A&H

Tolerance levels

A

Andy murphy

New Member
Level 5 Referee
Recently I have been issuing 2/3 cards a game. Sometimes more but only 2 reds all season.

I rarely have too many complaints about them but I'm starting to think my tolerance levels are a bit low.

How many are you giving out on a regular basis?
 
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How high is up? How many cards you give is so dependent on the levels of games that trying to find ”normal” is kinda pointless. If you’re doing U12 or below, those numbers mean either you‘re giving too many or there is something shocking about the league. If you’re doing 19U or adults, not too surprising to me, but still depends on the league and behavior. But it can also depend on what you are giving them for. Typically if you are giving too many, you’ll pick up that vibe from the teams.
 
socal lurker said:
How high is up? How many cards you give is so dependent on the levels of games that trying to find ”normal” is kinda pointless. If you’re doing U12 or below, those numbers mean either you‘re giving too many or there is something shocking about the league. If you’re doing 19U or adults, not too surprising to me, but still depends on the league and behavior. But it can also depend on what you are giving them for. Typically if you are giving too many, you’ll pick up that vibe from the teams.
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Adult football. Level 11-13 on the pyramid. Mostly well behaved (could be because of the cards)

Most are for fouls/ Usb. Then things like stopping quick free kicks ect.
 
Andy murphy said:
Adult football. Level 11-13 on the pyramid. Mostly well behaved (could be because of the cards)

Most are for fouls/ Usb. Then things like stopping quick free kicks ect.
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Seems entirely reasonable for that level of football, generally speaking. That said, if you would like it to be lower, then consider whether your 'promising attack' cautions are genuinely promising (at that standard) and maybe be extra proactive when you see players considering "standing on" free kicks
 
Andy murphy said:
How many are you giving out on a regular basis?
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It varies on a seasonal basis. I wouldn't worry too much about the card count as you'll have many factors coming into play, from the type of fixtures you're getting (derbies? Dead rubbers), to the on going experience that lets you manage the game better etc.

If you're going for promotion, I would rely on the observer reports to see if your tolerance levels are low. In my experience, observers will tell you if you're missing caution offences and will equally tell you if you're being too fussy with the cards.

For what it's worth my highest count is 4.5 yellows on average, back in 2019. ;)
 
Russell Jones said:
Seems entirely reasonable for that level of football, generally speaking. That said, if you would like it to be lower, then consider whether your 'promising attack' cautions are genuinely promising (at that standard) and maybe be extra proactive when you see players considering "standing on" free kicks
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I try to be as proactive as possible and today I had 3 cautions. One for spa one for a reckless tackle and one for simulation. I probably could have had 2 more for 2 borderline tackles but was able to get away with calling the captain in for a obvious talking to.
 
My games in my signature are a combined Step 6/7 and whatever Sunday league is considered.

I have had more sin bins this year than previous, though I am in a new county which has had an affect.
 
RobOda said:
It varies on a seasonal basis. I wouldn't worry too much about the card count as you'll have many factors coming into play, from the type of fixtures you're getting (derbies? Dead rubbers), to the on going experience that lets you manage the game better etc.

If you're going for promotion, I would rely on the observer reports to see if your tolerance levels are low. In my experience, observers will tell you if you're missing caution offences and will equally tell you if you're being too fussy with the cards.

For what it's worth my highest count is 4.5 yellows on average, back in 2019. ;)
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To be fair I have very few complaints and I think I keep control of the game well.
My average about 3 a game. Maybe my tolerance is about right.
 
Difficult to judge without watching the games but it’s very much a case by case situation. Today I had 7 yellows, 2 sin bins and 2 coaches dismissed. Last week I had a no card game. As long as your decisions to card/no card were correct, then I wouldn’t worry about it!
 
Andy murphy said:
I have only had 3 sin bins all season.
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All depends on your area as well I suppose.

I’ve just moved from Hampshire to Berkshire and found the level of dissent here is higher than where I was previously. I’m certainly giving more sin bins this year.
 
There's no right or wrong answer here. I had one season at L4 where I had something like 11 red cards in 13 games, and averaged 5 cautions per game. Whereas the season before I'd only had one red and average was more like two cautions per game. Same referee, same competition, just comes down to how the players behave.
 
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If you are looking at lowering or increasing your card count just to be consistent with others then IMO you are approaching this the wrong way.

The general accepted practice is to use as little cards as possible but not at the expense of match control or fairness. Both these give you a fair bit of wiggle room but there are incidents where 'tolerance' should not be a factor.

Another factor not mentioned above is level of referee experience. I would expect a well experienced say L3 referee to use his/her cards less than a first year L7 referee if they were to do the same game. That's because they should know how to 'direct' that game in a way to prevent cards.

In summary, those you have to give, give, those you can easily do without, avoid. The ones in the middle do what works best for you and that game. Focus on if you are doing this concept right and not on number of cards.
 
I have more cards for high school games than my other matches.

I had more cards in semi finals and finals than normal games.

For youth games, under 14, it happens.

I tend to give more cards, or should I say some give less...because they dont like game reports.
 
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