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Great notes. Thank you for sharing. Recognising these as tactical offences and thinking about the potential for them to occur before / as they happen (scanning player locations, distance and angle to goal, speed of play, etc.) certainly helps with identification and these are great tips.

After a while you realise that you can’t rely on teams or coaches to provide fair assessments or validation of your performance. I used to agonise over the feedback provided but now realise that everyone has their own reality / agenda and some people will say / do anything to shift blame and...

I think you probably just got very unlucky. It is not unusual that the end of a phase of a play like a corner kick would be used to mark the end of a game. It is unusual for the game to move so quickly once the ball is cleared from the PA. As others have said someone was always going to be...

Well done. It is great that you can analyse your performance after the game. This is fundamental to improving as a referee. It is probably natural for all newish referees to be a bit tentative and to lack the assertiveness that comes from experience in stamping out dissent. Dissent is like a...

Congratulations on your appointment. I did my first open adults grand final at the end of last season as a 17 year old and certainly found it both enjoyable and challenging. Reflecting on my own experience I would suggest the following which you can discuss with your team- - be ready for...

I was always taught that you can’t call it if you can’t see it and if you are in doubt on offside (at least) the doubt goes in favour of the attacking team. As others have said, at grassroots level this is one of those situations where the offside can’t practically be called due to the...

This is a tricky one for me. Clearly the behaviour is unacceptable and needs to be sanctioned but red carding a 10 year old is problematic in my view. In Australia this age group would be regarded as miniroos and the normal disaplinary approach would be to require the Coach to substitute the...

As others have said I think it all depends on the type of game and how it is going. Personally, I Iike to communicate as much as possible but most of it is neutral or preventative rather than positive (although in junior games I will take a more positive / supportive tone). However, when the...

Appalling and upsetting. You wonder why some people play sport at all and what their life must be like outside football. I hope the referee is OK and the perpetrator dealt with appropriately.

Experience is a teacher that cannot be bought in refereeing and in life. Wisdom, instinct and foresight are gained by experience and allow us to be a better referee. I am still learning my craft no doubt but looking back I can see how much better I am as a referee now than I was 5 or even 1 year...

I assume the referee was endeavouring to get in a position to see if the ball crossed the goal line? If so, might have been better to push wider so still having a good angle to make that decision but with less chance of becoming ‘involved’ in play. On more than one occasion I have been told by...

Unfortunately coaches and managers rarely have a complete and up to date knowledge of the LOTG and will almost always seek to exert some pressure on you to make a decision that favours their team. This pressure may not stem from a bad intent but is almost always partial to their interests. Well...

- prepare well (check your kit during the week, get to the ground earlier than usual, make sure you are across final rules including KFTPS) - try to get a good night’s sleep, eat and hydrate well the day before - be intent on making this the best game of your season without placing too much...

Thanks James, I chose my words poorly. I should have referred to the different types of handling offence.

I would argue that most decisions involving the application of the LOTG involve a subjective element. We constantly search for consistency but many threads on this forum illustrate how hard it is to achieve that in practice. Although imperfect, Law 12 as it currently relates to handling of the...

Situations like this are always going to be contested with different referees seeing slightly different outcomes. As described by others the main thing for me are proximity and angle to the KMI. These two things put you in the best position to make the right call but also give you credibility to...

I think it depends on the tempo of the game and the skill level of the players involved. I personally try to accommodate as much advantage as possible but if the game is hot I will rein that in and be much more circumspect. Of course I am not letting serious fouls go in either scenario at...

Nothing to beat yourself up about here. Teams, coaches and fans see games through their own lens always. I’ve had so many games when the losing team won’t shake my hand that it almost seems the norm. Sounds like a close, contested and important game and one team is always going to go home...

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...

At this location on the field I am heading quickly to the spot and asking the FK taker whether he wants a ceremonial FK. If he says no and quickly plays on I am OK. Once he says yes we are going through the whole palavar - wall, spacing to wall (from ball and attackers), keeper notice, whistle...