Referees

[das scooter boy]

The abuse Nicole Andrews got the other night at Tarbolton by the home management and supporters was nothing short of a disgrace.

She actually had a good game IMO and i have been critical of her in the past .

Her dad recieved abuse as well as they were leaving.

 

[DavieGee16]

Wasn't at the game so can't really comment on the individual circumstances. However it would appear that abuse of referee seems to be part of the amateur game now. Not only does it happen at the game it then extends to social media. Then if referee goes and sends people off for this abuse people's consensus then appears to be if they can't take abuse they shouldn't be refereeing amateur football. The referees need a wee bit more backup and stiffer bans need to be dished out for people abusing referees.

[NewBallsPlease]

What game was she refereeing?

[cannybefukd]

4 hours ago, NewBallsPlease said:

What game was she refereeing?

Tarbolton v Shortlees it was .

[Northboy]

I'm struggling to think of any other aspect of life where someone can dish out the type of abuse which is regularly directed at referees and then walk away without sanction.

[PenaltyShootOut]

3 hours ago, Northboy said:

I'm struggling to think of any other aspect of life where someone can dish out the type of abuse which is regularly directed at referees and then walk away without sanction.

Agreed but if you made a baws up at your work a guess you would you would huv tae explain yirsell? A dont condone the abuse and some o it is totally vile however there are a lot of refs who dont help themselves and appear to get aff oan it! They literally can do, say, give whatever decision they want oan the park and never huv tae explain and get away wae it cos associations jist take their word as gospel! Theres a lot of guid honest refs at this level and there's some arrogant cheats and thats fact. Nicolle andrews is a decent honest ref fae whit ave seen ryt enuff

[Northboy]

10 minutes ago, PenaltyShootOut said:

Agreed but if you made a baws up at your work a guess you would you would huv tae explain yirsell? A dont condone the abuse and some o it is totally vile however there are a lot of refs who dont help themselves and appear to get aff oan it! They literally can do, say, give whatever decision they want oan the park and never huv tae explain and get away wae it cos associations jist take their word as gospel! Theres a lot of guid honest refs at this level and there's some arrogant cheats and thats fact. Nicolle andrews is a decent honest ref fae whit ave seen ryt enuff

Contrary to popular myth referees do have to explain themselves as they progress through the ranks. Pretty much from junior level upwards they are assessed frequently and I hear that these assessments are fairly critical. Hard to believe when you see some of our top refs but supposedly the cream does rise to the top. I would agree that at grass roots level there are is generally no monitoring of referees performance, no requirement for training or keeping up with LOTG etc. This cannot be a good thing. Certainly some are arrogant and incompetent but I have never seen anything to suggest to me that any referee was a cheat.

[Lex]

And these same guys who abuse the refs on match day wonder why there's a shortage of referees at amateur level.

[itsmaba]

Correct

[Hawkeye the Gnu]

1 hour ago, Lex said:

And these same guys who abuse the refs on match day wonder why there's a shortage of referees at amateur level.

Couldn't agree more with this. As a former referee myself, I have personal experience of the abuse that goes around. It is worse IMO at amateur level than  in the 'bigger' leagues as the abuse is much more personal. There are not hundreds or thousands of anonymous fans making a noise, but you are much closer to the offending scum who do it and can actually have direct eye contact with them. Some refs chose to turn a blind eye (or ear) to this abuse, even from players and officials, and this only makes things much worse for the poor sod who comes along at the next game and get the same dose as the offenders think that because they get away with it one week, it must be ok. However it takes a very strong personality to have the courage to actually challenge this and take the appropriate action.

Can only sympathise with Nicole and her dad, who I believe is a former ref himself and he must have been really pissed off at hearing the abuse directed at his daughter.

I miss being actively involved in the game but still get fucking angry when I hear this abuse. I found they are generally cowards who would never confront me this way on a 1:1 basis if I met them in the street.

[DavieGee16]

Couldn't agree more with this. As a former referee myself, I have personal experience of the abuse that goes around. It is worse IMO at amateur level than  in the 'bigger' leagues as the abuse is much more personal. There are not hundreds or thousands of anonymous fans making a noise, but you are much closer to the offending scum who do it and can actually have direct eye contact with them. Some refs chose to turn a blind eye (or ear) to this abuse, even from players and officials, and this only makes things much worse for the poor sod who comes along at the next game and get the same dose as the offenders think that because they get away with it one week, it must be ok. However it takes a very strong personality to have the courage to actually challenge this and take the appropriate action.
Can only sympathise with Nicole and her dad, who I believe is a former ref himself and he must have been really pissed off at hearing the abuse directed at his daughter.
I miss being actively involved in the game but still get fucking angry when I hear this abuse. I found they are generally cowards who would never confront me this way on a 1:1 basis if I met them in the street.

To be fair don't imagine you would be walking down the street just dishing out red cards or blowing for a pen that never was [emoji23]

[energyzone]

And these same guys who abuse the refs on match day wonder why there's a shortage of referees at amateur level.

Are there though? I can't think of a time when an amateur game was called off because an official couldn't be found?

[Hawkeye the Gnu]

Perhaps Lex should have said a shortage of quality referees...sometimes the ones who are found at the last minute are the ones prepared to take the abuse.

[NewBallsPlease]

It's true to say that there is no requirement for referees to attend training or even keep abreast of the Laws of the Game. The vast majority of leagues won't even have a clue if their referees have paid their yearly fees. However if this were to be insisted upon their WOULD be a shortage of referees and games would be unfulfilled as a result.

[54_and_counting]

2 minutes ago, Hawkeye the Gnu said:

Perhaps Lex should have said a shortage of quality referees...sometimes the ones who are found at the last minute are the ones prepared to take the abuse.

there's a shortage of quality refs at amateur level because there is no reason for a ref at that level to actually knock his pan in unless he wishes to go further as a ref, the majority of refs at amateur level are in it for the 26 quid an hour they earn tax free, and when they know they have to answer to no one as long as they turn up on time and play 90mins the majority of them dont try to better themselves

[NewBallsPlease]

£26 per hour tax free. Where's that figure coming from?

[pleslie99]

It's true to say that there is no requirement for referees to attend training or even keep abreast of the Laws of the Game. The vast majority of leagues won't even have a clue if their referees have paid their yearly fees. However if this were to be insisted upon their WOULD be a shortage of referees and games would be unfulfilled as a result.

Referees are required to pay their fees prior to the following season otherwise they become debt suspended and are unable to referee at any level. They are also required to attend training and meeting and failure to attend will restrict their ability to progress or referee higher profile matches.
So unfortunately your point about leagues not knowing about referees even paying their fees is false as they are all instructed at the start of the season and during the season as to what referees are registered or not. Any league silly enough to allow unregistered referees to officiate is leaving themselves open for all sorts of accusations

[Hawkeye the Gnu]

58 minutes ago, DavieGee16 said:

To be fair don't imagine you would be walking down the street just dishing out red cards or blowing for a pen that never was

Good point, tho you obviously haven't seen me staggering home from the pub of an evening...

[Hawkeye the Gnu]

43 minutes ago, 54_and_counting said:

there's a shortage of quality refs at amateur level because there is no reason for a ref at that level to actually knock his pan in unless he wishes to go further as a ref, the majority of refs at amateur level are in it for the 26 quid an hour they earn tax free, and when they know they have to answer to no one as long as they turn up on time and play 90mins the majority of them dont try to better themselves

absolute pish.

What about the guys who have played until their mid thirties, then move to the dark side due to their love of the game.

These referees are unlikely to progress beyond the amateurs due to their age, but doesn't make them poor referees.

Pleslie99 has already covered the last part.

[NewBallsPlease]

Not true pleslie. The majority of leagues have no idea whether referees have paid their fees. I know referees are required to do it, I know failure to do it leads to a debt suspension but I also know that many leagues don't check it out.

 

For the avoidance of any doubt I am pro referees and the job they do in amateur football (all football in fact) but we have to acknowledge that some do not meet the standards expected. Some are very good referees and will never go beyond amateur games for various reasons. Stevie Nicholls, Davie Somers, Kevin Nolan, Tam Gilchrist, Gordon Kelso are all examples of good amateur referees and spread across various leagues.