A&H

Open Age Nearly got attacked today...

K

KieranG1505

New Member
Level 4 Referee
Firstly, at the half time interval I was approached by two player away team claiming that I was cheating and being bias; the only notable player that claimed this was Bob Smith” which earned him a caution.

Towards the middle of the second half a reckless challenge occurred in which a player went down injured; I allowed the offending player to stay on the pitch issuing a caution as I believe that the offence committed did not present reason for a dismissal however the tackle was late and careless therefore a caution was issued. The injured player was appalled that a caution had only been issued however I am certain that I could only justify a caution.

Entering the last minute of the game a pushing contest was engaged between Home 17 + Away 8; this was started by Away 8 in which I originally issued a dismissal however upon reflection rescinded the red and issued only a caution. I blew the final whistle after issuing the caution and I was confronted by ”Bob Smith” of the Away team. He was walking away and I heard him say something close to “skinny little rat” with that I called him over to explain that I wasn’t certain that it was him but if it was that it was unacceptable to talk like that directed towards an official; upon discussing this he then said “did you see me say it” and without the ability to reply he started walking towards me with a clenched gist saying “be careful what you say beforehand I knock you out” I then attempted to respond saying that I wasn’t cautioning only saying that it isn’t acceptable before he started coming closer and he was then being restrained by his team mates. I believe that his intention was to prove harm to myself.
 
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Chuck it in as a misconduct against player, let him explain himself to the CFA. Attempted assault on a MO.....
 
Sorry to hear your experience. That's awful and your misconduct report is an important part of getting rid of these thugs.

players approaching you at half time calling you a cheat? Red. Don't hesitate.

I think you can learn from issuing a red and recinding it - that's never going to go well for us. Take as much time as you need to make a decision and stick with it. Also - though his reaction is totally unacceptable - I would think twice about pulling Bob Smith / any angry player back after the final whistle to talk/lecture about dissent. You are fine in law to do this and fine to even caution him after the final whistle...but I would think about whether that will inflame the situation.
 
Not nice to hear of any potential threat but, without me at all siding with the players, it does seem that your match control and managment of situation, based only on what you have typed, was a bit dubious, nothing excuses any threat of violence but you dont appear, only from what I read, to have acted in a preventable manner, or been proactive. Whilst violence would be unnacceptable, there has to be empathy with temperment and a proactive approach to dealing with conflict, which, as poster above has alluded to, it reads like you went back into an inflamed situation and only made things worse
Hope you learn from it
 
Sadly I was big enough and daft enough to confront two brothers a few years ago that I sent of in the same match after a game, I didn't instigate the contact as they were stood near my bag. (One on one I fancied myself, two on one and you're in a bad place). The smaller one came right in my face giving it billy big b0llocks and he kicked my bag, I just didn't rise to the gauding as it was what they wanted..... I made a quick exit stage right and reported it as a misconduct which he eventually got a 6 month ban (Later). Unfortunately for me I accepted a late appointment the week after and wasn't told who the away team was. Well, imagine my shock to see the same team as an away team!!...... You could cut the atmosphere with a knife as I approached the pitch.... They knew I'd got balls, and I proved it by immediately going over and shaking the smaller brothers hand which was accepted with an apology. Game passed off without incident and I reffed them a few times over the next few seasons too... You have to earn your stripes but don't get too close if you can help it!!!
 
KieranG1505 said:
Firstly, at the half time interval I was approached by two player away team claiming that I was cheating and being bias; the only notable player that claimed this was Bob Smith” which earned him a caution.

Towards the middle of the second half a reckless challenge occurred in which a player went down injured; I allowed the offending player to stay on the pitch issuing a caution as I believe that the offence committed did not present reason for a dismissal however the tackle was late and careless therefore a caution was issued. The injured player was appalled that a caution had only been issued however I am certain that I could only justify a caution.

Entering the last minute of the game a pushing contest was engaged between Home 17 + Away 8; this was started by Away 8 in which I originally issued a dismissal however upon reflection rescinded the red and issued only a caution. I blew the final whistle after issuing the caution and I was confronted by ”Bob Smith” of the Away team. He was walking away and I heard him say something close to “skinny little rat” with that I called him over to explain that I wasn’t certain that it was him but if it was that it was unacceptable to talk like that directed towards an official; upon discussing this he then said “did you see me say it” and without the ability to reply he started walking towards me with a clenched gist saying “be careful what you say beforehand I knock you out” I then attempted to respond saying that I wasn’t cautioning only saying that it isn’t acceptable before he started coming closer and he was then being restrained by his team mates. I believe that his intention was to prove harm to myself.
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How long have you been refereeing for?

Presumably this was open age?

The "cheating" comment is a straight red, all day long.

If a tackle is "careless" then no caution is required.......if the tackle is "reckless" then it is worthy of a caution. Was the injury a direct result of the challenge, and what was the injury?

Why did you initially decide to dismiss the player? What made you change your mind? As a general guide, changing your mind like that is an extremely risky thing to do as it potentially destroys your credibility, which in turn wrecks any semblance of match control.

Personally, unless I was 100% certain of who made the comment after the final whistle, and I was planning to take further action (caution or dismissal) I wouldn't be getting involved with it. It will just provoke a further reaction from players, especially if you pick out the wrong one.
As for the "knock you out" comment, that has to be reported, even if you don't have the players name. Just report it as the shirt number. In those circumstances, don't bother trying to get names or show cards, your safety is more important so remove yourself from the situations as quickly as possible.
 
I agree with most of what others have said above. Giving a player a lecture is a "match control" tool, which is a very important thing to be able to do during a match and a complete waste of time after. If you need to show a card after the final whistle, do so. Otherwise, if you've had a tough match, get your bag, get your cash and leave.
 
Calling any match official a cheat is a red card for me not a caution alongside comments such as "there's two teams on this pitch". I agree with others here saying this is probably a match control issue however a misconduct report should be sent about the player to the league.
 
boulderdomb said:
Calling any match official a cheat is a red card for me not a caution alongside comments such as "there's two teams on this pitch". I agree with others here saying this is probably a match control issue however a misconduct report should be sent about the player to the league.
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@boulderdomb - any misconduct report (in England) is addressed and sent to the CFA, not the league. All player discipline is dealt with in the first instance by the CFA's.
 
lincs22 said:
@boulderdomb - any misconduct report (in England) is addressed and sent to the CFA, not the league. All player discipline is dealt with in the first instance by the CFA's.
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Absolutely correct, and it is amazing how many times this causes problems. Leagues cannot take any kind of disciplinary action against players, team officials or teams themselves. There are strictly controlled scenarios where leagues can ban teams or players, but that is only after CFAs have taken action against them, and even then usually only after multiple offences by the same player / team.

It used to drive me round the bend as a RefsSec when I'd get an email along the lines of "that team are disgusting", "they should be thrown out of the league", "they are animals", etc. Only to then find that no cards were issued during the game and no reports had gone into county .... :mad:
 
It's different, up here all of our reports go to the league unless it's a pro-youth, junior or senior game here - that's when it goes directly to the association.
 
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