A&H

Running the line for the first ever time!

Nathan Fletcher

Nathan Fletcher

New Member
Level 9 Referee
Me and my friends have agreed to be our school referees/linesmen, where we referee all our school fixtures at home for all year groups, and will rotate each game for who runs the line and who referees.

I'm settling into Sunday League now, but over the next 2 weeks I will be doing my first ever game running the line! I'm very excited but very nervous, as it is also a derby game vs a rival school very near by! Any tips please? Never ran the line before, so I really do not know what to expect. Any little tips/tricks much appreciated!!

Thank you!
 
The Referee Store
The referee will give you some instructions before the game about how they want you to help. If you are unsure about anything, then ask a question.

Other than that, try to move use a sidestepping movement along the touchline so you can see whether you are in line with the second rearmost defender (you count the goalkeeper as one of these two defenders). Make sure your signals are clear and confident. Always look at the referee as you go to signal to make sure you are going the same way as they are leading you. Keep smiling.
 
Make sure your flag is always where the referee can see it, so when running hold it in the hand closes to the FOP, usually the left.
Don't do what I did in my first effort and run with the flag curled up found the stick!!
 
Running the line as a 14-year-old for school games (when there wasn't a 2nd eleven match!) was how I got the bug, even though I only qualified years later when the local authority ruled that only teachers and qualified referees could ref.

How basic do you want the tips? Check you know what "whole of the ball over the line" looks like, and (assuming that in a school derby you'll be allowed to call offside) get your head round the latest nuances - and be prepared for a referee who doesn't actually think school football should be played to those rules!

And hope for one of those moments when you can show you know what you're doing - like from a corner the ball hits the post and comes back to the taker who plays it again. Get that flag up before the referee can blow!
 
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