A&H

Whitewash - U14 team gave up

SamRef2001

New Member
Hi guys,

I did an u14 game this weekend, couple of decisions went against away team and they gave up, match ended 7-1. Last 20 minutes was tedious as the losing team stopped caring and just messed around basically but still within LOTG, e.g everyone staying on goal line or just letting the other team score on purpose etc. Their coach who I presume was a one-off stand in coach, didn't say a word all game to his team. Made my job fairly miserable as I really enjoy refereeing a close affair, or even just when the losing team show a bit of fight. Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with this sort of situation?

Thanks
 
The Referee Store
Not much you can do, if they aren't breaking any of the laws then they aren't breaking any of the laws.

If you really wanted to then maybe you could go down the showing a lack of respect to the game
 
Just get on with it, unfortunately you’ll get grass roots games like that on the odd occasion. Just take the money and look forward to the next game
 
What was that, a team turned up on a bus and refused to come out of their own box, sounds a lot like the last Sheffield Derby!!! ;)
 
Just stay switched on and referee as normal. Report it to the association/league and that's it I guess.
What's to report?
If the OP thought the team was deliberately conceding goals for some competition reason, or in protest at the referee, then yes. But a team gave up and stopped caring?

Nothing for the OP to do here.
 
What's to report?
If the OP thought the team was deliberately conceding goals for some competition reason, or in protest at the referee, then yes. But a team gave up and stopped caring?

Nothing for the OP to do here.

Well, as he says, the team was conceding on purpose, so as you say, there's something to report. :)
 
The behaviour doesn't sound like it is within the LOTG
I'd be rapidly progressing to cautioning the ring-leaders for USB (lack of respect for the game) and having stern words all round
I'd warn the manager of that abandonment has consequences and I'd consider doing this if all else failed. I'm not there to piss about and it's misconduct in my book if a sports team refuse to compete
 
The behaviour doesn't sound like it is within the LOTG
I'd be rapidly progressing to cautioning the ring-leaders for USB (lack of respect for the game) and having stern words all round
I'd warn the manager of that abandonment has consequences and I'd consider doing this if all else failed. I'm not there to piss about and it's misconduct in my book if a sports team refuse to compete
I’m not sure what you’d be abandoning for though. Even if they are all stood on the goal line or letting the other team, by purely being on the pitch and turning up they are technically competing and we aren’t there to decide otherwise.

Personally I think this is a nothing conversation, it’s just one of those games. Just see it through and move on
 
I’m not sure what you’d be abandoning for though. Even if they are all stood on the goal line or letting the other team, by purely being on the pitch and turning up they are technically competing and we aren’t there to decide otherwise.

Personally I think this is a nothing conversation, it’s just one of those games. Just see it through and move on



If they are all on the goal line, how do they kick off after they loose a goal!
 
I once had a team stop playing and the manager asked for a word, he said that he feared for his teams safety!! That’s after his striker was kicked up in the air a few times, that’s true, but never by the same player!!! I’d had multiple cautions to both sides and dismissed the same striker for a violent retaliation push! I’d also had an aquasation of a racial nature against his side... basically it was a kicking fest and some retaliation!

We eventually continued playing the last 20 minutes with 19 minutes injury time. I think that was my record! 😂 luckily nothing tasty after that! Handshakes at the end too... As it should be!
 
If they are all on the goal line, how do they kick off after they loose a goal!
There's no suggestion that they were doing this the entire time. It was specified that this was just an example of one of the things they were doing: "e.g everyone staying on goal line."
The behaviour doesn't sound like it is within the LOTG
I'd be rapidly progressing to cautioning the ring-leaders for USB (lack of respect for the game) and having stern words all round
I'd warn the manager of that abandonment has consequences and I'd consider doing this if all else failed. I'm not there to piss about and it's misconduct in my book if a sports team refuse to compete
If it was an adult game and either professional or otherwise fairly high level, maybe - just maybe you could progress to USB for showing a lack of respect to the game but even then I'd say it's a bit of a stretch. However for a bunch of young kids (at U14 you could even have some as young as 11or 12) who have simply become disheartened at losing heavily and lost the will to play, I think it would be a bit harsh to start throwing cards around and possibly a case of 'adding insult to injury.'

Although I wouldn't necessarily endorse it, in one overseas youth league where I officiated once, there was even a 'mercy rule' that said teams at U16 or below should try to avoid going beyond a five-goal margin and it would have been the team leading 7-1 that would have been potentially in the wrong, with their coach facing a possible disciplinary charge if it was felt that they had not made a good faith effort to avoid running up the score unnecessarily.
 
Having been on the end of many games like this as a coach for my U7 team, the only thing you can really do is keep encouraging - praise good play when you see it, 'unlucky player,' 'good strike player', 'good save' and so on, just to do your little bit to help keep the kids going. Unfortunately, in your case it sounds like no amount of persuasion would have helped. Assuming no mercy or power-play rules are in effect, you've just got to keep plowing through, and unless the players literally walk off the park they're technically 'competing'. Not much fun for any party involved, but them's the rules.
 
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