A&H

Post-match safety (a brainstorming session)

Ref X

Ref X

RefChat Addict
Grassroots Referee
https://twitter.com/x/status/1653352387120189443

I think everybody here mostly understands most of the risks of being a referee.

Every day there's another story or post about referee abuse, safety issues, etc. While some of this is out of our control, I'm sure there are lots of things we can do post-match to optimize safety.

I thought it might be a good idea to get a collection of ideas, strategies and tactics here in one place to keep officiating crews safe after games.

I'd love to get input from experienced referees on this too. What's happened to you and how did you handle it? What would you have done the same or differently after being in a specific bad situation? Stories and anecdotes are welcome.

(Admins - if this has been done before, I couldn't find it. Please link in the comments!)

Here are a few ideas I came up with after a recent high-level game I AR'd (6 yellow, 1 red for a coach, high-temperature game in the second half)

1. Usually you can tell after a game whether or not it went well
  • If you get a lot of handshakes, daps and fist bumps from players and coaches and feel confident about your performance, you’re probably in the clear (it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still be aware when leaving but there’s not a lot trending towards an incident)
  • If the players are upset, you feel like there were a few big incidents you didn’t handle as well as you could have and there’s bad mojo in the air, you need to stay sharp as the game finishes and you leave the field
2. Especially at higher-level games, the officiating team should always leave the pitch together
  • The whole officiating team should stick together from the final whistle
  • ARs and 4th should continue to flank the CR as they all leave the pitch together
  • Make sure everybody gets to their cars safely and then follow up with everybody via text/email
  • Don’t drive close to players or supporters if it’s not necessary
  • Keep your windows closed and pretend you can’t hear anybody if anything is yelled at you or your car
3. In some cases, it may make sense to wait until supporters and the team have left before you head out

This can be impractical because we all have lives outside of soccer and waiting at the pitch an extra hour may just not make sense. But it’s an option if you truly feel like it’s the safe choice.

4. Be strategic about where you park your car

I always do this regardless of the game because if something bad goes down, I want my car to be in the right spot.

Most teams I referee it’s for the first time and most people don’t know what car I drive. But I’ll usually park the car at the far end of the parking lot so that anybody who wants access to it will have to travel across the entire parking lot. For bigger parking lots, I can see this being at least a bit of a deterrent.

What else? 👇
 
The Referee Store
Get 100% decision correct. Please both teams and all spectators. Buy everyone a pint.
Problem solved. 😇

If I am not mistaken that game was a playoff.
I think for games like this, one team is always going to end up unhappy... So it's good to have an agreed exit strategy as a team. But there should have been a good number of league officials and security at the game to prevent this from happening in the first place.
 
Agree with most of that, but at the end of the game you really want the 4th official in or around the tunnel, not coming onto the pitch.

On games that I have been on that have kicked off, whether as referee or assistant, the three officials have always made a point of leaving the ground together, even if in different cars.
 
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