A&H

Open Age Grudge match - mass brawl

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Peter Landis

New Member
How do other referees deal with grudge matches? Turned up to ref a game at the weekend, was greeted by home team players warning me it was going to a tough match to ref today.
First 10mins uneventful, then it started to heat up. Nasty tackle from away team CB that received a yellow card. From that point I could have booked every player for fouls. No abuse or trouble directed at me, just two teams who appeared to hate each other. Half way through first half, I issued red card to away team striker for aiming punch at opponent. Next clash saw home team player through a punch which lead to mass brawl. I stood back and started to note numbers of main instigators, but after 10mins picked up the ball and walked off and called it a day. Tensions were still there as teams walked into changing rooms, I felt best to keep my distance so just picked up my bag and left to go home and fill out report form.
Is there anything else I could have done early on, or was it as I suspect going to kick off whatever I did ?
 
The Referee Store
Did you get the names of the players involved in the brawl?

You've answered your own question really.....'from that point I could have booked every player.....' So, why didn't you?

Will guarantee after the 4th or 5th card things would have settled down, or at the least the worst players would be off the pitch.......
 
I had a game like that a while ago, I approached both team managers and told them both teams were going to be reported and I abandoned the match.l later found out both teams got kicked out of the league and none of them would be able to re-register with other teams..
 
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Perhaps next time @Peter Landis try to slow the game down as much as you can, as early as you can ... take your time over every free-kick, be pedantic about where throw-ins are taken ... I personally hate doing this but the more time you can take out of the game the less chance of something happening and people might just be able to regain some composure while you're taking 30-60 seconds to re-start the game following a foul ... calling the captains in will also suck time out of the game and maybe (maybe!) they can help you calm players down for you

Does sound though that your game was destined to end the way it did :)
 
Peter Landis said:
How do other referees deal with grudge matches? Turned up to ref a game at the weekend, was greeted by home team players warning me it was going to a tough match to ref today.
First 10mins uneventful, then it started to heat up. Nasty tackle from away team CB that received a yellow card. From that point I could have booked every player for fouls. No abuse or trouble directed at me, just two teams who appeared to hate each other. Half way through first half, I issued red card to away team striker for aiming punch at opponent. Next clash saw home team player through a punch which lead to mass brawl. I stood back and started to note numbers of main instigators, but after 10mins picked up the ball and walked off and called it a day. Tensions were still there as teams walked into changing rooms, I felt best to keep my distance so just picked up my bag and left to go home and fill out report form.
Is there anything else I could have done early on, or was it as I suspect going to kick off whatever I did ?
Click to expand...

Right, first of all, do not beat yourself up about this. Yes, there are things you can learn and do differently next time, but this is the team's fault, not yours!!!

There's also every possibility that if two teams hate each other that much it's going to kick off regardless of what you do!

However, what could you have done differently? Well, you don't have to referee every game the same way. Some games you can be a bit more tolerant and let a few minor things go so that the game flows a bit more, maybe you don't caution the borderline tackles. Then there are other games, and it sounds like this is one, where, frankly, you absolutely kill the game stone dead. Your tolerance goes in totally the other direction, you penalise every tiny push, every niggle, every little trip. Anything that even looks like it might possibly be a foul, you get in thee first with the whistle. Even if the players hate each other they'll hate this more. There will be no flow to the game. It will be horribly stop start. The borderline tackles get cautions without a second thought - if in doubt, get 'em out! You'll get some moaning, but that is what you want because it gives you the chance to tell them to play football so that you can stop blowing the whistle all the time: "it's up to you guys. I don't want to keep stopping the game, but I don't have a choice! ".

Above all, you MUST come down hard on anything that's remotely reckless: whatever you allow you encourage. If some goes sliding in and you let it go then the next tackle is off the ground, and if you let that one go then the third tackle is two footed, off the ground and flush on someone's shin. You will quite likely end up giving a foul for something that deep down you think was fine, and you might caution for something that you think was "just" a foul, but that's what these sorts of games need.

Hope this helps. Give 'em hell next time!
 
Thanks for all the advice, hopefully will never happen again. But if I does, guess the lesson is that I need to be stronger early on. Was reluctant to start booking people to early as I thought that might make the situation worse, and make players more heated. Next time I am in this situation will adopt a zero tolerance policy and punish appropriately.
 
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