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www.guildfordreferees.co.uk/
GUILDFORD REFEREES’ SOCIETY
(Founded 1925)
November NEWSLETTER
2015
Please try and attend.
The next meeting will be at
Godalming Town FC, Monday, November 9th 7:30 for a 7:45pm Start.
OFFICERS and COMMITTEE MEMBERS: 20013-14
Life Vice Presidents:-
Chris Burgess,
Ray Cotton M.S.A.,
Brian Fish M.S.A.
Geoffrey Comley,
Derek Hart O.B.E.
Ken Mills,
Brian Pearce M.S.A.
Vic Rolland,
Mike Topping,
Bernie West,
Cyril West M.S.A.
George White.
John Thornton M.S.A
Vice Presidents:-
Derek Berry,
Norman Brice,
Rex Faulkner,
Colin Henderson,
Phil Tilbury.
President:
Adrian Freeman 01483 894351
Chairman:
Tristan Greaves [email protected]
Vice Chairman:
Steve Ferris 01483 567985
Honorary Secretary:
Brian Fish M.S.A. 01483 420007
Honorary Treasurer:
Bob Dick [email protected]
Hon. Retention Officer:
Geoff Comley 01483 568577
Hon. Magazine Editor:
Roger Hall 01483 892218
Committee Members:
Life Vice-President:
Ray Cotton 01483 422560
Life Vice-President:
Vic Rolland 01483 503631
Shelby Elson
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Official Website:- Official Website:-
GUILDFORD REFEREES SOCIETY www.guildfordreferees.co.uk www.refereesassociation.co.uk
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EDITOR’S COMMENTS Roger Hall
“Another Roger Rant”
After a great meeting in September, October meeting was a no show. With our guest speak cancelling on Sunday night again and our Chairman and Secretary not showing up and our vice-chairman having to go early we were at a loss what to do. So we all went home. I have had an interesting month, after retiring last season I have been helping out when needed. I done my County Cup tie for this decade and unfortunately it was two GWA teams who were more interested in doing my job than playing football and it wasn’t enjoyable. Shouting Ref every 5 seconds didn’t help for a good game so I just ignored all the shouts which didn’t help when someone was shouting “ref” and all he wanted to know the time remaining and I ignored him too. After the match the goalkeeper gave his words of wisdom by say that you have to expect it because you’re a referee. I gave him my words of wisdom by saying “no I don’t”. He replied by saying yes you do, you’re a referee. “Doughnut”. This doesn’t help when our colleges in the Premier League get blamed for ever club that doesn’t win. Poor old Jose isn’t happy; after years of blaming referees he seems that he’s not getting the decisions he believes he should be getting. This Jose is called “Pay Back”. Is it human nature that when you constantly criticise someone, that someone thinks “sod you”, you’re not getting nothing. Works for me! I have also done two Elite games yes “the big time”, and it’s been a joy. The players go out and play football and only realise you’re there by the odd blow on the whistle. Which only confirms my thoughts of last year, clubs in the GWA go out not to win a game by playing good football but to dominate the referee. My postman had to have a few days off with a bad back because………. He’s back. Yes, Cyril has been in full flow, the man that can say in four pages that most of us would struggle to get out in half a page. So enough from me and enjoy.
14th September - Guest Speakers are Vince Penfold and Gareth Heighes
12th October - Guest Speaker is Charles Breakspear NO SHOW
9th November - Guest Speaker is Jason Connolly
14th December - Christmas Buffet
9h January - Guest Speaker TBA
8th February - Club/League Meeting
14th March - Guest Speaker is Michael Webb
11th April - TBC
9th May - AGM/Fish 'n' Chip Supper
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Adrian’s Tip of the Week Breakfast - Boil an egg to perfection without costly egg timers by popping the egg into boiling water and
driving away from your home at exactly 60 mph. After 3 miles, phone your wife and tell her to take the egg out the pan.
We have reached the 2 month mark in both the SCILW and the G&WAFL without too many mishaps. A couple of teams have gone from both Leagues but the good news is we have managed to cover all the games with Match Officials (famous last words). The 14th is looking iffy, I must admit with many of the clubs drawing home fixtures in the Surrey County Lower Junior Cup. We shall see. Yours truly has been working his fingers to the bone not only at the factory where they have this vision to move my section to a new location by Christmas.
I think this may have come to somebody whilst in a trance as nothing seems to have happened so far and there are rumours of having a ‘Project Manager’ to oversee the move. OMG!!! The other project for me is to renovate our bedroom. Eldest son Graham has completed all the plastering and painting so last Sunday I laid a laminate floor, took off 2 days from work and commenced the skirting. Diane wants it stained and varnished so there is no room for error. As the property was built around 1860 you can imagine how out of square everything is and the builders’ parentage (or the lack of it) has been brought into question quite colourfully on more than one occasion. I have just completed it this weekend so all I have to do is varnish and that part is finished (thank heavens). Roger contacted me with the news that there was some recently cut logs near him so with his assistance for one run and son Graham with his Transit on another I now have a pile of wood to take my chainsaw and axe to. Diane asked when I was going to start it and I pointed out that I wanted to really complete most of the bedroom first, I only have one pair of hands and showed her my parent’s wedding photo to prove that neither of them was an octopus! My most sincere apologies for missing last month’s RA meeting. I got stuck on the M3 and eventually got home at 7:40 due to Farnborough and the Hogs back both gridlocked. The following Monday there was another accident and I got home at 7pm so am pretty p#ss#d off with that road I can tell you. Keep the Referee Reports coming and don’t forget to keep your Ref Secs informed of any changes to your availability.
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GUILDFORD REFEREES' SOCIETY: Income & Expenditure for Season 2015-2016 Income 2015-16 Expenditure 2015-16 Subscriptions (15) 300.00 Referee's Association 216.00 GRS monthly Key Draw 17.00 GRS monthly Key Draw 5.00 GRS Meeting Refund 20.00 SCFA Referee Association Supplies (£140.50) 16.00 Donation AGM Supper 51.70 Sub totals 353.00 272.70 Brought Fwd 2014-15 2,556.42 Deposit A/c 2,562.21 Inc over Expenditure 80.30 Bank a/c 74.51 2,636.72 2,636.72
RMD October 2015
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Another open letter from the ‘double Chairman‘ bloke. Those at you with good memories, and who actually read my first 'open letter', will recall that l was intent on trying to get a qualified referee in the middle of each and every local ‘open-age’ with special reference to the Guildford & Waking Alliance and the Surrey & Hants Border Leagues. To that end I had first of all written to SCFA to try to get the matter dismissed at an upper level, but my letter made no impact at all. Since then I have been able to mention my letter and my later chagrin at the September meeting of the League Representative Committee, thus gaining an assurance that the subject will be aired at a meeting at the Referees‘ Committee. One of my salient points was (and is) that Surrey appears to have ‘leads of referees‘, not simply in total but at the several levels she would expect to see on any local League
My first guestimate included this phrase: '...these days Surrey has far more than 1,000 referees, and you can tell me that a tot at them are regularly ‘serving higher up the League ladders, but I reckon that there are, or should be, anything between 700 and 900 referees (of the right levels, 5, 6 & 7} to sever the 'middies' of all the games in Surrey at local level on any Saturday or Sunday. I added that I was aware that Combined Counties and Suburban required 3 officials per game, but not all from Surrey. I knew the phrase that tells us that there lies, than bloody lies, and than statistics, and am equally aware that you can (allegedly) prove anything with figures (!) but having taken a very wild and wide guess with the figure 700 to 900 I needed to ‘wise up’ a bit. There they all are, every registered whistler in Surrey, set out on pages 181 to 241 (inc) in our new County Handbook, with (mostly) lots of information about each ‘performer’. I simply test the truth or otherwise of what l had already written. My efforts at counting came up with the following figures:- 226 Referees at level 5, 90 at level 6, 491 at level 7 making a ‘potential' total at 807. How‘s that for wild west guess then? Could that possibly be the correct figure? Not really. Look again at each level 7 and note just how many ‘quality’ their officiating activity. 153 state that they confine themselves to ‘Under 18 games only', whilst another 26 list ‘small-side’ or mini soccer as being their chosen whistling activities. That means 153 + 26 to came off the level 7 figure of 491 = 312 level 7's potentially’ available for open—age games, or, taking the same deduction of 179 away from the original 807 ‘across the board‘ officials we are left with 628 Surrey referees at levels 5, 6 and 7, each of whore could probably be available on a Saturday afternoon. But back to my original plea, which was for all those who are active to try to ‘squeeze out' another 5% or, better still, an extra 16% of open dates for their friendly smiling League Referees‘ Appointments Secretary. ALL the players pay to play and every one of them deserves, expects and is entitled to have a ‘proper’ ref. CW.
RESPECT, the abstract concept! How long has it been going now? 5, 6, 7 seasons? Yes, it is the RESPECT item I am referring to, whether you call it a campaign, initiative, plan, aim or simply an idea. I have never been able to fathom out how anyone latches on to a word or even a few words and turns them into something we should (or must) all be aiming to do something about. ‘Mission statements’ likewise leave me wondering who thought them up and why? The F.A. does some rather strange things (but you already know that) including a once every 12 months excursion (maybe ‘intrusion’ would be the better word) into what is grandly sailed ‘The F.A. Standard Code of Rules for Leagues’, of which there must be several simply because of the varying standards needed by different ‘steps’ of Leagues. For 2013-14 season Rule No.1, section (F), said this:- This Competition and it’s clubs shall support the FA's Respect programme. As such it recognises that everyone in football has a collective responsibility to create a fair, safe, enjoyable environment in which the game can take place. A Respect League values the contribution of match officials, players and spectators, and ensures that they are treated with courtesy and fairness by opposing players, club officials and spectators. The League and it’s Clubs will seek to play fixtures in a fair, competitive but not antagonistic environment. I think we could agree that all sounds pretty satisfactory. Move on one whole year and Rule 1(F) has become Rule 2(E) and reads as follows:- Clubs must comply with the provisions of any of the initiatives of The RA. which are adopted by the Competition including but not limited to, Charter Standard and RESPECT programme.
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I reckon that is a retrograde step, ‘a watering down’ if you like of a whole paragraph that really said something and meant something. Who made that decision, and why? As Chairman I could quote Rule 1(F) to any Clubs or personnel seen to be stepping out of line, stressing that they had already agreed to conform thereto. If I try now to use 2(E) it wm not have 10% of the impact of the previous ‘RESPECT’ paragraph. Shame! RULES fascinate me, l could sit and read them for hours, in fact sometimes l have had to do so, it only to learn just how much or how little two Leagues, nominally of the same status, can manage to diversify slightly, even if only to make sure every Referee really does pay attention to ALL HIS COMPETITION RULES before he sets foot on the turf, be it hallowed or otherwise. We are now past the twenty season mark with the Guildford & Woking Alliance, so it is slightly more than 21 years since Ken Rusling offered me the job of Guildford League RefSec, to succeed Lucy Chairman, whose tally as the 1994-95 season hove into view was just 7 referees including herself. Therein l immediately saw THE OPPORTUNETY. Some years previously the ‘Western’ had seized its own opportunity by raiding the two ‘District Leagues‘, blatantly encouraging clubs to apply for status they had yet to earn and, in doing so, had been able to expand from 28 Clubs in 2 Divisions of is teams (plus 2 other Divisions of Reserves) to 35 Clubs in 3 Divisions of 12 teams (plus 3 Divisions or their Reserve teams.) A case of GBH by the more senior league on both the Junior Leagues. The scars were still visible, the resentment thus engendered was still felt in 1994, and still gets mentioned in 2015. But the very obvious harm done was that the Waking League was ailing. It had just 24 teams, arranged 8, 9 and 7 in 3 Divs. That included one Club with 3 teams in theory, but with the Fixtures Secretary's promise (and undertaking) that he would only arrange fixtures to 2 of the 3 teams each week. This strange arrangement was ‘balanced’ by the playing of no less than EIGHT Challenge and Charity Cup competitions. So 16 sets of Cup winners/finalists medals + 6 Champions & Runners-up League medals meant that more players got at least one medal each year than the number of players who went without altogether, and a whopping medals bill had to be paid. The Guildford League was better off than that, 4 decent Divisions most seasons, plus just a couple of Cups, but little sign of being able to expand or improve. l met Ken’s offer with a friendly ultimatum : Yes, I will take on the job, providing we put the two Leagues together within 2 years! I was then assured l would not get it past the ‘Woking lot! Challenged thus, l looked for allies. The late Rob Lewis proved to be a jewel, Secretary of Shalford F.C., Treasurer of Guildford Refs and Registrations Officer on the Guildford League, he and I and a few others of all set up two linked Cup competitions between the two Leagues, and then – simply - got them amalgamated. Part of the REAL WORK was revising two sets of Rules, with differences that had worked for both Leagues for years, and managing to agree which bits to keep and which to get rid of. My abiding memory (it is O.K. to say this now, but not earlier!) was of the elder brethren in both Leagues actually standing well clear and letting us reformers get on with it. I do recall Hambledon raising an objection on the grounds that they would be having to travel a lot further to away games during the season, and then, of course, we all had to decide who was going to do what in the Alliance ? I asked if l could be Treasurer, as the Border League kept me busy enough. This left 'Cedge’ Gregory (who has now, sadly, left us, R.l.P. ‘Cedge') to be RefSec, so in a spirit of helpfulness l sent forms to all the Guildford League refs for the new season, and offered to do the same to Cedge‘s Woking ‘list’, all to he returned to Cedge of course. He came back with the info that he did not have a ‘list’ as such. For his previous maximum of ‘about’ 9 or 10 games a week he got the Fixtures from Wally on Sunday or Monday each week, then rang round his 'usual' ref colleagues, usually coming up 2 or 3 short. Then he rang each home team to either (a) give them the name of their ref or (b) ask them to find someone or (c) try so-and-so this week because he's always looking for a game! (c) had 3 different candidates, all were referees, but each had (in the words of Cedge} “fallen out with the County" so they no longer registered, but were still able to blow a whistle. End of history lesson. CW.
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EQUALITY? It may he essential that you read my previous ‘article’ titled ‘RESPECT, the abstract concept‘
before you set about reading this somewhat similar item. I and again referring to what the has done and continues to do with the Rules that each local League has to comply with, and I am comparing wordings for two years or seasons, 2014-15 and 2015-16. For the former season League Rule 1 (Q) inclusivity and Non-Discrimination had text worded as follows:- (i) This Competition and each Member Club must be committed to promoting inclusivity and to eliminating all forms of discrimination. (ii) This Competition and each Member Club does not and must not (by its rules or regulations or) in any manner whatsoever unlawfully discriminate against any person within the meaning and scope of the Equality Act 2010, or any law, enactment, order or regulation relating to discrimination (whether by age, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, marital status, race, nationality, ethnic origin, colour, religion or belief, ability or disability or otherwise. (iii) This Competition and each Member Club must make every effort to promote equality by treating people fairly and with respect, by recognising that inequalities may exist, by taking steps to address them and by providing access and opportunities for all members of the community, irrespective of age, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, marital status, race, nationality, ethnic origin, colour, religion or belief, ability or disability or otherwise. {iv} Any alleged breach of the Equality Act 2010 legislation must be referred to the appropriate sanctioning Association for investigation. You might think that is not only clear, possibly doubly-clear, but maybe a bit too what l would call 'heavy-handed’ for the guidance of local ‘Football League Officers. But now move swiftly to the 2015-16 version of the Standard Code of Rules for Leagues, and to Rule 2 Section (D) (i): The Competition and each Club must be committed to promoting inclusivity and to eliminating ail forms of discrimination. (ii) Any alleged breach of the Equality Act 2910 legislation must be referred to the appropriate Sanctioning Authority for investigation. There is undoubtedly a lot of simplicity in this year's version, maybe a bit too much, as not everyone realises in just how many different ways we can offend against that 2010 legislation. But from a situation where every possible ‘method of inequality is listed, we then have a new version thrust at us, telling us we must guard against and eliminate ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION. As with the ‘RESPECT, the abstract concept‘ l wonder just how much time and effort any local League and its hierarchy can possibly be asked or expected to expend on monitoring such matters, serious though they may be? CW. EQUALETY, Part TWO: The Rugby World Cup is in full swing as l sit to make an observation or two on the vast subject of equality. l am unsure as to which code William Webb-Ellis intended the new game to ‘embrace’, Union or League, when he first grabbed the ball and ran with it. Today‘s Mail tells the oft repeated tale that the referee that day was one of the masters of Rugby School and he chased after the fleet footed player until the lad tell over the goal-line with the ball. Young William then asked "ls it a goal, sir?“ to then hear the reply ; "l don't know about a goal, but it was a jolly good try!" l prefer League simply because Union seems to have too many Laws and spectators cannot see what is happening in the scrums. But leave such niceties aside and consider if you will that apparently Fiji and England had to toss a coin to see which team was in the HOME Dressing room at "Twickenham, and Fiji won. And ‘YES' it does matter, simply because the HOME changing room HAS EVERYTHING and could be described as palatial, whilst the AWAY, version, without being ‘grotty' is nevertheless nowhere near so well equipped, and in fact is bereft of some of the ‘equipment’ considered obligatory right next door l I have read of such INEQUALITY previously, notably at The Emirates, home of Arsenal. How on earth can or could anyone actually plan to make two changing rooms very differently, where was the EQUALITY ACT of 2010 in their thinking and planning? l have read somewhere that the whole idea of the pre-match RESPECT handshake is a way for the HOME team to welcome the visitors to their home ground, an absolutely brilliant idea, so long as all the ‘Gunners’ accompany the usual perfunctory touching of fingers with a muttered: "Sorry about your changing room, we must have run out of money l" Please don't spring to the defence of Wenger & Co. and tell me that ‘they all do it’. They may all discriminate as between their own facilities and those provided for their visitors
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but that does not make it right. Similarly with some of the facilities that used to be ‘THE NORM‘ for match officials, even when the whole structure was recently built, with a separate bit for the referee always looking like an afterthought. Fairlands Wanderers (some time ago now) put you in the broom cupboard, with the line marker, & other assorted equipment, early days with the whistle were always a learning curve as to which venues had thought about the referee and which venues were best dealt with by ‘going already changed‘. Until The Football Foundation, Sport England and such like got involved with helping to provide better facilities for clubs, and people that played the game had a say in what was built it was often left to local Councils to erect what they thought was required, Stoke Rec. and its two football pitches, serviced by two long and narrow changing rooms being a classic example. Built for cricket, of course, hence the tea room in the other half of the building. The original benches stuck out another eight inches, causing Brian Adams (on being shown round at the ‘Grand Opening‘ to suggest they needed a carpenter with a decent saw.) LET'S MAKE IT ALL EQUAL! C.W.
Is the Premier League good for English Football? Discuss- l suppose it all depends what each of us want from English football or, maybe, how we would like to see English football develop. You will probably agree with me that the fact the Premier League is so competitive, that it is great to get up into it but, parachute payments notwithstanding, it is terrible to be relegated out of it, and for the top clubs to remain in situ they are absolutely bound to carry on recruiting from ‘abroad rather than from any home countries, ‘meaning that the money chase will be permanent, and teams labelled ENGLAND will continue to be made up of lust a few ‘stars’ plus others whose regular first team place in any Premier League team cannot be guaranteed. We have all had plenty of time now to not just ‘spot the trends’ but to also see the likely future. Do you see any other Premier Clubs, other than the Manchester pair and two, possibly three London Clubs, being Champions for the foreseeable future? For how long will the North East carry on with its massive support for its Clubs, Newcastle being outstanding in that respect, before the penny drops, and they realise that top of the League is (almost) a closed shop? l could describe myself as a long-suffering Wolves supporter, being there throughout what were their ‘glory years’, being fortunate enough to watch them win 3 different knockout trophies at Wembley, but just look at west Midlands in general, noting that Villa, West Brom, Brum and now Wolves are All looking for someone to buy their Club. Football fanatics need not apply, unless of course they are also multi-millionaires. Do you honestly see any or those 4 Clubs ever again being able to rattle the cages of the 4 or 5 clubs already mentioned? The die is well and truly cast. Not that the ‘select 4' are all that great, various clubs on the mainland of Europe, for a variety of reasons, appear to have taken stock of their own assets, worked out exactly what it is that those 4 clubs do and, sure enough, we are now finding it more difficult to ‘get past the group stage in the Competition that really matters (Champions League) and we are in dire danger of losing our right to a fourth entry. Slippery slope indeed. Bear in mind that the 4 clubs each have a foreign gentleman at the helm, so yet another way in which OUR English football is suffering. Yet here we are, ‘qualifying’ so very well, but mostly against nations we only used to play in ‘exhibition matches’, and we all know (DON'T WE?) that as soon as we come up against a decent team it will be “Excuses all round” again. There is something to be said for a tight quota for the number of native born players in any Premier League squad or even team, but the Clubs won't wear it and the F.A. are very unlikely to support it, and certainly would not force it. All of which leaves anyone coveting the title of England Team Manager as some sort of hero, or slightly ‘disturbed. You have to be ‘getting on a bit to have a clear memory of our England triumph in '66, those of us able to remember the Argentina and Portugal games, Sir Ali's conviction that “We shall win the World Cup”, and then that glorious Final, are privileged indeed, but we need to make the most of the memory, it is the only one we'll ever get. C.W.
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Yet another level of Referees, probably rightly so! How old do you actually have to be to remember
when there were just (allegedly) three 'classes’ of referees? l insert the word in brackets deliberately simply because it was just untrue. Joining Guildford Referees’, Society in November 1969 l found the Presidency in the almost permanent hands of Wesley Puttock, and Football League referee Malcolm Sinclair safely installed as Chairman, and ‘looked up to by all present mostly because of where he spent most of his Saturday afternoons. Sometime later Peter Adams revealed to me exactly how such luminaries were ranked so as to distinguish them from the ‘run of the mill’ Class Ones, not only by the F.A. but within each County as well. This system was followed by all of us being reclassified, my own Class One became a level 5, below that were 6 and Y from the 'old' 2 & 3, and then there had to be additions at both ends of the spectrum (a) to cover the various ‘stars’ above the 5's and (b) to recognise those still training, plus youth and level 10, the ‘non—actives’, the latter previously being either 1X or 2X (l believe that if you became non—active after serving your whole ‘career as a ‘3' they made you a 2X., rather than a 3X.) Which means that this particular ex-referee has been Class 3, Class 2, Class 1, level 5 and level 10, before going right off the radar. But it is the highflier’s l am really writing about, and so anything above level 5 will do. Most readers of this piece will know all about the level 4, 3, 2 and 1 referees, most of whom serve dual purposes doing middles on one League STEP whilst also doing lines on the League STEP above until they reach the ultimate steps where they may specialise on flag-waving or stay as a referee only, may become a FIFA man at either or both skills (but in succession) and then be subject to ‘age-limits’ or NOT (in some cases.) l noted recently that below our Premier League with its very select officials (l hope l have this right?) at this moment most of the Football League match officials are somewhat lumped altogether, but apparently the Championship (or is -it just its 24 teams) does not think that is right, so it is planned to take 18 selected referees (and presumably 36 assistant referees) from the Football League and call them match officials for the Championship. As the maximum number of Championship matches on any one day is 12, that figure of 18 means that if all are available, and l2 have middles, then 6 could be 4th officials. Any deficit of 4th officials when there are 12 games on the same day would have to be met from elsewhere, presumably from lower down the Football League. This extension to the number of (dare l say it) professional referees may be a ‘good idea’, and desirable, if it helps to improve standards generally, but surely Leagues 1 & 2 will also, very soon, be asking where their Professional Match Officials are? It has been interesting to watch, exactly what has happened to all the Premier League referees there have been thus far when their time has come to go, either on the “wicked” age limit business, or the clearly ‘time served’ category, the ones who may have embarrassed themselves, or the F.A., or football in general, and maybe a few who ‘got out’ far too early. Progress ‘? Yes! C.W.
HOW MANY MORE ‘Non-League’ Clubs do we need? Every amalgamation of two previously distinctly separate Football Clubs reduces the total number of Clubs by ONE, though it may not see a reduction in the number of teams. Shottermill & Haslemere were, for years, separate Intermediate Clubs. Ditto with Milford & Witley, the latter joint Club managing to field five teams tor some seasons, but, of course, the League the two constituent Clubs were members of (Western intermediate) were one Club short and minus two teams. ‘Refills have to then be taken from the next League below, meaning promotion for the right Club, the Club with ambition and with the players and the admin staff to support the rise in status. All the above is obvious and is taken for granted as being ‘what should happen’. Above the ‘Western’ is the Elite League and that too needs to ‘refill’ each season, not only from an occasional amalgamation, but also from some undesirable losses, where a Club folds and disappears completely. No system exists that will ever prevent that happening. Players are fickle, here today and gone tomorrow, often simply following a sacked or resigning Manager, maybe erroneously thinking they signed to play for him rather than they signed to be members of a CLUB. Looking closely at the local scene, and some of the personalities involved, remembering always what my wife tells me constantly ("THEY CAN'T BOTH WIN l"), one may express some sympathy for such people as Barrie Hogan. He has obviously ‘put in the hours’ over many seasons as Club Secretary, his First team lost the Premier Division by one point to Laleham but was pressure (from Manager and players?) to take the next" stab up to the Elite League, but leave a Reserve team behind. Was everyone in the Club consulted, was Barrie in
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favour, would he be listened to it he sought to offer some advice ‘? Fast forward to near the end of September ‘t5, Guildford City well and truly underperforming, time to change the Manager (again), how do such things work, does someone look round to try to find a ‘local‘, who approaches who, is Guildford City F.C. ‘attractive’ enough to entice a ‘name.’ or is money, or lack of it, the deciding factor? l just don’t know. All I do know is that Mr Hogan's Manager lumps ship to take the City post, maybe hoping to take some of ‘his’ players with him, only to find that exactly the same thing applies at City, plus, of course, several players have now to get off to University. Chaos abounds. Can/Will Godalming & Farncombe Athletics remaining players be good enough (& willing) to pursue the Elite trail, are any of their Reserves good enough to step up? Can City survive whatever their on-field losses are, with a young ambitious Manager possibly still ‘in shock’. Back to my headline question? Bear in mind that the Elite (and a few other Step 7 Leagues) are only in existence to shore up such as Combined Counties League and almost every Club at such levels struggles tor survival (not on gates alone} and yet we are encouraged to carry on insisting that more and more Clubs get floodlights and also ‘toe the line’ on all the other ‘Ground grading’ paraphernalia to ‘make progress’. It might be a good idea to listen, if only occasionally, to such people as Barrie Hogan. CW
Aldershot RA presents… Premier
League referee ANTHONY TAYLOR!
Thursday 12 November
2015 Aldershot Conservative
Club, off Little Wellington Street, GU11 1PE
On Thursday 12 November, we are delighted to welcome Premier League referee Anthony Taylor as our third PL guest speaker in as many seasons, following in the footsteps of Jon Moss and Kevin Friend. Anthony was promoted to the PL in 2010, making FIFA in 2013 and most recently officiated the 2015 League Cup Final (Chelsea v Liverpool) and the 2015 Community Shield (Arsenal v Chelsea).
Where else would you get to ask a PL referee the questions you want to know about being at the top – such as who the most difficult player to referee is or what Mourinho is really like at half time? Event Timings
18:45 – 19:15 – Youth RA Meeting & Youth Q&A with Anthony Taylor (for referees under 25) – including a free prize draw!
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19:30 – 19:45 – arrival for remaining referees and finger buffet / refreshments
19:45 – 21:30 – presentation from Anthony Taylor and Q&A More information on the event will be loaded to our Facebook event page and to Twitter over the coming days – and more information on Aldershot RA and what we do can be found on our website. If transport is an issue, please contact us and we can try to assist wherever possible. Parents are of course welcome to stay for the event too! Demand will be hot for this event and RA members will be given priority spaces – so to guarantee your place, RSVP to [email protected] by no later than Monday 9 November. We look forward to seeing you there! Kind regards, Richard Richard Honey Secretary, Aldershot Referees’ Association Chairman, Hampshire County Referees’ Association Home: 01252 872964 / Mob: 07847 258824
www.guardian.co.uk/football/you-are-the-ref
Thanks to “Touchlines” Sutton Referees’ Society for all the “You Are The Ref” questions
You play advantage after a foul on a defender just outside his own area. But when that player, in full control of the ball, immediately tries a long ball upfield, it accidentally strikes a team mate, balloons back over his own keeper and drops into the net. Is it an own goal?
……………………………………………………..
The fourth official holds up his board, signalling for the number 9 to come off. But, after the
change is complete and before play has restarted, the player’s manager, who was busy talking to his
staff, looks up and realises the wrong player has come off. You approach your colleague, who
sheepishly admits he pressed the wrong button. What now?
……………………………………………………
After a goalmouth scramble, a striker sportingly helps the keeper back to his feet. As he does so, he spots an opportunity so lets go. This causes the keeper to tumble back over the line, spilling the ball into the net. The striker wheels away to celebrate. Goal or No Goal?
~ 13 ~
Dear Referee The Football Association is committed to making football a game for all. As part of this work we need to who is playing, coaching and officiating our National Game. In 2013, The FA and all of football’s bodies and agencies signed up to English Football’s Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Plan and made concrete commitments towards achieving equality across the game. One of those commitments was to ensure that at least 10% of our referee workforce was from a BAME background (Black and Minority Ethnic background); reflecting the make-up of our society and the people who play the game. The FA has also committed to make sure we have more female referees and we want to make sure we are able to support and cater for referees with disabilities, from different faith groups, different ages and with different sexual orientations and gender identities. In order for us to achieve that 10% target we need to know the profile of who is currently refereeing. The Whole Game System (https://wholegame.thefa.com) allows all participants in football to anonymously submit details about themselves to help us to do this. When you log into your home page, and you click on the small Rainbow icon in the bottom left, this will bring you to a separate form. This simple monitoring form will ask you questions about your gender, ethnicity, whether you have a disability and whether you practice a religion, faith or belief and your sexual orientation. It’s an anonymous and confidential form, so none of the information can be traced back to you. Why do we want this? • Asking you for this information helps make football more representative. It supports The FA to ensure our programmes are inclusive and open to everyone; it helps us understand if people from certain backgrounds aren’t accessing or making the most of the opportunities to be involved in football; and it helps us to make sure that we provide such opportunities in the future. • The FA Group is required as part of its funding from Sport England and as part of English Football’s Inclusion & Anti-Discrimination Action Plan 2012-2017 to declare accurate and reliable data on people participating in FA-affiliated football • Only people analysing this data will have access to it, and, in line with diversity monitoring good practice, all forms are filed anonymously You are not obliged to fill in this form if you don’t want to, there’s an option to tick ‘prefer not to say’ if you’d rather not share some information about yourself. It’s more helpful to us if you to tick the ‘prefer not to say’ box rather than not to complete or partly complete this form. If you have completed the survey in the last few days there is no need to take any further action. If you have any questions about this, email [email protected] for support or more information. Regards Roger Vaughan National Referee Manager Kevin Coleman Inclusion Projects Coordinator The FA Group Wembley Stadium, Wembley, London, HA9 0WS Postal address: Wembley Stadium, PO Box 1966, London, SW1P 9EQ [email protected] | www.TheFA.com | www.wembleystadium.com www.twitter.com/FARefereesDept
~ 14 ~
MAD MONDAY
WHILE STOCKS LAST! Please make Bob your first port of call for all of your equipment.
Whistles Watches
Cards Match day Pads
Flags Socks Shirts Shorts
Please refrain from smoking in the meeting room.
Ensure mobile phones are switched off or switched to silent
Take your glasses back to the bar at the end of the evening.
Make sure you have signed the attendance book.
Note the date of the next meeting—we look forward to seeing you then and have a safe journey home.
~ 15 ~
THE GUILDFORD Referee Is the monthly magazine of Guildford Referees’ Society
Its aim is to give members notice of meetings, report on Society activities and act as a forum for members’ views, comments and opinions. The views expressed herein are not necessarily the view of the Football Association, FAMOA, The Society nor of it’s Committee Contributions (on any subject likely to be of interest to members) are invited, and should be sent directly to the Editor at least 16 days before the date of the next meeting. Guildford Referees Society meets on the second Monday of each month, August to May, at Godalming Town FC, Weycourt, Godalming. Kick off 7:45pm The Society is part of the SURREY REFEREES ASSOCIATION whose objectives are: To improve the status of Referees To improve the standards of Refereeing To promote a closer relationship between Referees and Football Associations and kindred bodies. To assist all such Associations in promoting the best interest of the game. To assist all such Associations in promoting their educational and general work. To establish Referee’s Societies of Associations in districts where none exist. To watch over and promote the Referees in general. To protect the members from injustice or unfair treatment. To assist or take action (legal of otherwise) for and on behalf of any member unfairly or unjustly treated. To make such representation to the governing bodies as may be thought necessary for the good of the
game and the benefit of Referees and Refereeing. To maintain a Benevolent Fund to aid members or past members or their dependents in case of need. To assist in maintaining a steady supply of suitable candidates to take the Referees’ examination. To provide social activities, as desirable, and to retain in membership those who have given up active Refereeing, that their experience may benefit the newcomer.
