A&H

Open Age Waterlogged pitch

zarathustra

zarathustra

RefChat Addict
So called my game off this morning, the middle third was mostly borderline but with several area which weren't playable.

This combined with the forecast of rain up until 2pm I made the decision to postpone the game.

Home team weren't happy (teams never are) but the away team proceeded to call me a **** (not sure who, it was behind my back) and then their manager has proceeded to accuse me of "not being interested", only turning up "for the money" etc etc.

He also phoned the league to have a whinge, but as I've just spoken to my ref sec he spun a load of lies saying I'd already been paid etc, despite the fact I hadn't mentioned money since I'd been there.

I've withdrawn my my game with this league next weekend, and I'm seriously considering withdrawing altogether.

I can deal with people getting excited about a decision during a game, tempers flare and I can deal with that. But getting called a **** and then having the coach in my changing room for ten minutes accusing me of all sorts is just too much.

Sorry for the rant, but needed to get that off my chest.
 
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Mintyref said:
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It's good to talk.

I'm still in my changing room at the moment, waiting until the away team have gone, there's a good chance that anyone getting in my face will find out how hard it is picking up their teeth with broken fingers.
 
Ciley Myrus said:
The team(s) have to accept, for better or worse, you as referee have made your call
If they have an issue, thats their problem to deal with
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I think they're probably just one of "those teams". Teams are rarely happy when a match is postponed, but their reaction was just completely out of proportion.

I just don't see any point in wasting my Sunday mornings with people like that.

I never have any problems on a Saturday afternoon, or in the ladies league, only Sunday mornings.
 
zarathustra said:
It's good to talk.
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It is.

Pay them no mind, your decision is correct and the only one that matters. But don't let them incite you to violence, at the end of the day that isn't worth it.

zarathustra said:
I just don't see any point in wasting my Sunday mornings with people like that.

I never have any problems on a Saturday afternoon, or in the ladies league, only Sunday mornings.
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Fair enough, go for the ladies leagues instead. They're on Sunday as well aren't they? Got to be better than dealing with the group you're currently dealing with!
 
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They wouldn't really incite me to violence, their coach just got on my nerves, and I just wasn't in any mood for their mischief.

I normally share my Sunday's out between the mens and ladies leagues, I'll just do games for the ladies league on Sundays for a couple of weeks and see if I feel like going back to Sunday morning football.

The refsec phoned me up straight away to check I was ok, which is how I found out that the away coach had spun the league a load of lies.

Not that there is much that the away teams report cod achieve, I am the sole arbiter of whether a pitch is playable or not.
 
Ciley Myrus said:
Tbh I would get moving before the midday ko ref comes along and decides to play!
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There's no danger of that, there's no afternoon Sunday leagues local to here, the ladies league teams all play on private pitches.

Also, just as I left it started to rain again, and was getting heavier
 
I Find if I need to talk in relation to postponing games, my 1st port of call would be the Association delegate to the league in which the game was due to be played

I find that 90% of the time after Describing the situation the delegate will back the decision I've made
 
Richard smith said:
I Find if I need to talk in relation to postponing games, my 1st port of call would be the Association delegate to the league in which the game was due to be played

I find that 90% of the time after Describing the situation the delegate will back the decision I've made
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While it wasn't an easy decision, like it would have been if the pitch had been ankle deep in mud or similar, I'm happy that my decision was correct.

I won't go into all of my considerations, but I was out there for a good 30-40 minutes, and I checked every inch of the pitch and I felt there were enough areas of the pitch which could cause a safety issue, and if it rained (as the BBC forecast it to) then the pitch would have deteriorated quickly.

It was also a case of players/teams taking what you say and twisting it to fit their own ends. I mentioned that one of my considerations was the threat of further rain, and the effect that word have on the pitch.

So he took that to mean that I only postponed the game because it might rain and that there were no safety issues and the pitch was otherwise ok.
 
JamesL said:
If I think I am going to have to postpone a game, I take pictures and videos of the worst affected areas and then send these to the league with my notification that the game was postponed.
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Thanks, I will keep this in mind for future games.

Apparently the away team told the league a right load of lies when they rang up to complain, claiming they'd already paid me and that I only made my decision after talking to the home team.
 
JamesL said:
If I think I am going to have to postpone a game, I take pictures and videos of the worst affected areas and then send these to the league with my notification that the game was postponed.
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Why is this necessary???? Would your league not take you on your word that the pitch is waterlogged??????????
 
Richard smith said:
Why is this necessary???? Would your league not take you on your word that the pitch is waterlogged??????????
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I am sure they would. Its a nice to do really. So @zarathustra has said that the away team has rang and complained. Had they had the pictures, they could have very quickly dismissed the complaint. Sorry mr joe bloggs of dog and duck. I have seen the state of the pitch and fully agree with refs decision.
Any need for all the ? ?????????????????
 
I'm involved with a league and it is fairly common for clubs to send us photos or videos of the pitch to try and claim the referee was wrong to call it off. As I always say to them though, a photo or video shows nothing as it may look nice and green but that doesn't mean that there aren't areas that are dangerous, e.g. frozen, waterlogged, etc. Referee's decision on this is final, if he says it is off it is off.
 
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