Earlier this year I attended a Referee Instructors’
course run by the Football Association at a further education
college in Lincoln. Apart from the national Conference of the
Referees' Association, this is probably the only occasion that
you will get such a large number of referees from all parts of
England gathered together in one place. If only the devil
could cast his net as the old saying goes.
One thing that I
noticed as I wandered around the car park was the great
variety of cars that the delegates had arrived in. There were
some recent and new registrations, some obvious company cars,
some executive models and others large family cars. Then there
were cars which I'm sure the owners might object if I called
them 'old bangers', but I particularly remember an A
registered Peugeot and an F registered Maestro and some
battered Ford Fiestas.
All these cars
were driven by people who not only wanted to be referee
instructors but who were already referees or ex- referees. All
of which I think goes to show that referees come from all
spectrums of society. What a person does for a living, what he
or she earns, what car he or she drives doesn't come into it.
There is no one type of person who is typical of referees, nor
has there ever been. It used to be thought that school-
masters make the best referees. Certainly the most famous
English referee of all time, the man who invented the diagonal
system of control, Sir Stanley Rous, was originally a
schoolteacher, and the best known referee in the Premiership
today, David Ellery, is a Housemaster at Harrow School.
On the other hand
do you remember the Englishman who brilliantly refereed the
1974 World Cup Final, Jack Taylor? A great referee, Jack was a
butcher. One of the best local referees to reach international
status was Charlie Kearse who had a window cleaning round
along the Oxford Road. Included in my group at Lincoln were a
company director, a maintenance electrician, a works manager,
a factory worker, a sailor and a policeman.
All these people,
whatever their occupation, whatever their background,
their age, have one thing in common, and in defiance of
common belief, it isn't a desire to be in control. It is quite
simply a passion for football. Every referee is first and
foremost a football fan and, just as there are no boundaries
for fans, so there are none for referees. But referees are a
very special type of fan, for they are contributors to the
game. An essential part of the game, even though their role is
seldom appreciated.
If you have a
passion for football and feel that you would like to become
one of these special people, then you first have to pass the
Football Association examination on the Laws of the Game. The
easiest and best way to do this is to take a course sanctioned
by the Football Association. The good news is that such a
course is being run on behalf of Berks & Bucks FA by the
Reading Referees’ Association starting on Monday 2nd
October at the Madejski Stadium.
All the
instructors are qualified FA Instructors and the course which
lasts for nine Monday evenings includes the oral and written
examinations. There will also be homework between each
session. The cost is £35, or £25 if you are under 18 or a
full time student. This covers all the training material
including the official FIFA booklet, the Laws of Association
Football, plus the examination fee and first year’s
registration fee to the Berks & Bucks FA.
Want to know more?
Contact Brian Wratten on (0118) 978 2681 or, if you are
online, you can find full details on the Reading RA website, www.readingrefs.org.uk
Dick
Sawdon Smith