As a referee sees it - talk by George from his view of the field

He explained that refereeing was taking over his life. He had always been a keen footballer and was good enough to have had trials with a number of professional clubs. He had started refereeing at aged 14 when a local club needed a ref. After breaking a leg aged 16 George was advised not to continue playing and he began refereeing seriously.

George became a level 4 Referee aged 21 in 2017/18 and is now rated 16 out of 87 in Yorkshire.

The next levels are:-

Level 3: Contributory League referee.

Level 2b: Conference North League referee

 Level 2a: Conference referee/Football League 4th official. 

Level 1: Football League/Premier League referee.

In 2015 he was invited to referee at the Iber Cup in Portugal as a representative of the North Yorkshire FA. The next important tournament George was involved in was confirmed to him by phone whilst travelling in a hearse to a funeral. It was the best telephone message he has ever had! He was asked to officiate at the Dallas Cup in the USA. He refereed the under 16’s final in intense heat. This was a shock because the previous week the local match was delayed by snow.

George describes being a referee as a lonely experience and he usually takes footballing friends to the matches he officiates at. This helps him to unwind as the job is quite stressful. There are 17 ‘Laws of Football’ and these seem to have about 20 amendments every year. A referee makes between 400 and 500 decisions in a match. Many players do not know all the rules and the fans have their own interpretations.  The referees have to make reports about the games and are assessed on their performance by assessors and by the clubs. Clubs can be biased when you know that they may receive big payouts if they progress to the next round of a competition like the FA Cu Consequently there are two training camps for referees every month.

Referees need to train three times a week to be fit enough to run between 8 and 10Km in a match. The training can be difficult when they have day jobs. They also have training plans and need to keep records of their training sessions. Local papers and social media can be destructive. Referees are not trained to deal with media. Man management and psychology can be more effective than red and yellow cards. George’s ambition is to progress to the next levels and hopefully to the elite level 1 Premier League Referee status.

George then answered questions about the current handball and offside rules and whether they should be changed, how referees deal with time added on and what to do with foul mouthed players, before blowing the final whistle to well deserved applause from members and guests.

Doug