REFFIN' HELL

Why bother with the captain being the only one to speak to the referee. He will not change his mind, and it just undermines him

As usual John Terry (ENGLAND CAPTAIN !)and the rest of them show themselves and football up. This behaviour turns me off football and TERRY needs to look at himself in the mirror.
Hopefully this type of leadership will result in him losing the England captaincy.
Start behaving Chelsea.

players seem to forget it is they who commit the offences. All players should read the 'Laws of Game' and educate themselves.

They say that referee's are in decline, so why is it that my partner who is a referee still finds himself without a game 1 - 2 weekends a month.

Bizarre.

this his my 2nd year in refereeing, and i have had no real or serious abuse from players.i really enjoy it.at the end of the day you are in charge, and you only enforce the laws of the game.you can only give what you see. you need a sense of humour and a smile , but at the end of the day you need respect. if you do not get that its time to call it a day.

I have been a referee for 23 years and have to say that things do seem to be getting worse unfortunately, as grassroots players and club officials are following the examples set by the professional game. We go out week in week out and try our best to control the matches to the best of our ability but we will always seem to upset someone now adays.
The FA need to show referees that they are appreciated as at present you only get rewarded for service after 15 years by your county FA, but then you have to ask and 50 years by the FA themselves. Surely there is a way they, the FA, can reward referees for long service after maybe 20 or 25 years to show how much work we put into the national game.
Things are difficult at present but I hope to see things get better in the future.

I have been a football referee for 3 seasons starting at the age of 14 years old. My dad has been to contributory level passing a lot of developing experience.

When i have had a game that needs a talking about we have a chat and find ways that will encourage you to understand that the decision was redeemed to be the correct decision in that game. having refereeing kids football in Lincoln where i live parents are the worst behaviour towards officials on football pitches.

When i turned 16 years old i then moved onto adults football in my local sunday league which i enjoyed every weekend and also refereeing on my local lincoln league on a saturday which is very intereting and enjoyable. This season has been my most interesting, exciting because then i was invited to be on the womens premier league which has given more a lot of experience been an assistant referee to these top players.

I believe that refereeing is an enjoyable adventourous career that may see you has a professional referee and this has a rewarding career and the F.A. are developing referees to entail their potentional.

Have just read the article in todays paper.

I am a Grassroots referee and also a Referee Instructor, and hate to spoil the stats but the biggest decline in refereeing numbers in because refs get disallusioned with the people behind the game, ie the County F.A's and the set ups therein.

Do they back the referees? Honestly NO

Is the local game run with involvement by active referees? Honestly NO

Are players worried about being cautioned and the punishment that goes with these?
Honestly NO

What does a player receive for verbally abusing a referee?

If he's clever and backed by his club - usually NOTHING - they will appeal - come up with a cock and bull story and get away with it as at the Commission - the County will say "Can't be proven"

That loses more referees than people would like to admit!

Then there are assessors, usually old retired refs, who were about when the game was completely different - and you hear time and time again "we never used to do that" or " been there done that".

They assess games based on how it was years ago , When an aspiring ref gets his promotion from 7 to 6 or 6 to 5., rather than "Well Done", all you hear is " been there done that".

When they also see someone coming through the ranks, some go out of their way to hinder the promotion.

Upset an assessor and it all becomes personal - forget your promotion then !!! You could be the best ref in the world, but that Assessor will find faults with your game that no one else did.

Do you local Grassroots referees receive any further training after passing their exams?

Honestly NO!

All this investment in Grassroots...where is it???

The main referee levels are 7 to 6, then 6 to 5 then to 4 on a fitness test. What on earth does a fitness test do to assess a referee at Level 4 ??

Any semi fit person can walk the fitness test, very few can actually referee at level 4 well.

And when a ref does get promoted to a level 4 and has a bad season(s) what happens? NOTHING, he stays there at level 4! he does not get DEMOTED and back to level 5 for re-assessing, he stays there and blocks the path for others to come through!! WHY??

The same applies to "past it" level 5's and 6's -surely if you cannot "make the grade" at that level - you should be demoted and make way for others. But do they - NO! The reason why? -

"If we do that, we will lose a lot of referees" - Open your eyes guys, you are losing the good ones, who are frustrated beyond belief!

How do you get a County Semi - Final or Cup Final?
be a goody goody and hob nob with the County....most appointments are done on the back of, "who's done things for the County" - these practices should have gone out years ago - for Gods Sake - everyone wake up!!

The new referee training course is a disaster -

ask the Grassroots Training Officers. It was always done on a "as when basis", and if you had only 6 applicants - then train them! -

Now it's got to be a minimum of 12. So the only 6 prospective applicants you have, will now no longer wait for County to gather another 6 names to make up this magical number of 12. Then you have to find each "trainee ref" 6 11 x 11 a side games. Which league is going to open its arms to trainee referees willingly? - Of these 6 games, the new trainee referee has to be assesed on at least 2 of them.

If these assessments are not favourably, they do not proceed to the last part of the course. But in the meantime we have given clubs ill prepared, untrained referees to handle "tame games".

Surely the County FA's could hold training centres for trainee games to be refereed by trainee referees? WOW - thats too easy!

Not everything about refereeing is wrong, but no one does it for the money, but we do because we love the game.

For everyones sake......... FA and County FAs please listen to local referees, otherwise forget about finding another 8000 refs, it will be more like 24000!

Referees are only human & can only 'give what they see' the cliche goes! Well it once again, for the *** time this season, becomes blatantly apparant, that they miss quite a bit! (that's as polite as i can be)
whether we like it or not, or the waste of space called the f.a. like it or not, we will be forced to use the technology available, i.e goaline cameras, etc. to help those poor soles who affficiate our 'wonderfull game' & why not?
i've moved on from the 2 tins & a piece of string, to contact you, so why the delay with helping the officials, who so desperately need it, week in, week out.
i honestly thought the mendes goal v man u 3 seasons ago would have at least secured goaline cameras, & would have thought refs would have welcomed the help given the consequences of that mistake & the millions lost due to league positions.
one thing you can be sure of is, the more faith the public have in a product, the more they will support it.
if i made the mistakes that referees make, every single game they take charge of, i would be disciplined & lose my job!
Give them all the technological help available, move with the times, or it will be too late!

I am a refeee and have experienced abuse mainly from spectators and managers. It is alot easier to control the players beacuse we have the right to send them off or caution them. What can we do to the managers and spectators, yes, we can report them to the FA after the match but when they start shouting, all of the players copy them and that can threaten match control. I am strongley in favour of only the captain approaching the referee and even stronger in favour of the roping off of pitches to prevent interfearence from parents. And i wouldnt mind a free England Tracksuit either.

I am a level 6 referee and my aim is to one day referee on the football league. There has been many times over the course of the seasons that I think to myself, 'why do i do this'. I love football but the abuse has got to stop. Its part of the game that fans, coaches and the players just show dissent and agressions towards us as referee's. It is a huge problem but we can't let the yobs win.

I pride myself on being really fit, to the point where I am fitter than any player on the pitch. It allows me to be within 10-15 yards of the ball for the mostpart of the game. You would think that players would see that your so close and not argue the descision but they still do and f and blind at you. They have seen Terry and Rooney do it on the TV. I know I have made the right descision but the players try to say I have not. As referee's we give what we see and we are neutral and impartial. Where would the players be without us?

I totally agree with the comment that we are not backed up by our local FA's. You send players off for foul and abusive language and they ask for a personal hearing and they get off as its 'case not proved'. I was also involved in an unfortunate incidient where I was an assistant referee where the captain of one team went to hit the referee. He had completely lost control of himself. Fortunately a team mate jumped on him before he struck the referee and he got dragged away by his management. This was reported to the FA who banned the player, but the player then asked for a personal hearing and at the hearing his ban got overturned as, he had let his emotions overcome him and we could not prove he would have hit the referee. 3 qualified referee's saw the incidient but it was not enough. Absolutly rubbish!!

Stopping the abuse has to start at the top of the game and not the bottom. Too many people watch their supposibly idols on the TV and copy them doing it week in week out.

There needs to be a way in which we can penalise a team more if they do it. A few years ago they trialed moving the ball 10 yards further forward for dissent, like they do in rugby. I think that would work.

As referees we are asked to apply the laws of game to every game, but the most of the players don't know or understand them themselves.

Players say use your 'common sense ref'. Stop the abusive language before our game is ruined even more than it is.

Us as local referee's can only take so much, this needs to be sorted before more decide to give up. The main reason I would quit would be because of the abuse I get when I am trying my best to get things right. I am not saying every descision I make is correct but most of them are. Players have to ask themselves, how many times did they miss place a pass or shoot wide or just control a ball badly in a game? I bet it was more mistakes than I made!!

I know people will say, we have the red card for people using foul and abusive language. Yes true, but how many times do you have to send the same player off for the same thing until something is done about it? Also some games you would have to abandon if you sent players off for abusing the referee as they all do it.

County FA's and the FA need to act now to sort this out and they need to listen to the referee's at grassroot level as they are the ones that are leaving.

I qualified in 1995. I gave up after 10 years. I am still registered. I am non-active. There has been a decline. I attended one disciplinary during my third season. I was made to feel that I was wrong, and expected to change my mind. I stuck by what I had said in my report. I sent a player off for abusive language. He refused to give me his name. The league's referees secretary did not back me up, and did not give me another game that season. After a 2 year absence through injury, I refereed 4 games. One team in particular, made the rules themselves, no discipline, and threatened the opposing players in the car park. I yellow carded 2 players, who told me they were immune. I decided after that game, that was it. I had enough. County FA's don't encourage enough. I went for promotion. I found training nights coincided with work, as I do shift work. I was ordered to cancel work, as training comes before work. The same said for County Cup games. We inform the county what dates we are unable to do. There is then no communication sent to the County FA Referee's Secretarys. They then have a go at you for turning down on a closed day. The game is not getiing better at grass roots level. Soon there shall be no grassroots referee's. Ex-players as referee's? Ask Former Chesterfield player Steve Baines. He reached Football league status. That can work.

i was a referee for 5 years after 3 yrs was told by county f.a to send off players for abuse langeard as i did this for one yrs was called bake to f.a told i sent a lot off told not to , and i was told i could not ref any more i am not the first and will not be the last

I have been refereeing local sunday football for over 20 years and agree totally the abuse we get is getting worse.I blame the governing bodies of the F.A. because the punishment given to the players concerned does not deter them from wanting to do it again.The support us referees get from the FA is very poor and it is no wonder that many pack it in.Until the FA start to punish the players in a much more fitting way then our game will continue to lose many many more referees.

As it is very clear to all that us referees are beginning to have (or are we there already? no faith in the County FA's and also the FA itself, should some media outlet (Come on NOTW - you have made the first move!) follow up their article by doing a follow up with some of the thoughts of the Grassroots referees.

The FA and County FA's are fully aware of the feelings of the local Grassroots referees but for some unknown reason they choose to ignore them.

I live on the border of two County FA's and its well known for a referee to change his address to purely gain a promotion as one County has a much better "upto" method of promoting referees rather than using the old 19th century method still used by the Assessors on the other County.

There are numerous referees on this circuit that have zero faith at the moment due to the lack of support given.

In 5 years time, referees will be non existent at Grassroots level and football as we know it will be a thing of the past at Grassroots level.

Someone please shake up the Countys! Things have changed - The FA and Countys need to change with them. Start being Pro Active - NOT REACTIVE!!

my son is a newly appointed referee in the rowsley youth league and having watched him officiate and being unbiased towards either side i find it is not the kids who are the problem it is very often the parents.

To a young lad starting out as an official this surley must be intimidating and my wife no longer feels she can watch ,i dont understand why any adult finds it acceptble to verbaly abuse a younster trying to do a job.

Regardless of age a referee is there to apply the laws and rules of the game,he didnt make those rules he is there to enforce them,of course he can make mistakes(to err is human)he can only give decisions on what he sees.

Watch a game on t.v. after the match what happens, on come the pundits scrutinizing every decision with the aid of slow motion and freeze frame technology,

well sorry lads but any idiot can do that its easy! anybody who watches live football knows it happens a lot quicker which requires quick decisions sometimes it may be wrong thats life, refs aren't as perfect as a pundit.

look at the recent behaviour of so called "proffessional" footballers cole and mascherano and their contempt not only for the offical but for the rules of the game .

The FA must come down on this type of behaviour hard and show it will not be tollerated because these "proffessionals" are role models to many young kids and they are being taught its ok to be like that.

sort the game out at the top level and it will make it easier to sort the grass roots problems out because while there are poor role models thats all that will follow.

as always it`s the bigger of the 2 clubs thay r playing the so call bigger club that gets the breaks,if spurs was playing darby spurs would be playing 10 men.

I have been refereeing for 23 years and have enjoyed every minute.I have had many ups and downs in that time.The thing that really gets to me is the fact all the local f.a. delegates are so old and out of touch that it needs a clean sweep to get the active people involved to bring the game forward in protecting referees.In all my time as a referee it is nice to go out and meet players that I referee and they always give you respect for the fact you gave up your time to referee their game.It is not for the money is it.It is nice to hold your head up for having the guts to go out there and control a game and nicer at the end when all the players shake hands with when it`s all over.It`s like a drug.I`ve done about 3 thousand games.Doing two every weekend.Last season I got promotion to level 4 at my age of 58.I am chuffed to bits.Keep going you refs give them hell!!!!

I have been a ref for 7 years.

The problem with football I feel is as follows -
on the cover of the Laws of Association Football it states they are for Players and Referees use.

I was a player for 28 years and never knew the book existed!I had no idea as a player what the laws were only what I thought was my interpretation of them.

To become a referee I had to study the laws and sat an exam and practical assessment to test my knowledge before passing out as a ref, and every week thousands of us refs are assessed on there knowledge of the laws to gain a promotion (by assessors).

Until recently I ran the line on a feeder league and we had quarterly meetings , sometimes with guest speakers from the football league.

At one particular meeting we had a league manager talk to us, most of the time slating referees for there decissions throughout his and his players careers.

At the end of the presentation he invited questions; I ask him how much time his club put aside to discuss the Law book and its contents so that the players had a full understanding of it?

His answer was - we never look at it or educate his players on the contents.

I found this remarkable that a league club has no training at all on the laws of the game (which is for players and referees)!!

This obviously highlights why players challenge every decision the ref makes because the players have no idea of the laws (if all league clubs adopt the same ideas)

My last comment would be that what players see on a Saturday night on Match of the Day does influence them on a Sunday morning and they feel that if Ashley cole or simular role model footballers can do it why cant they?

The sooner the directive stating that the only person allowed to talk to the ref about a decision is the captain the better, it would stop the referee being overpowered by 10-15 players overnight.

Another idea could be to make it compulary that all players have to be educated in the laws and make them sit an exam to clarify their knowledge before they play the game.