A&H

Junior/Youth What am I doing wrong?

HarryD

HarryD

Well-Known Member
Had another good game that was (obviously) shockingly bad refereeing if you ask the losing team.

U18 League Cup game, two teams in the B division which finished 6-1. It was 2-1 to the home team at half time - no incidents worth noting. Bit of a boring half really. The only thing that happened was the worlds best CAR. He was treating it like a Premier League game, he was absolutely brilliant. Only had to overrule him once for a throw - not too bad.

Second half was, like all of my games, a different story. Five minutes after half time, I blew for a foul by Yellow 15. Three seconds later, Yellow 16 boots the ball at the face of an opposition player - utter numpty. Dismissed Yellow 16 for VC and had a word with Y15. Yellow assistant manager goes ballistic, asking for my number to report me as well as the usual nonsense. Five minutes after this, the assistant manager and home team CAR get into an argument over a decision which was completely correct - put AM on final warning. Nothing for a short while.

In the 59th minute, there was a confrontation between yellow 4 and orange 7 (home team are wearing orange). Was about to call them over when substituted yellow 8 grabs orange 7 by the back of the head and throws him to the floor. All three called over - yellow 8 gets a red for VC, orange 7 and yellow 4 get cautioned for AA. After this, the game went silent for about 25 minutes with just a caution for FT near the end.

What am I doing wrong to get these teams week in week out? They just see me and go mental - despite the fact I'm giving out cards for fun at the minute. This is going to be a longgg season!
 
The Referee Store
Absolutely nothing Harry , reading your post you were spot on with how you dealt with it

If anything..... the reaction you get from managers and coaches is probably due to the fact you are only 17 and not afraid to deal with offences properly .

Many young and new referees tend to be a bit scared to deal with situations head on but looking at your card count !

you don't have that problem :eek:

Keep it up and Managers and players will get to your style of refereeing and it should calm down
 
Just trust in yourself.

Sounds like you have done exactly the right thing but sometimes whatever you do , one (or both) teams will complain that you are biased/useless/blind/etc. Even if you have made a mistake you have done it honestly and you have almost always made fewer mistakes than the players! Each week you will learn more - if only not to worry if idiots get themselves sent off.

I had an U16 game today that was going beautifully until the last ten minutes. The away team went down 2-1 and then got frustrated and started flying in to every challenge so I started giving the FKs. Apparently, according to the home team and their supporters, I was incompetent and biased.
One of the home defenders went straight through the back of an attacker in a tackle; he may just have got the ball first but sent the attacker flying into the air - clearly careless - so I gave the FK. The defender was incensed - clear dissent - but I let it go with a stern word as there were only a few minutes to go and I put it down to frustration. At the final whistle the defender came over to me and proceeded to tell me at length that I was an appalling ref as I didn't know the rules, I then booked him for dissent (he told me I couldn't do that as the game was over - he really should read "the rules"). As I was leaving the pitch, a supporter came over to me and said "You are the worst referee that I have ever seen in my life - you should be down-graded, you are a disgrace." The supporter was probably 70 years old so I feel quite honoured to be the worst he has ever seen! (I didn't tell him that as a level 7 there was nowhere lower for me to go.)

The point is, did I get every decision right? Probably not. Did I do my best to be the best referee that I am capable of being? Absolutely. Was I the best referee on the pitch? No doubt whatsoever!

Without referees games would not get played and as long as you can say that you refereed honestly and to the best of your ability then you should be proud of what you do.
 
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Harry, best bit of advice I can give you is the advice given to me by a senior colleague when I went trough a tricky patch with teams behaving badly.

Don't let the bstrads grind you down.

Might seem a simple sentence, you will have heard it before no doubt, but think about it for a second. There is hidden wisdom in it. For the record he swore a lot more than that when he passed that titbit on to me.

These teams might not like you, that's their problem, but if you are handing out cards like candy I imagine your CFA love you. Always got to see the positive!!

:D
 
I find it hilarious when we have had a great game but the club official or spectators Think we're totally sh**
 
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I agree with McTavish and Monkey.

Keep handing out the cards in a fair and consistent manner and punish the stupid behaviour. Be confident and assured you made every decision to the best of your ability. Nothing else really matters.
 
Don't let it get you down, stay positive and keep going.

From your posts on here, it seems as though you're doing everything right. Keep being consistent and doing what you think is right. Maybe think back to the moments before each red card; was there a foul you could've given? Was there any sign that it was about to kick off? Sometimes, these things come out of the blue, all you can do is deal with it appropriately as you did.

It will get easier. :)
 
My best advice is short and sweet and two words.

It starts in F and ends in 'em

If youq know you had a good game, don't worry. I tend to find the better I've done, the more dissent I get. Teams don't like you spotting their cheating and punishing it. Well tough sh*t

My refs sec is great as well. He rang me last week and said I must have had a great game last weekend. I said how did he know, and he said well your club marks were crap... You must have done everything right

He knows the score
 
Couldn't agree with you more Herts.

However the other side to this is if you are going for promotion aren't your club marks taken in to account as well as assessment scores?
 
ref craig said:
I find it hilarious when we have had a great game but the club official or spectators Think we're totally sh**
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Indeed. I thought I had a good game yesterday (U16s Premier Div) but CAR (and match delegate btw) could barely muster a thank you as he returned my flag.

Probably because I have overrruled him on one throw in decision late on (Had no consequence as his team lost 3-0)

Didn't feel i missed anything, stopped play promptly for injuries, no dissent at all from players, couple of foul tackles that warranted a brief word nothing more serious than that, no trouble from the players.

Other times, when I have felt I missed one or two things or got one or two things wrong, people will be all over you, saying great game ref!

I suppose they don't see the games or judge our performances as we do.
 
Smudger said:
Couldn't agree with you more Herts.

However the other side to this is if you are going for promotion aren't your club marks taken in to account as well as assessment scores?
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Yep. Which is the problem with the system. You have to bow to clubs to get good club marks then change completely when being assessed.

It's ridiculous that you can get assessed at 75 marks each time and miss promotion because of club marks.
 
I reckon that at least 99.99999% of people the other side of the whistle have never read the rule book,just picked up hints and tips and slow motion replays on match of the day.
 
I didn't even know there was a law book. When I did the ref course imagine my surprise when I was handed this thin little book full of footballing laws.

I just thought the laws of football were handed down, word of mouth style, from father to son, older fiend to younger friend. As it was in the beginning! :)

After all, everybody knows the laws of football? Why do they need a book on it?

Hang on, you can't be offside from a goal kick? :D
 
I reckon the F.A. should give as pressies the LOAF to every player/manager blah blah then on the 1st Match of the new year every match would be sheer bliss.
 
I'd change the title to What am I doing right?

You're clearly coping and dealing with the situations appropriately. I'd suggest that's why you're getting the tough ones.
 
McTavish said:
At the final whistle the defender came over to me and proceeded to tell me at length that I was an appalling ref as I didn't know the rules, I then booked him for dissent (he told me I couldn't do that as the game was over - he really should read "the rules").
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The next time this happens, say thank you for his opinion and upgared the report from a simple caution to a full misconduct report. The Club will love him for the extra punishment.

McTavish said:
As I was leaving the pitch, a supporter came over to me and said "You are the worst referee that I have ever seen in my life - you should be down-graded, you are a disgrace." The supporter was probably 70 years old so I feel quite honoured to be the worst he has ever seen! (I didn't tell him that as a level 7 there was nowhere lower for me to go.).
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Be more honest with the supporters, thank him for his opinion and then if you really want to piss them off - Ask him "if he is associated with the club at all". Then you have a misconduct report again.

Clubs will learn at Junior level to keep their supporters in check as they will be p*ssed off having to attend CFA & league meetings to answer complaints.
 
HarryD said:
Had another good game that was (obviously) shockingly bad refereeing if you ask the losing team.

U18 League Cup game, two teams in the B division which finished 6-1. It was 2-1 to the home team at half time - no incidents worth noting. Bit of a boring half really. The only thing that happened was the worlds best CAR. He was treating it like a Premier League game, he was absolutely brilliant. Only had to overrule him once for a throw - not too bad.

Second half was, like all of my games, a different story. Five minutes after half time, I blew for a foul by Yellow 15. Three seconds later, Yellow 16 boots the ball at the face of an opposition player - utter numpty. Dismissed Yellow 16 for VC and had a word with Y15. Yellow assistant manager goes ballistic, asking for my number to report me as well as the usual nonsense. Five minutes after this, the assistant manager and home team CAR get into an argument over a decision which was completely correct - put AM on final warning. Nothing for a short while.

In the 59th minute, there was a confrontation between yellow 4 and orange 7 (home team are wearing orange). Was about to call them over when substituted yellow 8 grabs orange 7 by the back of the head and throws him to the floor. All three called over - yellow 8 gets a red for VC, orange 7 and yellow 4 get cautioned for AA. After this, the game went silent for about 25 minutes with just a caution for FT near the end.

What am I doing wrong to get these teams week in week out? They just see me and go mental - despite the fact I'm giving out cards for fun at the minute. This is going to be a longgg season!
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Everything you have written is completely correctly done. As a referee, you will go though a number of good matches and hard matches during a season. As other people have said, keeping going.

If you are worried that things are your fault, ask a more senior referee to come and watch you and give honest feedback. All senior referees are willing and wanting to help the more junior / inexpereinced official develop. First point ask at your local RA meeting.
 
SM said:
I didn't even know there was a law book. When I did the ref course imagine my surprise when I was handed this thin little book full of footballing laws.

I just thought the laws of football were handed down, word of mouth style, from father to son, older fiend to younger friend. As it was in the beginning! :)

After all, everybody knows the laws of football? Why do they need a book on it?

Hang on, you can't be offside from a goal kick? :D
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I was having that conversation with a life long football fan the other week, talking about refereeing in general, I said most people don't even know the laws, he nodded in agreement.

For example no one knows you can't be offside form a goal kick, I said - "What?!" came the reply , turning to his friend "Do you know you can't be offside from a goal kick!"
 
lincs22 said:
The next time this happens, say thank you for his opinion and upgrade the report from a simple caution to a full misconduct report.
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As this was on the pitch immediately after the final whistle, would not the next stage be a second yellow? If not, what sort of thing should I be saying in my report?
 
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