Tag: non-competitive

Pre-season friendlies: A dangerous game?

Pre-season non-competitive games (think ‘friendlies’) are a bit of a challenge. In an ideal world, they would all end up like the pre-season game I did last weekend: Both teams knew each other, gave good banter, played with spirit and didn’t kick each other off the park. In fact, it was probably one of the most enjoyable games that I have refereed!

Ultimately, that is because both teams came along with the right attitude. Of course, I will naturally state at this point that I gave it the right ‘refereeing touch’ to allow them to just get on with it. Empathy is very important.

In the news, there has been another incident of a friendly becoming decidedly less so. Ilkeston v Mansfield Town was abandoned when the Mansfield manager instructed his players to leave the field of play. He was unhappy that three of his players had been injured, some to hospital treatment level, by the same opponent. After the game, Ilkeston suspended the offending player, subject to an internal investigation.

The player was also substituted following the third injury but clearly the damage had already been done, and the abandonment soon followed.

It is sometimes ‘customary’ for referees to be somewhat shy of using formal sanctions (cautions and dismissals) in pre-season games (“It’s only a friendly, ref!”). Hence a problem player is sometimes managed by way of him or her being substituted instead. This is a very dangerous game to play as if a game slips away from being ‘friendly’, choosing to not use any formal sanctions immediately removes key components of the referee’s toolbox.

The Laws Of The Game apply to pre-season games just like any other. I explain to the players before such games that just how friendly it is going to be is completely down to them and how they play the game. Cards will count! It would be great not to use them but I will use them if it comes to it. It’s a clear message.

Equally, ‘roll on, roll off’ substitutions are NOT permitted in pre-season friendlies (again, because the Laws Of The Game are the same!). There always seems to be the expectation that they should be allowed which is, sadly, down to some referees getting it wrong. Teams ARE allowed as many substitutes as they like, however, due to it not being a formal competition.

I’ve several more pre-season games coming up. It will be very interesting to see how they vary in tempo and temperature!

Do you have any pre-season game stories to share?

First refereeing gig of the pre-season

I have been performing various duties as Assistant Referee in the last few weeks. Yesterday, I got to be the ‘man in the middle’ instead so that I could make sure I had not forgotten how to use my whistle and so on!

Virginia Water (Surrey Elite League) take on Feltham (Combined Counties Football League) each year. As a pre-season non-competitive game it should (SHOULD!) be a ‘friendly’ but as I always say to the players… just how friendly it is will be down to them. Cards still count.

A notable point here is that ‘roll on / roll off’ substitutes are not allowed in these games. Some referees seem to let this go but Surrey FA are explicit on this one: Don’t do it! It’s just like a competitive game in that regard, with such substitutes only allowed in veterans and youth football.

I had never refereed either of the teams so had no idea what to expect. However, you can get a good feel based on the atmosphere before the game, as players arrive and so on. It was a good feel: Everyone was smiling, happy and welcoming. The sunshine probably helped! The management teams and players from both sides gave the impression that it was a game to be enjoyed and would be in the right spirit.

The game went well. Feltham certainly had the run of it, which is to be expected given that they are in the higher league. That said, they only managed to score in added time. At times the game was scrappy which resulted in a lot of fouls being given. I like to let the game flow where possible but when a lot of the fouls were blatant trips it is hard to do that. There would certainly have been scope for cautions for Persistent Infringement but the atmosphere stayed friendly with players helping each other to their feet and apologising. I will make the most of this before the season starts for real!

Breaking the ice: Pre-match inspection and chat!

Hand-shakes all round at the end. What are my own comments on my performance?

  1. APPLICATION OF LAW: I’m happy I caught pretty much everything. This included disallowing a goal due to a very blatant push on a defender. An easy sell though as it was so obvious! I was aware that I need to get back into the habit of remembering player numbers though in order to keep full awareness of Persistent Infringement.
  2. MATCH CONTROL: The game was played in good spirits and I only needed to ‘have words’ a couple of times. In a competitive game I would have certainly cautioned one player for dissent but it was not needed this time around due to the overall good spirit. The important thing for me here is that I was all set to give it and did not ‘bottle it’.
  3. POSITIONING AND FITNESS: Happy with this. I was in a good position to sell all of my decisions and kept moving. Reacted to where the ball was dropping on set pieces. I did start to flag a little during the second half so there is still room for improvement.
  4. ALERTNESS AND STOPPAGES: There were no surprises. Quickly reacted to an extra ball appearing on the pitch. There was some confusion with a substituted player trying to come back on again but this was resolved before play was restarted.
  5. COMMUNICATION: I was really happy with this. I felt like I had a very good rapport with the players throughout the game. Explained my decisions as required but to be honest, most of them were pretty obvious (blatant shirt pulls, pushes, trips…). I’m also happy that I indicate WHERE a foul was well (this is important when bringing back advantage, so that the player who CURRENTLY has the ball doesn’t feel like they are being accused of something!)
  6. TEAMWORK: Club officials. They did a good job. I overruled upon occasion (such as an offside flag going up too early) and all handled in good grace.
  7. ADVANTAGE: Average. I did play some good ones, although sadly no goals resulted. However, I missed one obvious opportunity when I should have just given it a few more seconds. Hindsight!

Overall, a really enjoyable game and I am looking forward to the next one! It will be for a lower league so it will be interesting to experience the differences…