The Ref Stop

Where to start?

J

JackwFerrari

New Member
Hi all,

Been reading this forum for quite some time and it only makes me want to do my badges and get stuck in straight away. Unfortunately, the next course for me is in January.

Where do you think it’s best to start in terms of age group? I don’t want to jump in at the deep end and start with a bunch of angry men that want to fight me after I book them, but also want to challenge myself a bit.

Also, as I’m completely unaware, are you able to simply choose where you want to referee? I’m from a town in Essex and would ideally like to referee around that area to keep the hobby as cheap as possible (probably a stupid question)

Sorry if I sound stupid.

Thanks all!
 
The Ref Stop
That is the enthusiastic attitude we like on hear.

Start with U13/U14, they know how to play football, have a bit of pace and make challenges. Anything less, you can be just counting goals, older the opposite.

You will do a league, so it is where the clubs play. The Apps secretary will.help you out. Find out who it is and make early contact.

Who old are you, as if you are U16, you can only referee age groups a school year below you.
 
lincs22 said:
That is the enthusiastic attitude we like on hear.

Start with U13/U14, they know how to play football, have a bit of pace and make challenges. Anything less, you can be just counting goals, older the opposite.

You will do a league, so it is where the clubs play. The Apps secretary will.help you out. Find out who it is and make early contact.

Who old are you, as if you are U16, you can only referee age groups a school year below you.
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Thanks for the speedy response. Enthusiastic because I love the game! I’ll start with that then, thanks. I’ll get in contact with the secretary closer to the time.

I’m 21 so I’ll be ok I imagine.

Thanks again, can’t wait to get started!
 
JackwFerrari said:
Thanks for the speedy response. Enthusiastic because I love the game! I’ll start with that then, thanks. I’ll get in contact with the secretary closer to the time.

I’m 21 so I’ll be ok I imagine.

Thanks again, can’t wait to get started!
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A couple of the league's I do take my postcode into account when assigning me games which is great, especially when I often do 2 games in a day. Some league's don't and I can travel up to an hour away but i don't mind. League rules will often state what mileage to charge on top of the match fee.
 
one said:
I suggest doing least one game as NAR before you get in the middle.
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I was going to say something similar. Doing games as an assistant will really help you learn faster and help you understand if refereeing is right for you. It’s a massive advantage to see senior refs at work and get to work on better games. Ask for NAR games from the start!
 
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Ben448844 said:
A couple of the league's I do take my postcode into account when assigning me games which is great, especially when I often do 2 games in a day. Some league's don't and I can travel up to an hour away but i don't mind. League rules will often state what mileage to charge on top of the match fee.
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That's good. Only reason I don't really want to do too far distance is because I spend £4,500 getting to London a year, and as an apprentice that leaves me with hardly any time or money :( Don't particular care if I make money from this, just want to do it for the love of the game, but would make things a lot harder if I had to travel big distances and paying petrol. If you can charge petrol on top of match fees that's a bonus though.
 
JackwFerrari said:
That's good. Only reason I don't really want to do too far distance is because I spend £4,500 getting to London a year, and as an apprentice that leaves me with hardly any time or money :( Don't particular care if I make money from this, just want to do it for the love of the game, but would make things a lot harder if I had to travel big distances and paying petrol. If you can charge petrol on top of match fees that's a bonus though.
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So where I am the match fee is a rather pitiful £25 imo. It's 35p per mile as well to cover your fuel. If you travel on public transport then that fee should be charged on top of the match fee.

Without being funny, it's not about the £25 and i don't need the money so I just tend to charge a flat £30 per game. I lose out over the course of the season, I just can't be bothered tallying it up and then asking for £28.85 etc. To be honest I think most refs charge more than I do in my league's based on the comments I get but that's upto them, I just follow the guidelines on the league website. Some of the league's don't really specify the fees etc so I just keep it the same.

I've done games in a neighbouring county where I wasn't sure of the travel fees and when they asked I told them to just give me the same as they gave last week's ref and I got £25 more than the specified match fee lol.
 
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santa sangria said:
I was going to say something similar. Doing games as an assistant will really help you learn faster and help you understand if refereeing is right for you. It’s a massive advantage to see senior refs at work and get to work on better games. Ask for NAR games from the start!
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Might be an idea then! I mean, it's easy for me to sit here and say i'll be fine, but when someone's dad wants to rip my head off after i've waved away a clear pen on the 90th minute, i'm not sure how it'll affect me mentally, hopefully not too bad.
 
Ben448844 said:
So where I am the match fee is a rather pitiful £25 imo. It's 35p per mile as well to cover your fuel. If you travel on public transport then that fee should be charged on top of the match fee.

Without being funny, it's not about the £25 and i don't need the money so I just tend to charge a flat £30 per game. I lose out over the course of the season, I just can't be bothered tallying it up and then asking for £28.85 etc. To be honest I think most refs charge more than I do in my league's based on the comments I get but that's upto them, I just follow the guidelines on the league website. Some of the league's don't really specify the fees etc so I just keep it the same.

I've done games in a neighbouring county where I wasn't sure of the travel fees and when they asked I told them to just give me the same as they gave last week's ref and I got £25 more than the specified match fee lol.
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See, i'll be very happy with £25 a game! that's pretty good considering it's £135 for a course in my county, so would only need to ref 6 games and i've made that all back straightaway.

It seems pretty flexible though, which is a good thing. I thought it would be just the standard £20 odd a game and that's it, you cover petrol etc.

Well you know what to do now, move to the next county along! ;)

Thanks for the help, much appreciated.
 
JackwFerrari said:
See, i'll be very happy with £25 a game! that's pretty good considering it's £135 for a course in my county, so would only need to ref 6 games and i've made that all back straightaway.

It seems pretty flexible though, which is a good thing. I thought it would be just the standard £20 odd a game and that's it, you cover petrol etc.

Well you know what to do now, move to the next county along! ;)

Thanks for the help, much appreciated.
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Just bear in mind that I do OA games. Junior games will be a bit less
 
Ben448844 said:
Without being funny, it's not about the £25 and i don't need the money so I just tend to charge a flat £30 per game. I lose out over the course of the season, I just can't be bothered tallying it up and then asking for £28.85 etc. To be honest I think most refs charge more than I do in my league's based on the comments I get but that's upto them, I just follow the guidelines on the league website. Some of the league's don't really specify the fees etc so I just keep it the same.
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Just be aware that on higher league you shouldn't be rounding up fees. Clubs (and Apps Sec) know your mileage and all the senior referees on here while have heard horror stories about referees charging more than their mileage dictates and get suspended by their leagues.
 
lincs22 said:
Just be aware that on higher league you shouldn't be rounding up fees. Clubs (and Apps Sec) know your mileage and all the senior referees on here while have heard horror stories about referees charging more than their mileage dictates and get suspended by their leagues.
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Without doubt. For clarity, I never charge more, always less. It's the practicalities of asking for £31.35 for example. For all the messing around after just give me £30. Based on the reaction to my fees, I think I'm considerably cheaper than every other ref but that's up to them.
 
lincs22 said:
Just be aware that on higher league you shouldn't be rounding up fees. Clubs (and Apps Sec) know your mileage and all the senior referees on here while have heard horror stories about referees charging more than their mileage dictates and get suspended by their leagues.
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What are the rules on rounding down your mileage? For example I have signed up to the Southampton Saturday league which can be anywhere between 30-60 miles round trip for me @ 36p per mile. On top of the £26 standard fee I could be charging over £40 to the clubs.

I joined the league as it's far better standard than my local Saturday and I won't struggle to get games. I charge all clubs a flat £32 which would equate to a 16 mile round trip (more than reasonable?) when they ask how much they owe me.. Am I going to get pulled up on this?

The money isn't a factor for me but I didn't want to charge no mileage in case it caused issues for the other refs.
 
MattTheRef said:
What are the rules on rounding down your mileage? For example I have signed up to the Southampton Saturday league which can be anywhere between 30-60 miles round trip for me @ 36p per mile. On top of the £26 standard fee I could be charging over £40 to the clubs.

I joined the league as it's far better standard than my local Saturday and I won't struggle to get games. I charge all clubs a flat £32 which would equate to a 16 mile round trip (more than reasonable?) when they ask how much they owe me.. Am I going to get pulled up on this?

The money isn't a factor for me but I didn't want to charge no mileage in case it caused issues for the other refs.
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There are no rules. The only rule might be a maximum mileage but you'd have to check league rules. I wouldn't recommend round down to anyone, I just do it for the practicalities. I live on the rural side of town and there's 2 grounds about half a mile away which I walk too. The other grounds are a fair distance towards the city centre,I haven't been to a ground less than 5 miles away but also I haven't been to very many more than 15 away. Just the geography and location of my league's. For example, one of them has the rule that each team must be 12 miles from the cathedral in the city centre. Nearest ground is 8 miles, furthest is 20.
 
JackwFerrari said:
Might be an idea then! I mean, it's easy for me to sit here and say i'll be fine, but when someone's dad wants to rip my head off after i've waved away a clear pen on the 90th minute, i'm not sure how it'll affect me mentally, hopefully not too bad.
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I'd want to rip your head off if you've waved away a clear pen!! Whats up with you!! :devil:
 
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