A&H

Second vs First half refereeing

S

Stonewall

New Member
I've noticed a pattern of 2nd halves getting antsy so thought I'd share my reflections and invite others. When I say antsy, it's more the bickering and complaining about fouls not given- both players, coaches and to a degree, spectators. I have learnt here that if the players aren't allowing a game to flow then one approach is to show them the alternative is worse with lowering the threshold and whistling more. My experience has been that feels really unsatisfying ("Why's that a foul now?") and I struggle then to transition back to the earlier flowing game.

I officiate in my county-wide U13 to U18 league so the standard is reasonable.

Referee factors:

1) Am I working hard enough in the 2nd half physically to make good decisions? I have worked on this and think I am pretty consistent between both halves.

2) I try to be proactive in verbaliaing that challenges are clean or to keep going from the get-go so teams get a feel for the foul threshold - am I assuming too early they have worked it out and am I going too quiet in the 2nd half? This was happening a little and I addressed it.

3) Am I actually making more significant errors and if so, why?!

Team factors:

4) Are they making more errors and questioning decisions more due to stress and fatigue?

5) Are the coaches transferring their stress to the players and referee by dissenting more?

6) What else, hive-mind?!

Obvs, the temptation is to blame it on non-ref factors but I would be interested to hear if this 2nd vs 1st half difference had been noted by others and any thoughts on what might help.
 
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100% true that managers will try and wind up their players and get them to come out with more aggression at the start of the second half, almost universally and almost regardless of if they're winning or losing.

In terms of what to do about it, I would try to treat it as if you're effectively playing two 45 minute games. So if you think back to the start of the match when you're automatically going to be on high alert and trying to work out if the game is going to allow for free-flowing football, try to get back to that mentality again.

And remind the players you're there - be picky on the location of the first few throw-ins, take any FK in the attacking half and make it fully ceremonial even if you normally might not, clamp down on the first bit of minor dissent or any possible PI and take the opportunity to just have a 10-second chat with the player and/or captain.

If that all works then you won't need to change your threshold, you'll just need to remind players where it is and that you will enforce it.
 
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Graeme provides some useful advice here, particularly about resetting and refocusing for H2. When I have done a game review in the past I have quite often (but not always) observed that difficult second halves have their genesis in what happens in H1. Although we like to be as consistent as possible throughout games it is also important to recognise when our game control needs to go up a notch to manage the intensity of the game or simmering tensions. Sometimes we miss the signals that allow us to intervene early or at the key moment and then we have to work even harder to get things back on an even keel. Half time is a good time to assess how things are going and if the dial needs to be fine tuned. It’s not ideal to change our thresholds but it’s better than the alternative. I will quite often ask ARs how we are going, if they see risks to control and what we need to improve in H2. If I don’t have ARs I try to self analyse and provide a response to these questions. Of course, sometimes games just go bad and players / coaches are intent on blowing things up. On these occasions there is not much a referee can do other than try to keep everyone safe by taking very strong action.
 
Matches always evolve over the 90 mins.

Just because we throw in a 5-15 minute break in the proceedings doesn't change that. Stuff that happened/didn't happen in the first half will develop into different scenarios and outcomes in the second, no matter what. It's for that reason that most cards are used in the second half of a game. ;)

As per the advice given, stay focused during the break and keep right on top of stuff like PI and dissent. The players tire as the game goes on and therefore mistakes and frustrations generally move a notch upwards. Be mindful of it and above all consistent in your decision-making. There's not really much more you can do. The rest is up to them. :)
 
Stonewall said:
I've noticed a pattern of 2nd halves getting antsy so thought I'd share my reflections and invite others. When I say antsy, it's more the bickering and complaining about fouls not given- both players, coaches and to a degree, spectators. I have learnt here that if the players aren't allowing a game to flow then one approach is to show them the alternative is worse with lowering the threshold and whistling more. My experience has been that feels really unsatisfying ("Why's that a foul now?") and I struggle then to transition back to the earlier flowing game.

I officiate in my county-wide U13 to U18 league so the standard is reasonable.

Referee factors:

1) Am I working hard enough in the 2nd half physically to make good decisions? I have worked on this and think I am pretty consistent between both halves.

2) I try to be proactive in verbaliaing that challenges are clean or to keep going from the get-go so teams get a feel for the foul threshold - am I assuming too early they have worked it out and am I going too quiet in the 2nd half? This was happening a little and I addressed it.

3) Am I actually making more significant errors and if so, why?!

Team factors:

4) Are they making more errors and questioning decisions more due to stress and fatigue?

5) Are the coaches transferring their stress to the players and referee by dissenting more?

6) What else, hive-mind?!

Obvs, the temptation is to blame it on non-ref factors but I would be interested to hear if this 2nd vs 1st half difference had been noted by others and any thoughts on what might help.
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Great post, yes to all.

And what else… like… starting the second half hoping to get a couple of nice simple fouls to whistle. Or starting the second half trying really hard to double focus - knowing that the teams have changed ends, there might be subs, the pace might change - only for these thoughts to distract you!
 
So much good advice, thank you. I think I've been assuming the second half will pick up from how things were left at 45'. In practice, I can definitely try next time out to reset at the interval and view it as a second 45' match whilst being mindful of the nuances of the first.
 
I've definitely noticed the change in the 2nd half. I think each team overestimates how likely they are to score at any given moment, if only that foul that the ref didn't give hadn't stopped them. 😉
 
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