Really tough match today. Reffed home team before and no real issues, game kicks off late tackle within the first 10 seconds from away side which already made me think it was gonna be a tough game. After 3 or 4 tactical fouls from away team in the first ten mins I warn the captain next player who commits a similar foul will be cautioned. 10 seconds later one of his teammates does exactly that and gets himself booked. A few mins later first booking for home side for late tackle, manager not pleased as was first proper foul but felt I needed to set a precedent or could become messy. Then a poor PK decision from me was detached from play and didn’t have an angle thought he’d taken the man then the ball but saw it back after the match was an awful decision. About 5 mins left before HT another two yellows in quick succession for borderline challenges. Got to half time neither side were pleased one side said I was too lenient and was putting player safety at risk other team were complaining about the pen and saying I was too harsh with cards. Second half was a bit easier with only two more yellows both for late tackles and a bit of a confrontation at the end about a challenge by the corner flag. Neither manager pleased with me and both said I wasn’t up to reffing U16 as was too weak. Felt as though that was harsh and was really hard to find a balance between showing 10-15 cards which tbh I could have done and trying to maintain player safety. Interested on what people think in terms of when to manage situations and whether or not it’s better to show 10-15 cards at youth level if it maintains your match control, also trying to work out if it was down to me why the game went how it did( I know it’s probs hard to say unless u were there) or whether it was just the players.
Tough U16 Match
- Thread starter Rowanmano
- Start date
Firstly, chin up, it's good you're reviewing what you've done and how the match has gone, that's a good way to get better.
I imagine our decisions do allow the game to escalate if we're not quick enough to punish them, but remember, it is never an exclusive thing. Player behaviour on the day is what will direct where the game goes.
If I have advice to offer from reading your reflection, this was a match where you tripped yourself up because you didn't take an early caution to set your stall out;
Specifically this one. Book him. The first five minutes of a game is a nice time to stamp your authority and inform teams about what you're not going to tolerate. Had this challenge been cautioned, the away team may have taken notice and started behaving. Because you let it go, as you already identified, the moment the home team do it, you caution them, and now they're going to feel hard done by.
Had you got the first yellow out of the way with, they would have no complaints when you dish out the punishment for the late home tackle.
Hard for me to say without seeing what the tactical fouls are. Are they disrupting the counter attack? Are they like full on holds at the halfway line? If they are, why not caution them? Then you've killed that tactic off. Again, by letting them have 3-4 bites, it doesn't look credible when you're cautioning for the next one.
I would understand this method had you identified one player doing three-four trivial fouls. Warn him and caution on the fifth. But by letting 3-4 tactical fouls go from various people and then clamping down on it, you look inconsistent.
Don't worry about that. They may or may not have a point, but we all have these games. Sometimes you'll get everything right and they'll both agree you're the worst referee ever. Don't let them get under your skin.
So, to answer this. Yes.
If it controls the game, then show those 10-15 cards. Your yellow and red cards are part of your match control. I would not have a problem dishing them out if players are flying in with late challenges and tactical fouls, those are nice and easy "stone wall" cautions that very few can legitimately complain about. Dish them out at will.
In future, I would caution these early instances, and then depending on how the game progresses, decide whether you need to ease off and be lenient. That way is a lot easier than avoiding cautions, and then trying to caution six/seven challenges later. By that point the genie has left the bottle.
I imagine our decisions do allow the game to escalate if we're not quick enough to punish them, but remember, it is never an exclusive thing. Player behaviour on the day is what will direct where the game goes.
If I have advice to offer from reading your reflection, this was a match where you tripped yourself up because you didn't take an early caution to set your stall out;
Specifically this one. Book him. The first five minutes of a game is a nice time to stamp your authority and inform teams about what you're not going to tolerate. Had this challenge been cautioned, the away team may have taken notice and started behaving. Because you let it go, as you already identified, the moment the home team do it, you caution them, and now they're going to feel hard done by.
Had you got the first yellow out of the way with, they would have no complaints when you dish out the punishment for the late home tackle.
Hard for me to say without seeing what the tactical fouls are. Are they disrupting the counter attack? Are they like full on holds at the halfway line? If they are, why not caution them? Then you've killed that tactic off. Again, by letting them have 3-4 bites, it doesn't look credible when you're cautioning for the next one.
I would understand this method had you identified one player doing three-four trivial fouls. Warn him and caution on the fifth. But by letting 3-4 tactical fouls go from various people and then clamping down on it, you look inconsistent.
Don't worry about that. They may or may not have a point, but we all have these games. Sometimes you'll get everything right and they'll both agree you're the worst referee ever. Don't let them get under your skin.
So, to answer this. Yes.
If it controls the game, then show those 10-15 cards. Your yellow and red cards are part of your match control. I would not have a problem dishing them out if players are flying in with late challenges and tactical fouls, those are nice and easy "stone wall" cautions that very few can legitimately complain about. Dish them out at will.
In future, I would caution these early instances, and then depending on how the game progresses, decide whether you need to ease off and be lenient. That way is a lot easier than avoiding cautions, and then trying to caution six/seven challenges later. By that point the genie has left the bottle.
Cheers for the reply and probs not full on tactical fouls more just little sly tackles that aren’t worthy of a caution for just that tackle but could have carded for PI after 3rd one. Shot myself in foot as didn’t card for them and then let them get away with one where one player tried to cynically trip from behind played on so obviously couldn’t go back and caution.
You'll be a better Ref in a day or two (once you've had time to reflect) than you were this morning. Learning is generally an uncomfortable experience
Anubis
RefChat Addict
Reffing a game is like riding a new horse for the first time.
you dont want thrown off it. Dont loosen the reigns until you have calculated and trust its behaviour. Horsey needs to know from the start who is going to control the tempo.
When horsey is under control and responding to your commands, you can loosen the reigns and let horsey have some freedom,
by your post, you never established control, and, very quickly got throw off the horse.
your detailed self analysis will see you in good steed. ( pun intended)
you dont want thrown off it. Dont loosen the reigns until you have calculated and trust its behaviour. Horsey needs to know from the start who is going to control the tempo.
When horsey is under control and responding to your commands, you can loosen the reigns and let horsey have some freedom,
by your post, you never established control, and, very quickly got throw off the horse.
your detailed self analysis will see you in good steed. ( pun intended)
We all know what it's like to enter the FOP as a big potato, get sliced into a hundred chips in the first half and chucked in the frying pan for the second. Typically, verbal salt and vinegar poured on after the game; all of which takes quite a few days to digest. Ideally, we get back out there within a week or so, armed with a slightly thicker roasted skin
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Happy metaphor day everyone! From my perspective, refereeing is like buying a new car..... 
Seriously though, there is good advice here. Every ref has off-days, but self reflection like you've displayed will help you reduce how often they come around and how badly they can go, so keep doing that process after ever match. Identify issues, identify if there is anything you could have done to help avoid them and put those lessons into practice next time.
Seriously though, there is good advice here. Every ref has off-days, but self reflection like you've displayed will help you reduce how often they come around and how badly they can go, so keep doing that process after ever match. Identify issues, identify if there is anything you could have done to help avoid them and put those lessons into practice next time.
santa sangria
RefChat Addict
Deffo hacked by Bob Dylan Thomas!
santa sangria
RefChat Addict
I’m interested in how active you were - or how active you felt - or looked?
Different refs have different characters… this sounds like the kind of game I would want to be closer than usual to problem players and telegraphed challenges… and I’d hope to be very verbal about my decisions and non-decisions… so that as many players as possible - and even benches - know I am making decisions.
Different refs have different characters… this sounds like the kind of game I would want to be closer than usual to problem players and telegraphed challenges… and I’d hope to be very verbal about my decisions and non-decisions… so that as many players as possible - and even benches - know I am making decisions.
Mooseybaby
Retired big bad baldy in all black!
Can't please everyone all of the time. Sometimes people will think you are the best referee they have ever had, sometimes they will say you are the worst they have ever come across, sometimes they might even say both in the same game! 
Can remember an evenly contested, competitive, but fair u15 game I did, where both sides wanted to play football. Gave 1 foul in the entire first half, that being for a chest high dangled boot by an away play that fortunately the home player saw coming and took evasive to avoid contact and yet that didn't stop the away team manager saying to me at half time I was being to fussy and not letting the game flow. I asked him just exactly how he thought I was being fussy and didn't let the game flow when the only time I had reason to stop play or speak to any of the players was due to his players high boot and he couldn't answer that.
Sadly as a referee you are often in a no win situation. Do you want to be the referee that dished out 5, maybe even 10 cards at youth level? Seriously doubt anyone wants to, but sometimes you just have no choice. Most people will only look at the headline, see the stats and think wtf was that referee on dishing out 5/10 cards in a youth match whilst ignoring/not knowing the full details of the game and that both sides were intent on kicking lumps out of each other from start to finish and were lucky it was only 10 cards as it probably should have resulted in 15 yellows and 5 reds.
Can remember an evenly contested, competitive, but fair u15 game I did, where both sides wanted to play football. Gave 1 foul in the entire first half, that being for a chest high dangled boot by an away play that fortunately the home player saw coming and took evasive to avoid contact and yet that didn't stop the away team manager saying to me at half time I was being to fussy and not letting the game flow. I asked him just exactly how he thought I was being fussy and didn't let the game flow when the only time I had reason to stop play or speak to any of the players was due to his players high boot and he couldn't answer that.
Sadly as a referee you are often in a no win situation. Do you want to be the referee that dished out 5, maybe even 10 cards at youth level? Seriously doubt anyone wants to, but sometimes you just have no choice. Most people will only look at the headline, see the stats and think wtf was that referee on dishing out 5/10 cards in a youth match whilst ignoring/not knowing the full details of the game and that both sides were intent on kicking lumps out of each other from start to finish and were lucky it was only 10 cards as it probably should have resulted in 15 yellows and 5 reds.
It is a difficult line to draw, but sometimes trying to manage situations without cards early on can actually backfire and result in there being more cards than if you had carded earlier. You mention 3 or 4 tactical fouls by the away team and at that point you warned the captain, but if by tactical fouls you mean SPA then they are mandatory cautions. Perhaps the captain didn't adequately pass on the message to his players, but if you had cautioned for the first or second of them there is a chance that your visible action would make the players think "hang on, this referee isn't going to let us get away with this". Equally they might have carried on fouling and paid no attention, in which case you might have ended up with double figure cautions.
I can relate this to a cup final I refereed when I was L4, the CFA's senior Sunday cup. The clubs are used to L7s to L5s most Sunday, and perhaps they are more lenient when it comes to dishing out cautions. I went in with the same approach as I would in a supply league game, and each team picked up a caution each early in the game. One team learned from this and didn't try any tactical fouls, the other didn't and finished with 9 cautions, one of them a second and a red after just 30 minutes, and the manager sent to join his player in the stands after one too many digs. They weren't subtle little fouls, they were all blatant reckless or just chopping people down or holding them to stop them getting away. To be honest I didn't enjoy the game, which was frustrating for a cup final as you don't get many of them, but after reflection I concluded that I had done the right thing and would do the same again. I gave the teams a chance, one took it and the other didn't, and I was praised by CFA officials and bigwigs who were at the game. Incidentally, both teams moved into senior Saturday football the following season. One is thriving at step 5, the other got stuck in a county league after having loads of discipline issues, I'll let people work out which is which.
I can relate this to a cup final I refereed when I was L4, the CFA's senior Sunday cup. The clubs are used to L7s to L5s most Sunday, and perhaps they are more lenient when it comes to dishing out cautions. I went in with the same approach as I would in a supply league game, and each team picked up a caution each early in the game. One team learned from this and didn't try any tactical fouls, the other didn't and finished with 9 cautions, one of them a second and a red after just 30 minutes, and the manager sent to join his player in the stands after one too many digs. They weren't subtle little fouls, they were all blatant reckless or just chopping people down or holding them to stop them getting away. To be honest I didn't enjoy the game, which was frustrating for a cup final as you don't get many of them, but after reflection I concluded that I had done the right thing and would do the same again. I gave the teams a chance, one took it and the other didn't, and I was praised by CFA officials and bigwigs who were at the game. Incidentally, both teams moved into senior Saturday football the following season. One is thriving at step 5, the other got stuck in a county league after having loads of discipline issues, I'll let people work out which is which.
A potato because we have eyes everywhere, or is the allusion perhaps less flattering than that?
Agree with the previous posts. One thing I make a point of doing is after I've given a caution/cherry is to slow the restart down and really take my team before restarting play. Firstly to let people calm down but secondly to always tell myself to clear the mind and focus solely on what's next and not on what's gone. It's easy to get lost with what's gone on and to let your mind be cluttered and effected by it. You cant change any of it so park it and focus on the next decision.
Don't worry about managers being unhappy, they'll be your best mate if they win next time and you've given them a pen.
Don't worry about managers being unhappy, they'll be your best mate if they win next time and you've given them a pen.
I would get him for UB for that, even if I play the advantage.
Anubis
RefChat Addict
agreed, that reads as reckless, rather than spa
As a small bit of practical advice, if you realise 'oh sugar, I've lost control of this game', get cards out quickly.
I'm not suggesting you go looking for fouls, but if you see something that's too fast or too forceful, get the card out, and make it clear to both teams that you're turning the temperature down on the match. Either they'll respond and you can get back to a level where you're comfortable and back in the zone, or you won't be able to manage 22 players - so manage 21, or 20, until you get the game to a situation where you can.
I've had more than a few games in my time which have gotten away from me, and the ones where I've then been proactive to get it back under control have gone better than the ones where I've shrunken away a bit. I'm sure we've all had similar experiences, so don't let this match get you down!
I'm not suggesting you go looking for fouls, but if you see something that's too fast or too forceful, get the card out, and make it clear to both teams that you're turning the temperature down on the match. Either they'll respond and you can get back to a level where you're comfortable and back in the zone, or you won't be able to manage 22 players - so manage 21, or 20, until you get the game to a situation where you can.
I've had more than a few games in my time which have gotten away from me, and the ones where I've then been proactive to get it back under control have gone better than the ones where I've shrunken away a bit. I'm sure we've all had similar experiences, so don't let this match get you down!
This is easily my favourite post out of all the things you've written on here!
Anubis
RefChat Addict
Primt it off, frame it
it dont happen often
Kind of agree with that, except Id say that if you have lost control of the game you are very unlikely to get it back under control. I use my own experience in this, but also from watching games and observing, I don't think I've ever seen a referee regain control after they have lost it.
What you say works if you are losing control. Cautions, soft free kicks, not playing advantage, can help when you are losing control, but generally once it is gone it is gone, you aren't getting it back.