The Ref Stop

Shirt tucked in

Dirty boots big no no. If i'm doing 2 games I use a boot buddy to try and clear them up. Shirt and shorts always ironed. Socks always pulled up. I ref with my shirt untucked. If in a team of three and I am on the line I will mirror the ref. If I am the ref I let my assistants choose. I think you should be as comfortable as you can which gives you confidence. If you go out feeling self concious you are not focused as much. By the way my body type is more Mo Farrah than Geoff Capes.
 
The Ref Stop
Remember that as observers we are deciding if referees are ready for the next level, but also making sure they are ready and prepared for that next level. As I said, at Level 4 and above you will rarely if ever see a referee with his shirt untucked, so it would be remiss of observers not to point this out. That doesn't mean that they get a lower grade as a result of it, it can be mentioned without having to go to that level.

At level 4 they will be working most games with level 3 referees, these guys will have worked hard to get to that level and will have coaches / mentors. I know from experience that they will preach the mantra first impression and appearance matters, and the majority of them would tell (not ask) an assistant to tuck his shirt in. It goes much further, they often try to make sure all officials have the same kit, sometimes provide warm up tops so that all three look uniform, all having socks either fully up or rolled down in the warm up, I've even been asked in the past to wear a certain coloured shirt and tie so that we all look the same (that is going too far in my opinion). I don't mind admitting that when I was a L3 if I asked an assistant to tuck in his shirt and he refused I'd be reporting that to the FA. It never happened, but at the end of the day it was my club marks that would get affected by him looking sloppy, not his as the clubs only mark the referees.
 
Shirt tucked in. Why on earth would any referee think its acceptable not to!
Standards should be uniform, across the board
 
CapnBloodbeard said:
Fashion preferences? Give me a break. Looking professional is important. So yes, looking professional matters. Couldn't give a stuff about your fashion preferences - but you're wearing a uniform.


I've never seen a referee wear their shirt untucked (except for quite overweight ones who can't tuck their shirt in). As an assessor that would most definitely lose marks. It just represents the entire job poorly. And yes, that is most definitely the sort of thing people talk about - especially if they're walking away talking complaining about a perceived lack of professionalism/experience, following that up by saying the ref was a slob who couldn't even dress themselves properly does get said. I've heard it myself. That doesn't change at any level.

First impressions matter - and looking like you don't even care enough about the game to dress properly gets you off to a bad start, and reflects upon all of us.
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Have to disagree completely.......you have no idea how good bad or indifferent I was as a referee, but your willing to state that because I have my shirt out its unprofessional. I have a fire service background and can assure you I can "tuck the shirt in" when I need to. At my level on a footie pitch, there is never a need to! Even when I was assigned a cup final, the shirt stayed out.....perhaps the East Riding is more forward thinking than we ever thought!
 
We all have diff abilities, attitudes, fitness levels etc

But the one thing we can all have is standards

I would walk away at ht from a ref i was watching if he had his shirt out, and i would tell him why also

If that makes me a bad person, am fine with that, am happy to uphold standardsl
 
RustyRef said:
Remember that as observers we are deciding if referees are ready for the next level, but also making sure they are ready and prepared for that next level. As I said, at Level 4 and above you will rarely if ever see a referee with his shirt untucked, so it would be remiss of observers not to point this out. That doesn't mean that they get a lower grade as a result of it, it can be mentioned without having to go to that level.

At level 4 they will be working most games with level 3 referees, these guys will have worked hard to get to that level and will have coaches / mentors. I know from experience that they will preach the mantra first impression and appearance matters, and the majority of them would tell (not ask) an assistant to tuck his shirt in. It goes much further, they often try to make sure all officials have the same kit, sometimes provide warm up tops so that all three look uniform, all having socks either fully up or rolled down in the warm up, I've even been asked in the past to wear a certain coloured shirt and tie so that we all look the same (that is going too far in my opinion). I don't mind admitting that when I was a L3 if I asked an assistant to tuck in his shirt and he refused I'd be reporting that to the FA. It never happened, but at the end of the day it was my club marks that would get affected by him looking sloppy, not his as the clubs only mark the referees.
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So the truth comes out yet again Rusty, the ubiquitous "club marks". It really is time to design a new system, maybe we could ask the crowd to vote by phone and make some more dosh for the FA at the same time........Can I patent or claim intellectual rights for this one?
 
Seems they are making these personal preferred competencies up as they go along Minty!! :cool: You let it all hang out pal!!
 
I'm just telling it as it is. As I said before I don't give a hoot if a referee at grass roots has his shirt untucked, but it won't be accepted once you get to level 4 and above. If you don't believe me go and watch some contrib games and tell me how many officials you see looking like that - the answer will be none.
 
When "we" go on that field, we are Webb, Clattenburg, Collinia, whoever we are
Same as every player is Pele, Ronaldo, Messi...

Still to see our elite looking like tramps
 
It’s a level thing Kylie? The Dog and Duck isn’t expecting Collina, yes, I agree that up the levels their is an expectation but when your a bit long in the tooth it truly doesn’t matter at the sharp end whether your shirts in. In my experience they’ll be shocked if you don’t expect a few Industrial words with some of your perfectly correct decisions in law. They don’t know the laws so you knowing a few is a bonus! Bigger problems to worry about than a shirt tucked in from my recollection
 
I think they they thought I was a lot of things, usually beginning with a C...But I don't ever remember being compared to Collina!!
 
Mintyref said:
Have to disagree completely.......you have no idea how good bad or indifferent I was as a referee, but your willing to state that because I have my shirt out its unprofessional. I have a fire service background and can assure you I can "tuck the shirt in" when I need to. At my level on a footie pitch, there is never a need to! Even when I was assigned a cup final, the shirt stayed out.....perhaps the East Riding is more forward thinking than we ever thought!
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Yes, you look unprofessional with your shirt untucked. I have no problems with saying that.

Cor blimey, can't believe you poms need the convicts to tell you how to dress yourselves!!!:cool:
 
Dress standards have moved on from 20 or even ten years ago. One of the directives to Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games volunteers is "Do NOT tuck your shirt in". Go figure.

I don't have an issue with the shirt in or out as long as it looks okay. But if the shirts is out with the bottom of the shirt touching the thighs, well then yes it does look unprofessional. I go with the accepted convention of tucking it in and not take a risk.
 
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So its a personal fashion preference to call someone unprofessional for not tucking their shirt in then! :devil:

There seems to be a lot of these guesswork assessors around? Old skool or new skool i'm not sure.... Free the Minty One!
 
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It looks unprofessional when you don’t tuck your shirt in, I don’t see how that is so difficult to understand, or why you have a huge chip on your shoulder about observers.

Peoples first impressions are based on how you appear. So if you turn up looking like worzel gummidge then people may (even at grass roots) form a negative opinion of you as a referee
 
one said:
Dress standards have moved on from 20 or even ten years ago. One of the directives to Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games volunteers is "Do NOT tuck your shirt in". Go figure.
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I'm assuming they also don't have a directive to pull socks almost up to their knees? ;-)

Sheffields Finest said:
So its a personal fashion preference to call someone unprofessional for not tucking their shirt in then! :devil:

There seems to be a lot of these guesswork assessors around? Old skool or new skool i'm not sure.... Free the Minty One!
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So you'd have no problem with socks down around the ankles?

A uniform isn't just WHAT you wear but HOW you wear it.
 
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