Some years ago in my old Isthmian league days, I was once applauded off the field at the end of a match at Oxford City. It is not something that happens too often to a referee so it tends to stick in the mind. By a quirk of fate I was back at Oxford six days later for a Friday evening kick-off. At the end of the game as I went back down the tunnel, a spectator shouted from the stand, ‘Not bad ref, but not as good as last week’. I hesitated before shouting back, ‘that was down to the players’. I wasn’t making an excuse just stating a fact. A referee’s performance so often depends on how the players react to his refereeing.
Let me give one example from that second match. Not long after the start, the ball bounced back towards the home penalty area, the goalkeeper came out to the edge of the area and caught the ball about chest height. One of the opposing forwards, chasing the ball, went in with his foot high towards the goalkeeper. He didn’t catch the goalkeeper: with the ball in his hands, it was obviously to his advantage to allow him to kick it up field so I didn’t stop the game for a free kick. Instead, as the forward ran back upfield, I ran alongside him with the comment, ‘watch the high feet going into the goalkeeper’. ‘What are you on about?’ he angrily replied.
The week before if something similar occurred the player would say ‘OK ref,’ perhaps even ‘sorry ref,’ or otherwise accepted the advice but this player denied what everyone could clearly see and turned it into an argument.
There has been much talk about the Respect campaign this season which is aimed at putting a stop to the dwindling number of referees. There are now just 22,000 referees in the country, the lowest number ever recorded. A third of games are played each week without a referee. It is often thought that the reason for the shortage is abuse of referees but I think it is a little more subtle than that. What dissuades many referees from carrying on is being worn down by the attitude of players, which is so often argumentative, belligerent, antagonistic and hostile.
At a recent match I awarded a free kick to the attacking side just outside the penalty area and as usual the defenders lined up a few yards from the kick. I went over to the kicker and asked, ‘do you want to take it quickly or want the ten
yards?’. A common enough question and you would think requiring a simple answer. ‘How can I take a quick one,’ replied the kicker, ‘with you standing in the bloody way?’ Of course had he asked to take it quickly I would have stepped back but he sought to make an argument about it. Compare this to another game with a free kick in a similar position. I asked the same question ‘do you want take it quickly or shall I get them back ten yards’ to which the kicker replied, ‘can you get them back 12’. We both chuckled.
Everyone raved about the recent Everton v Aston Villa encounter, which was a blood and thunder game played at great speed. The difference was that if a player was knocked over he didn’t roll about in exaggerated agony or get up wanting to have a go at his opponent or waving his arms at the referee demanding a foul. The players just got up and got on with the game. Praise was heaped on referee Malcolm Atkinson for allowing the game to flow, keeping his whistle to the minimum. Deserved praise of course but I’m sure he would be the first to admit, that it was all down to the
players.
Dick Sawdon Smith
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© R Sawdon Smith 2008