I started asking for the fee before kick off so I'm not chasing them after the match. Refereed a Veteran's league the other week where it was in their league rules to only pay the officials after the match :|
What’s your Ref routine?
- Thread starter GCS1982
- Start date
I started asking for the fee before kick off so I'm not chasing them after the match. Refereed a Veteran's league the other week where it was in their league rules to only pay the officials after the match :|
Ciley Myrus
RefChat Addict
I always get it at the end that's how it always works
Ciley Myrus
RefChat Addict
Regardless of league rules etc am sure am not only one who will advise you change that starting tomorrow and get the fee up front
Far too many issues as others say, about getting it afterwards
The teams play the pitch up front!
When you get team lines, simple case of, have you got the match fee aswell please?
Nah I don't want to bring unnecessary attention to myself all refs in my county (At junior games) get the money at then end I think I'll just stick to what everyone does.
GCS1982
New Member
Hi, many thanks for your reply, just starting my referee journey, well hopefully as I have my exam on Monday.
I play Sunday Amateur football & never see the referee come into the changing rooms, to check players,boots or jewellery, I am just trying to get ahead of the game so if or when I do my 1st match I don’t leave anything to chance, yes I know you learn fm experience but I would like to get the basics right 1st.
Be the one that stands out.
I've had countless "you're the only one that takes the teamsheets, only one that checks the footwear/jewellery etc etc", doesn't mean I'll follow the lead of the other refs
Does that give you enough time to do pitch inspections, check nets, check jewlery, get team sheets etc?
If the league rules say post-match then the fee is paid post match...
In 7 years reffing I have never had an issue obtaining my fee after the game.
Most clubs are not daft enough not to pay, as they know it will cost them more as they will be forced to pay along with a financial or points penalty.
If the game had been fractious, or contentious, I have no qualm in waiting a short period of time for people to cool off before approaching for the fee.
As a general rule, i keep the match ball and team sheet, and exchange these along with my match fee. The only exemption to this was if I had another game (I dont do this now) I would say, listen, I need to leave immediately post match to get to next game, would you mind paying the match fee now so you can carry out your post match activities without me pestering you..
Re: OP as a bare minimum I arrive 30 mins before game, although prefer 45 mins when on own, for Sunday league. This allows time to inspect pitch, change, warm up, pre match duties, team sheets, names of subs, equipment checks, ready stood waiting in the middle to pip the whistle and call in captains to toss coin and kick off.. Never liked sauntering on to pitch with 1 min to go. Looks rushed.
Team of 3 is minimum an hour, again to carry out above but also include a get to know chat and pre match instructions.
Justylove
RefChat Addict
I only do OA and not on Sundays. I normally get to games around 75 minutes before kick off - though the supply league I AR on its often 90 minutes beforehand.
Turn up, introduce myself to the team managers (if they are there), or the club official. Might get offered a cup of tea (depending on the league and facilities) and have a general chat to the secretary.
Get the match balls and check them for pressure and pump up if needed. Go have a quick walk on the pitch, check the nets if they are up, I always pace out the distance to the penalty spot from the goal line and then onto edge of 18 as it helps me in the game to regulate my stride length for free kicks (I can have 1 stride equal 1 yard quite easily). Spend a few minutes doing a little bit of visualisation especially in and around the penalty areas - this helps me get my "game head" on.
Go and speak to managers who are normally there and ask for team sheets, also check verbally what colours they are in, including goalkeepers. If its a cup game, make sure both managers are clear on the competition rules - i.e. straight to penalties if level at 90 minutes, no extra time.
Sort my notebook out, if i've got team sheets, copy them into my book, if not put in the basics (colours etc). Get changed ready to start warm up 30 minutes before kick off.
Warm up for 10-12 minutes - some gentle jogs to start, gradually building intensity, then shuttles, then some sprints. Check nets as part of the jog round.
Back to changing rooms, change out of training top into refs top. Make sure i've got all the necessary things and finish off team sheets if needed. Put spare balls by the dugouts.
8 minutes before kick off, head out - either do equipment check as they come out of the changing rooms if i'm leading them out, or line them up "champions league style" if they are already out. Respect handshake, then get Captains and CAR's in, quick chat and away we go.
And in the leagues we do, the match fee is payable AFTER the game, which suits me fine and i've never had a problem with a team not paying me, even if they didn't like my performance. I accept the fee if its offered before the game, but never go asking for it.
If i've done youth or sunday league, i'll get there 60-45 minutes before as the teams are generally rocking up a bit later and there is less to do and the facilities are not as good or warm especially in winter.
Turn up, introduce myself to the team managers (if they are there), or the club official. Might get offered a cup of tea (depending on the league and facilities) and have a general chat to the secretary.
Get the match balls and check them for pressure and pump up if needed. Go have a quick walk on the pitch, check the nets if they are up, I always pace out the distance to the penalty spot from the goal line and then onto edge of 18 as it helps me in the game to regulate my stride length for free kicks (I can have 1 stride equal 1 yard quite easily). Spend a few minutes doing a little bit of visualisation especially in and around the penalty areas - this helps me get my "game head" on.
Go and speak to managers who are normally there and ask for team sheets, also check verbally what colours they are in, including goalkeepers. If its a cup game, make sure both managers are clear on the competition rules - i.e. straight to penalties if level at 90 minutes, no extra time.
Sort my notebook out, if i've got team sheets, copy them into my book, if not put in the basics (colours etc). Get changed ready to start warm up 30 minutes before kick off.
Warm up for 10-12 minutes - some gentle jogs to start, gradually building intensity, then shuttles, then some sprints. Check nets as part of the jog round.
Back to changing rooms, change out of training top into refs top. Make sure i've got all the necessary things and finish off team sheets if needed. Put spare balls by the dugouts.
8 minutes before kick off, head out - either do equipment check as they come out of the changing rooms if i'm leading them out, or line them up "champions league style" if they are already out. Respect handshake, then get Captains and CAR's in, quick chat and away we go.
And in the leagues we do, the match fee is payable AFTER the game, which suits me fine and i've never had a problem with a team not paying me, even if they didn't like my performance. I accept the fee if its offered before the game, but never go asking for it.
If i've done youth or sunday league, i'll get there 60-45 minutes before as the teams are generally rocking up a bit later and there is less to do and the facilities are not as good or warm especially in winter.
Justylove
RefChat Addict
Yep do what’s right, not what everyone else does. Interestingly it seems that the local FA in my county is starting to look at clamping down on more of these “last weeks referees” judging by what I’ve heard in some conversations recently.
GCS1982
New Member
many thanks for this! Great info!
Be the one that stands out for the right reason. All the things you've said are good and valid reasons to stand out. Demanding your money pre-match if league rules say you get paid post match is not a good reason to stand out, it'll make you appear greedy and alienate the home team when you don't need to.
I don't do a pitch inspection as the manager of the home team is expected to check everything before the ref gets there (league rules) then they tell me if anything is wrong then I will take a look and take action if required for example when I got there last week he told me that there was a hole in the net and he didn't know if it was ok to play with I asked if he could replace with a new net he went off and got a replacement net.
Team sheets in my junior league aren't filled out till after final whistle.
Jewellery I will check when walking past if I realise during match I will tell them to take what ever it is off at the next stoppage of play.
Justylove
RefChat Addict
@JoeMaloney5 please try and take this as constructively as possible as I know that you've posted on other threads around some issues you've been facing as you start your refereeing journey.
Part of how you avoid issues with teams is based on their perception of you, which starts when you arrive. From what you've posted i'd say you've got a few areas of poor practice, that may create a negative perception of you from the teams at the start.
Turn up in plenty of time, do your own pitch inspection, do a proper warm up, do a proper equipment inspection, line them up for a respect handshake before the game. These are small things that can make a big difference to your match control.
Think about getting the teams to line up so you can do an equipment inspection - you blow your whistle and get them to line up - prior to a ball being kicked you've got them doing EXACTLY what you want them to do, which is come in, line up and have you check to make sure they have not got anything they shouldn't have on. That helps you set the tone that you are in charge and that you are acting professionally, even if its an Under 13s bottom of the lowest division clash.
Just as an FYI - there were some surveys done for clubs in some of the leagues I'm on and some of the biggest things that the clubs didn't like from referees didn't relate to their performance on the pitch, but were around how they behaved before and after the game - referees acting like they couldn't give a s*** about the game they were on was one of them.
"I don't do a pitch inspection"
"Jewellery I will check when walking past"
Surely you're opening yourself up here for an observer to pick up on a few things, not to mention those two things are related to LOTG
On that example, I would say that by getting there only 10 minutes before, getting a new net and replacing the other one is likely to delay KO straight away
I’m not trying to have a dig BTW. But as you’re a young ref, if you want to go for promotion, the observer will have a field day picking you up on the prematch preparation you’ve been carrying out
Ciley Myrus
RefChat Addict
Things that can be avoided and have happened to all ? referees?
1> approaching a raging coach for cash after the game, esp maybe walking into a disgruntled changing room where you are now open season for verbals from the players too..." oh and you want paid for that crap" and so on
2> Jimmy has the cash and, well, he gone
3> On occasions, you might not have the time to wait for coach to calm down, or for him to finish with cool down or so be it, you might have another game to go to, train to catch, work to go to etc
4> teams pay for the park up front, indeed, our council here has huge signs on the facilities saying "pay before you play", no reason at all why referee should not expect the same
i was extreme by saying "even if league rules" but in all my years I have never heard of a league say "pay the referee after the game", so, on that basis, collecting your match fee up front seems sensible, good time is along with the team lines, that way, everything is sorted in good time. Indeed there is a box on the local league team line here to be filled in, along with, corner flags used, tick, match fee to referee pre match, tick and so on.
As referee its up to you to do a pitch inspection, not least for yourself if not the players!! Its one of the duties of the referee to make sure the pitch is suitable/unsuitable and there are cases of refs being taken to court and held liable for incidents, so, do your pitch inspection so if nothing else you can clarify that you inspected the pitch etc and at that moment in time nothing was amiss.
Also maybe just be ignorant to this but as per the LOTG, which override any league ruling, only named subs can take part so dealing with a team line post match strikes me as impossible? Am more than happy to be corrected on this as clearly nobody knows every league ruling but you as per the LOTG need to know who the subs are PRE MATCH so obtaining team lines after the match sounds insane? Can i ask how you know who the subs are if the team lines are not filled out will the game has finished?
1> approaching a raging coach for cash after the game, esp maybe walking into a disgruntled changing room where you are now open season for verbals from the players too..." oh and you want paid for that crap" and so on
2> Jimmy has the cash and, well, he gone
3> On occasions, you might not have the time to wait for coach to calm down, or for him to finish with cool down or so be it, you might have another game to go to, train to catch, work to go to etc
4> teams pay for the park up front, indeed, our council here has huge signs on the facilities saying "pay before you play", no reason at all why referee should not expect the same
i was extreme by saying "even if league rules" but in all my years I have never heard of a league say "pay the referee after the game", so, on that basis, collecting your match fee up front seems sensible, good time is along with the team lines, that way, everything is sorted in good time. Indeed there is a box on the local league team line here to be filled in, along with, corner flags used, tick, match fee to referee pre match, tick and so on.
As referee its up to you to do a pitch inspection, not least for yourself if not the players!! Its one of the duties of the referee to make sure the pitch is suitable/unsuitable and there are cases of refs being taken to court and held liable for incidents, so, do your pitch inspection so if nothing else you can clarify that you inspected the pitch etc and at that moment in time nothing was amiss.
Also maybe just be ignorant to this but as per the LOTG, which override any league ruling, only named subs can take part so dealing with a team line post match strikes me as impossible? Am more than happy to be corrected on this as clearly nobody knows every league ruling but you as per the LOTG need to know who the subs are PRE MATCH so obtaining team lines after the match sounds insane? Can i ask how you know who the subs are if the team lines are not filled out will the game has finished?
I should've pointed out that it's in the league rules where I am in CAPITAL letters on the website that the fee must be paid beforehand (presumably they've had issues with non payers previously). This rarely happens, I think in one of the few that enforce it.
Another issue I've had in my short time as a ref, and it's particularly relevant this weekend, is that there's minor disputes over who pays the fee on County Cup games. It's 50/50 where I am, presumably the same elsewhere?
Another issue I've had in my short time as a ref, and it's particularly relevant this weekend, is that there's minor disputes over who pays the fee on County Cup games. It's 50/50 where I am, presumably the same elsewhere?
