The Ref Stop

What got you into refereeing?

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TommmC

New Member
I'll start

So as most, if not all referees have played football at some point within their life. When i was younger, I did play for a local side which at the time were National League North but had a massive junior section at the younger levels such as U7, U8 etc but as the age got higher the amount of teams started to decrease with 2 at my current age as of now (16) which play on a Saturday and Sunday with the first team now playing in the North West Counties League. At U9 level they announced they were decreasing the teams to 2 for U10 and getting rid of 2 teams. I had only been there a season and was in the "3rd team" and it meant they released us and the other kids. Most of the other kids went straight to other teams but I decided not to for some reason.

Anyway, on to the main bit, I was 15 at the time and this was towards the end of 2018 like November and December time. I was in school and my school is the place where local primary schools play sort of like an area tournament on the astroturf and the winners go to like a county or regional competition or something and the games organiser who was in charge and worked at my school asked if I could and i said yeah, no worries. Put my boots, a school jacket and watch on, borrowed a whistle and I really enjoyed it. Done this for many months and as a thank you, he paid for my course. Fast forward to a year later and now in my first season have been given:
  • North West Counties League Div One Cup Semi Final (AR)
  • County Cup Semi Final (AR)
  • 3x Local derby fixtures- one on the boxing day with a 12pm ko!, Involved in the NWCFL Groundhop- Wythenshawe Town vs Abbey Hey
  • 3x District Cup Semi Final opportunities (2xAR 1x Middle) Senior Cup, U16 and U13
  • District Cup Final (AR) U13
Looking to go for promotion next season, whenever that will be.

What is your story
 
The Ref Stop
I played for the school, well, I was on the pitch, all I could do was run, ( I was and should have remained a 1500m runner), anyway, the teacher was about to do the course, he stayed local to me and knew my parents, so, I enrolled too

even now, 30 years on, am a better runner than referee.
 
Really loved playing as a kid, captained middle school team, dad refereed a few times, was the only time I ever saw him run. Then got a scholarship to posh school - no team football - was forced to play rugby and hockey, argh!

Emigrated in my 20s, played loads of hobby league with close group of friends. Games had no linos and the quality/enjoyment of games was hugely affected by the ref (especially if they were active/passive about offsides, VC, abuse etc... and very few were active).

Then, one day, we were waiting to play a match on a field next to the FA HQ. we watched as the ref was spat at, pushed, abused, sent off 4 and then sat catatonic on the field. We had a surgeon on our team who looked after him and called the services. After that I wanted to do it.

I didn’t have the cojones though and just couldn’t imagine it. Then the league had a scheme to get more officials - teams with more signed up officials would get games on new 3g pitches instead of sand. So I did it, still took me the first 2 seasons to adjust emotionally but I felt I could really help, make a difference in lower games... and then I got a taste of serious stuff and really loved it.

I started late (39), got a medal of honour type award a couple of seasons ago for attitude and lots of games, I’ve hit a glass ceiling where I am competing with well academy-trained 20 year olds for promotion, I’ve been to a couple of Iber cups (brilliant) and, yeah, I love it - and I have lots to improve - I’ve had to try hard and I’m far from bullet proof - I really want to get better!
 
Playground footballer.......preferred rugby, school and briefly low level amateur player. Became a referee as an alternative to coach or manager when my boy's squad split to make two under eleven sides.
 
Club I played for from 8-16 got some funding to send a couple of us on a refs course when I was 15. It was at Stockport College and it was ten evening classes and an actual 1 on 1 exam at the end to get my class 3. I reffed some kids games on Sundays whilst playing Saturdays but packed in after a couple of years when I found other Saturday night hobbies! Came back to it at the age of 34, requalified and started to have a proper go at it.
 
Think I must be one of a few referees who never played football for a team before starting refereeing as never really had the confidence or ability to play for a team. Started at 14 first game was December 2018 and after a tough first weekend thought about packing it in. But gave it another week and it was a U13 game between two teams from same club. After the chaos from the week before it gave me a whole new view of refereeing. After the game the head of the county Fa came up to me and I said to him that I was thinking of stopping as didn’t have the confidence or self belief. Bit he told me to keep going and said that if I persevered I could go far. And that is exactly what I did and 18 months later and I have:
Won Young referee of the year for the league and the county in my first season
Was AR at an U13 cup final
Refereed Cup semi final in my first month U13
And was AR at County Cup semi final
18 months ago I never believed any of this would’ve been possible. Sticking to refereeing was the best decision I probably ever made.
 
A genuine answer.....!
For me, the trigger was my son joining an U8's team
I always thought I'd referee once I stopped playing. I had six years interim time to perfect my golf swing ;)
Whatever I do in life, I always end up in too deep!
 
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Dabbled in 11 a side as a youngster, but fell out of it, and a season in my early - mid 20's, but found i couldn't keep my positioning on the pitch and didn't make the team that often so knocked it on the head when the team ended. Did 5 a side for a few years up until start of 2018, but felt i couldn't keep up anymore and the team disbanded around the same time so knocked it on the head (starting to see a pattern here 😂).

Wanted to stay in football and not really the 'coach /manager' type, so looked into refereeing as it looked interesting, managed to get a course about 30 minutes drive away from me, the last one of the period iirc, so just snuck in on it in time October 2018.

Haven't looked back since.
 
I played but not to any significant level, and was hampered by being a bit of a Phil Neville in that I could play in most positions so never really settled into a specialist one (I played all 11 positions for one club). No one really wanted to play in defence and I ended up at full back a lot, although spent a lot of time at centre half and at just 5'9" that was never going to be my strongest position. That was centre midfield, but I hardly ever got to play there, even when I was the captain / manager as there were better players than me in those positions.

I ended up refereeing a few games when we didn't get allocated one or they didn't show so decided to do the course, and for much of my 20s and early 30s I was balancing refereeing, playing and coaching / managing so football took up a huge chunk of my time. Typically I'd referee on Saturday, play Sunday morning then coach and manage on Sunday afternoons, assuming I could get from one game to the other in time. Two things changed that: one the team I was managing had a rapid rise through the ranks to the point that we expected everyone there 90 minutes before, and as the manager you can't really expect that and rock up yourself 30 minutes before, and I was progressing through the refereeing ranks. Those things combined effectively finished my playing, at least at 11-a-side anyway.

I did have one problem combining coaching and refereeing, as when managing the team one Sunday afternoon I got sent to the stand by the referee, and that obviously got back to county given I was going for promotion at the time. I chose to appeal and the hearing pretty much laughed the charge out, but it could have affected my promotion had I been found guilty.
 
I'd always wanted to do it. Looked into it when I was 18 but getting halfway across mamchester for 8 evenings to take the course didn't appeal so I didn't do it.

As luck would have it, in my last year of uni I lived about a mile from Northumberland CFA, looked into doing the course and there was one starting the next week, signed up mainly for the beer tokens and here i am over 10 years later still going (somewhat) strong!
 
I wanted to play but couldn't find a team to train with that fit my work schedule.
I can't remember the game or the referee, but I was at Hillsborough watching a game, and I was so incensed with the refereeing that I just decided I would do it myself.
Found out its obviously not as easy as I had thought and the game is completely different at ground level.
 
We’re all mad really, who would rally volunteer to put up with this £&@!... We need medals not expenses!
 
I was actually persuaded to go on the course by my brother - he was only 15 at the time, so wanted to go with an adult and I was persuaded to sign up. He did a few matches but the bug never grabbed him - I on the other hand got very into it. Went to uni and refereeing conflicted with other things I wanted to do, so didn't pick up a whistle between about 18 and 25, but decided to get back into it then as an activity to get me out of the house!
 
It cost £2 to do the course so I thought why not?

Finished uni and started doing Saturday men’s while signed on for a Sunday side. Got fed up of not getting a game and having manager play ringers instead of me so walked away. Cleared *that* suspension and went full time.

Play the odd small sided game still but no more 11-a-side for me barring an out of nowhere veterans call up
 
I never thought I'd be a ref during my playing days. However for the past three seasons I've helped run a local League and I was in my twilight years as a player anyway (mostly been holding the linesman flag for the past 4 seasons). Knowing that the League could always do with more refs I took the course. That was last August and I've really enjoyed doing a lot more 'football' than usual and it does lead into a community of other refs. Gives you a better understanding of the game too and I really think it should be compulsory for a huge variety of reasons.

I still make a better linesman though.
 
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I've had two stints. The first time (2003-2007), I had returned from the United States following a year and a half stint working in Germany. I was looking for something to do to get outside and get some exercise while getting to meet people in my new hometown. I had also watched a lot of Champions League soccer since it was one of the few things with English language television while I lived overseas. I was initially just planning to work kids' games on Saturday. Two weeks into working games, I was put into the middle on a pretty intense small-school rivalry game without knowing the background. I apparently did pretty well, because I ended the season working big-school middles and getting a couple of state playoff assignments. By my third season, I was working state tournaments.

The second time started in 2017. My youngest son was playing competitive club soccer, and I always said that if he was playing club, I would referee to offset the expenses. I also (correctly) hoped that I'd serve as a role model for him to also be interested in officiating. When we are playing, I do a lot of high school soccer and work around my son's schedule. There have been some times where officials haven't shown up or wouldn't work the game where I've had to step into action during his games (I prefer to be a dad, but duty calls sometimes - I have plenty of contacts and friends at the other clubs, so I've only had one time in three years where a coach was upset about me working the game - that stopped when the first foul I called in the game was on my own kid and took a goal off the board :) ). My son generally likes when I referee because I know to hold my whistle and look for advantage (admittedly, not a skill a lot of referees working U12 games are good at doing - he is also a very strong player and plays through a lot of contact), but he also doesn't like it because he knows he can't get away with some of the sneaky (not dirty, but just things he knows most referees working his games won't call like little shirt pulls or "swim moves" to get around defenders) things he likes to do as a center forward.

My son isn't old enough yet to be certified, but he has worked with me in a 4v4 futsal tournament and really did a good job. He's a smart player and knows the rules very well (he's debated the offside law intelligently with my fellow high school officials at age 10 during some of our clinics a couple of years ago), so I think he will be a good official if he doesn't take the inevitable yelling too personally.
 
I was helping out with my sons junior team and having to referee due to nobody else willing to do it. Did the course because thought I might as well know the rules. Anyway 3 days after the course I received an email giving me a fixture in mens 11v11 couldn't even remember agreeing to ref in a league at all. Anyway being the sort if person who hates to let anyone down I did it, never been so nervous in my life. At half time I was ready to walk off but an old hand who I'd told it was my first game said " dont worry just use your whistle more, you'll be ok." At the end of the game I was told by another player he'd "never seen such a bad ref"! Anyway 12 years later I'm still at it and I'm sure to a lot of players I'm still the worst! 😂
 
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