writing everything out before I show the card?
 
Rowanmano said:
Could anyone advise me where I could buy a set of red and yellow cards that will last me a long time thanks
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I've just bought some from A&H International just because I know exactly what they look like and they should last a while, but there are a lot on other websites too
 
alexv said:
Very interesting. I've always had my red in my back pocket (I think that's what we were told at my course, although that was a while ago so can't remember 100%), in order to use it quickly to potentially de-escalate a situation. I've still kept my yellow in the wallet in the top left breast pocket. I also like the card skins. Do you recommend keeping the cards separate like you said and writing everything out before I show the card?
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Yes, absolutely. Write the details, put the wallet away then pull the card. You don't want anyone to have any visibility of a card that isn't going to be shown.
 
RustyRef said:
Yes, absolutely. Write the details, put the wallet away then pull the card. You don't want anyone to have any visibility of a card that isn't going to be shown.
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Great advice, definitely gonna try that out when I can!
 
RustyRef said:
Having a wallet with both yellow and red card in is risky if both cards are visible. A player might see the red side and over react or see the yellow side, think they are safe and then go ballistic when you produce the red.

I was on the line for a Conference game once where there was a shocker of a tackle not far from the benches. I flagged as though I was bringing a plane down but then saw the red in the referee's hand. He then wrote the name down and pulled the yellow out from the other side of the book and all hell broke loose. Had I not seen the flash of red I would have hammered on the buzzer to get him over to talk to me and could have got him out of a hole. Ever since then if I use a wallet it won't have cards in it, I'll do the admin then pull the yellow from left front pocket or red from back right pocket.
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I have the cards in the same pocket. I always think there's a chance of them coming out of the side pockets of my shorts.

I find that cards in my pockets are easier in really cold weather (there's a few bits of metal in 2 of my fingers due to cricket injuries).
 
Pulling cards out of a wallet, particularly if you're stepping backwards during a mass confrontation, is risky (and slow). I have a match report card in a shirt pocket with two of Ross's clip pencils attached (names taken there) a yellow in the other top pocket and a red in a back pocket. I don't carry spares, they're in my bag by the side of the pitch. Works for me.
 
RustyRef said:
Having a wallet with both yellow and red card in is risky if both cards are visible. A player might see the red side and over react or see the yellow side, think they are safe and then go ballistic when you produce the red.

Both my wallet cards are together in the outer sleeve of my notebook. No chance of "confusion". :)

I flagged as though I was bringing a plane down but then saw the red in the referee's hand. He then wrote the name down and pulled the yellow out from the other side of the book and all hell broke loose.
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That's my point tbh. You don't pull out the card then do the name stuff. Follow the protocol and it'll all work as it should (?) :)
 
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alexv said:
Very interesting. I've always had my red in my back pocket (I think that's what we were told at my course, although that was a while ago so can't remember 100%), in order to use it quickly to potentially de-escalate a situation. I've still kept my yellow in the wallet in the top left breast pocket. I also like the card skins. Do you recommend keeping the cards separate like you said and writing everything out before I show the card?
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I'm surprised you were taught to have your cards ready to "flash" like that Alex, no matter what the situation - especially at our level.

In my experience it doesn't matter how quickly you flash your card, if the players are going to kick off over a challenge or your decision over a challenge then they'll kick off. If nothing else, doing the process properly, (ie whistle blast, isolate player, take name/number, explain what you've seen and your decision - then show the card) gives everybody time to calm down and after a flash point, emphasises that you are in calm control.

Sprinting over to an incident/whatever and flashing a card immediately not only indicates to the players that you're "caught up in the drama" but can be seen as "reactive" in the same sense as they are. For nasty challenges etc. I generally use the pitch and tone of my whistle blast to indicate how seriously I view it.

Having said all that, each of us is different and you need to do what works for you. There's other experienced referees on here that clearly think the same way you do so best of luck to you. ;) :cool:
 
RustyRef said:
Yes, absolutely. Write the details, put the wallet away then pull the card. You don't want anyone to have any visibility of a card that isn't going to be shown.
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Always had the yellow card in the match wallet, so this was the only card they saw. Easy sell for the caution. If a red was needed, then a step backward and produced from the back pocket.

I also took an extra set in the chest pocket for when a two.card trick was required.

You should never fumble around your match wallet for the cards, as you may be distracted then a flairup may occur.
 
lincs22 said:
I also took an extra set in the chest pocket for when a two.card trick was required.
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That's the best idea I've heard in the discussion, although I think everyone (me included) except @Kes is overthinking this one
Coincidentally, I had two S7's last night, but the minor delay as i foraged in two pockets went unnoticed!
I did however drop my pen in the excitement, which left me feeling naked when I next reached for it :egg: :oops:
 
I have my yellow in my shorts right. Red in front left. Yellow and red to show a second yellow in top left and notebook with yellow in top right works fine for me. Don’t have anything in the back pocket as it just seems to fiddly to have anything in the back.
 
Rowanmano said:
I have my yellow in my shorts right. Red in front left. Yellow and red to show a second yellow in top left and notebook with yellow in top right works fine for me. Don’t have anything in the back pocket as it just seems to fiddly to have anything in the back.
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That's right. And nothing left. Or did I get that back to front? :)
 
It may seem like a lot but this system works for me as it makes it easier to pull out the quick card if required but to also calm the situation down by taking a bit longer.
 
Yellow with pencil clipped on to it in right shorts pocket, red in the back pocket. When issuing a yellow, card comes out of pocket so clearly visible whats going to happen. Only once has this then been put away and a red issued instead due to the player going bat **** crazy and ending up being sent off for OFFINABUS. Ive found this defuses things quite well, but as with anything, its horses for courses
 
I use a write on yellow card so for yellows the card is out. No surprises. Its a caution. If its red the notebook comes out. Jot the name and then red from right pocket.
I keep my yellow in my top front pocket and a yellow and red in my left pocket for second bookable offences.
Each to their own on this one. It's what works for you.
 
How can you write names on a write on yellow as their seems to be only space to put numbers and unfortunately u can't do that in kids football
 
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