From grassroots to the Premier League, referees of all ages are faced with challenges every time they put on the kit. Whether that is receiving abuse on a Sunday morning from a kid’s parent, or being heckled by a stadium full of supporters, being a referee is no easy job. So why do it?
My name is Nick, and I am a first year student at UCFB studying Business & Sports Broadcasting. For an assignment I have been tasked with creating a blog based on a niche subject. This blog will be based around Refereeing in football and ultimately why people want to get into it.
Something I intend to do for this blog is to interview referees of mixed levels and managers, to get their views on topics like VAR and referee abuse. I also want to find out why people get into refereeing, and whether they intend to turn it into a career. This blog will include upcoming match reports based more around the referees performance rather than the players.
The topic of refereeing hits home for me, I have been a grassroots referee now for five years and ever since I started the role, the way I watch football has changed. Football as a sport has changed, technology is taking over the sport, whether that is goal-line technology or VAR. Not only players, but referees as well, are having to adjust to the changes to the game. Everyone has their own opinion on football, referees, and the technology used, this blog allows me to express my views on the game but more specifically the refereeing.
Every referee has their own reason for getting involved in the role, for me it was to remain in the game. I played as a Goalkeeper from U8’s all the way to U18’s for my local club. I always knew I wasn’t good enough to make it pro, I just loved the game and being a part of it, this is something I didn’t want to lose, hence becoming a referee. I also wanted to become more knowledgeable in the sport, and properly learn the rules, but the biggest reason was to give something back to the community. Knowing that I am helping young players develop their understanding of the game is one of the best feelings.
In the last couple of years football has changed dramatically, especially this year with VAR. Personally I am 100% pro VAR. There needed to be something put in place to support Premier League Referees. Yes VAR has had some teething problems and given pundits plenty to discuss, but what it has also done is offered referee’s a second chance to view a decision they may, or may not have made. Before VAR, referees only got one chance to make a decision, based on their positioning and line of sight. Pundits and fans through the media have access to multiple views of an incident, something that referees didn’t have before VAR. Everyone makes mistakes, including referees, so surely it’s a good thing that VAR has been brought in. With time it will improve, it’s just a case of giving it time to adjust to the Premier League.
It will also hopefully put a stop to abuse to referee’s. This is such a big issue in society today, and it is no different in football of all levels. The majority of people that have been to a game of any level, from U8’s to the Premier League will have heard abuse shouted at a ref, and some will have heard of the stories of teenage referees being assaulted during or after a game. I have been lucky enough to have very rarely been abused during a game, but it does happen. When that ref kit goes on, people seem to forget of the age of the referee, or the vulnerability of them. I remember being verbally abused in my first season of refereeing, I was 16 at the time and it terrified me, I froze. Would someone talk to somebody with the intent to abuse them at work or in public, if not then why does this change during a game of football.
So with all this change in football, and the stories of referees being abused and assaulted appearing in the news, why do people want to referee in the game that millions love, and is there enough support networks in place?
Nick's Blog 