where do teams stand on last minute refs

[Guest chinner]

as manager of holmans 3rds we turned up to play newlyn at penzance yesterday as normal,having got changed and warmed up i approached the home side to inquire about the whereabouts of the ref,i was told he was on route and thought no more of it.with kick off imminent we took to the pitch only to discover a stand in referee wearing a jumper and a pair of shorts and handing the linesman two socks to use as flags.at no point before the game were we approached to be asked if we minded one of theres refereeing as far as we were concerned he was appointed.we duely went on and lost the game deservedly 3-1 but to be quite honest the referee was embarrasing,i know theres a major shortage of referees but surely we just cant have anyone doing the job and surely even if it happens the other team need to be asked,after the game the ref went straight away,signing no team sheets or nothing.this is not sour grapes on our behalf we rightly lost but i will be writing to the league to voice my concerns as our game yesterday was a total farce,the quote of the day being wheres jeremy beadle,this must be a wind up. can anyone out there confirm the procedure when a ref doesnt show,many thanks.

[B Manning]

To the best of my knowledge any standin referee has to be agreed upon by both teams.

[Guest chinner]

thanks for that,that was certainly the impression i was under to.will be contacting the league for sure.

[Coopsie]

To the best of my knowledge any standin referee has to be agreed upon by both teams.

That is also how I understand it to be aswell Mr Manning. Yesterday was an example for my Gulval reserve side. We had to play Newlyn at Cape Cornwall and as I am captain I got a text off my manager on friday afternoon asking if I was happy to play without a ref. Obviously Newlyn had contacted him and said that no official was available. I had no problems agreeing with this because at the end of the day, we just want to play football on a saturday afternoon. ALL parties had agreed with this and the game was played in good spirit.

chinner mate, I understand your frustration and you are perfectly within your rights to be p***ed off for not being informed of or asked about an unappointed official taking control of your game.. Good luck with the letter mate and keep us informed of any action taken etc.

[B Manning]

Just looked up the relevant part in the Duchy League handbook for this season and to quote "13 para B for referee`s "In the event of the non-appearance of the appointed referee the "CLUBS" plural, may agree on a referee. A referee thus agreed upon shall have the full status and authority of a registered referee. I hope this helps chinner .

[Eank]

Just to put the record straight

I was the stand in ref in question.

a) Newlyn secretary contacted Holmans secretary & agreed stand in ref.

I went over to team before game & explained that as a stand in ref I would to quote "Do my best, I will make mistakes but do my best to be consistant" The players then went on to pitch & off we went.

c) 5 minutes later I had been called a cheat 3 times & every decision was questioned loudly & this continued for the entire game, no decision against Holmans was not questioned !

d) At the end of the game league rules state that it is your job to find the ref & get him to sign the form "It is not his job to find you". I was in the next room to you changing from my jumper & then in the clubhouse for the next hour.

On a more personal note .. I had been asked to do this at the last minute and giving up my Saturday rushed to the ground with minutes to spare. I have played footbll at this level and above for thirty five years. I have stood in to ref over the last few seasond perhaps twenty times. I won't do it again because a team like HOLMANS chose to give me no respect or thanks. I have been asked many times why I do not become a ref and the simple answer is TEAMS LIKE HOLMANS and this goes for a whole generation of ex players like me, it's just not worth the abuse.

It is worth noting that Holmans are in the second division not only because they played very badly last season. I understand that despite having a official ref for a vital game they walked off the pitch when he tried to enforce the rules. From what I saw Saturday nothing has changed they still play badly & they still have no time for the rules.

Kelvin Hearn

[B Manning]

Hi Kelvin, I was not questioning your ability to referee all I was doing was to answer a question regardng standin referee`s, now as to being called a cheat and having your decisions questioned and your comment about the abuse and it`s just not worth it, could this not be the problem with the shortage of officials I myself have lost count of the times I have been called a cheat and been subjected to torrents of abuse and i will admit I do stand there some times and think what the hell am I doing here, but I too am an ex player who turned to refereeing ( many years ago now) but my only excuse for still being a referee is my love for the beautiful game if that isn`t too much of a cliche.

[The General]

Kelvin, your moral high ground for the rules is quite laudable.....

[Eank]

:

Kelvin, your moral high ground for the rules is quite laudable.....

I see your point, maybe poachers don't make good gamekeepers ? ............

[B Manning]

Kelvin, in my many years I have seen ex players make terrific referee`s also the reverse ex players who were hopeless as an official and then on the other foot i have seen referee`s who have never played the game make excellent officials and of course the reverse. So really there is no hard and fast rule that can be applied it is an individual thing.