| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... 20:15 - Oct 15 with 5192 views | davman |
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61425471
I knew things are not good at grass roots level, but how scary is the picture painted in this article? By the time I got into my 20s, I knew that football would only be fun for me, so whilst staying competitive, I was determined to enjoy it. I had my moments on the pitch, mainly when defending team mates from these idiots, who still thought that the football was the most important thing in their world and could justify trying to break someone's legs.
When it got too much, I pulled out of 11 a side leagues all together. I tried the competitive 5 a side at the local Goals Centre, but that was just as bad, if not worse - the abuse the refs got even there was scary.
It is awful. Yes, they can be diabolical (they are at the top of the game, so those in the park are going to be pretty crap), but not much of a game without one is there?
Is it football, or a reflection of society?
Sad times... |  |
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| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 11:03 - Oct 17 with 1135 views | PinnerPaul |
Oh and Davman - well done for highlighting this, but have to say your thread title rather sums up the problem mate! |  | | |
| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 11:15 - Oct 17 with 1113 views | Lblock |
| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 20:31 - Oct 15 by loftboy |
When I reffed 1992-2005 I had a bottle thrown at me, head butted , sat in my dressing room with my foot against the door whilst a whole team tried to intimidate me. Jacked it in when the FA were too lenient on one particular player who wanted to kill me. |
Was it you who sent one of our players off in the first 60 seconds once??
I think it was?
Game kicked off and decision given against him straight away to which he span around and bellowed "FCUK OFF REF!"... straight red and I met him walking back into changing room as I was walking out.
I asked him "what you forgot?" and I was shocked when he said he'd been given a red. Once I found out what for and why I wasn't surprised and agreed with it.
What is the game without refs? Yes most get loads wrong but it's a proper tough job which I know from experience when we were left without a ref for games.
I considered doing it years ago but decided against it as I just didn't want the hassle. All the lads who reffed our games were decent.... lads like Loftboy, Richard Cole, Les the Ref and Jimmy Moore BUT!! We used to come up against some proper nasty fcukers sometimes and get kicked off the park and you sort of knew the ref wasn't clamping down as the potential was there for aggro their way (not yourself Rob!!)
Football in this country will continue to destroy itself whilst the grey suits do naff all |  |
| Cherish and enjoy life.... this ain't no dress rehearsal |
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| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 11:18 - Oct 17 with 1116 views | davman |
| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 11:03 - Oct 17 by PinnerPaul |
Oh and Davman - well done for highlighting this, but have to say your thread title rather sums up the problem mate! |
Tongue in Cheek, Paul, but I get your point.
I still stand by the statement though. It IS a tough gig, but individual refs seem to have a real problem with consistency. You might say that at any level of football, the refs are just as bad as the players, which is true at grass roots, but at the top level, players are still making less mistakes that the refs seem to... | |
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| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 11:30 - Oct 17 with 1108 views | TheChef |
| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 14:49 - Oct 16 by Juzzie |
My sons U8 team played the same team from last week and they were just as tough as last week.
At least this time the ref was neutral and gave us free kicks and a penalty in a 3-3 result.
Problem was the opponents parents kept applauding and encouraging fouls, three of their players did it all game as a result. One of the boys did a bad foul and refused to talk to the ref or his coaches and it took a few minutes to get him off the pitch. His parents did nothing to reprimand him if his really bad behaviour.
Refs then have to deal with that.
As said, it all comes from the top down but there is so much money involved it’ll never improve sadly |
Wow and that's in U8 football?
Our youngest has just started in an U7 team, thankfully it's all been civil so far. |  |
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| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 13:06 - Oct 17 with 1093 views | DiggertheMole |
| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 21:33 - Oct 16 by CliveWilsonSaid |
It's something that I think we do really well at QPR. Yeh we have plenty of gamesmanship but we show great respect to the officials. I only heard about the fines issued to players here about conduct towards officials this season.
I'm not sure if it always works in our favour but I think it's great. |
Would generally agree about our "niceness" but it got us nowhere vs Lootown where from early in the game their players were mobbing the ref and demanding cards for the most innocuous of challenges - and it worked greatly to their advantage. | | | |
| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 13:30 - Oct 17 with 1076 views | loftboy |
| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 11:15 - Oct 17 by Lblock |
Was it you who sent one of our players off in the first 60 seconds once??
I think it was?
Game kicked off and decision given against him straight away to which he span around and bellowed "FCUK OFF REF!"... straight red and I met him walking back into changing room as I was walking out.
I asked him "what you forgot?" and I was shocked when he said he'd been given a red. Once I found out what for and why I wasn't surprised and agreed with it.
What is the game without refs? Yes most get loads wrong but it's a proper tough job which I know from experience when we were left without a ref for games.
I considered doing it years ago but decided against it as I just didn't want the hassle. All the lads who reffed our games were decent.... lads like Loftboy, Richard Cole, Les the Ref and Jimmy Moore BUT!! We used to come up against some proper nasty fcukers sometimes and get kicked off the park and you sort of knew the ref wasn't clamping down as the potential was there for aggro their way (not yourself Rob!!)
Football in this country will continue to destroy itself whilst the grey suits do naff all |
Yep that was me 😂😂
Knew all those refs you’ve just named, I got Les into it as he used to always run the line for Brentford Royals and was always honest and very good.
[Post edited 17 Oct 2022 13:33]
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| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 15:52 - Oct 17 with 994 views | PinnerPaul |
| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 11:18 - Oct 17 by davman |
Tongue in Cheek, Paul, but I get your point.
I still stand by the statement though. It IS a tough gig, but individual refs seem to have a real problem with consistency. You might say that at any level of football, the refs are just as bad as the players, which is true at grass roots, but at the top level, players are still making less mistakes that the refs seem to... |
1st line fair enough - next bit less so - but can see why that's the perception.
Good line from RefChat for a come back to grassroots whinging , "I'm not Michael Oliver, but you're not Cristiano Ronaldo, so get on with it!" [Post edited 17 Oct 2022 15:53]
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| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 16:32 - Oct 17 with 966 views | GroveR |
| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 10:19 - Oct 17 by terryb |
Please take these questions the right way Grove as I'm genuinely interested in the answers.
1) Are Wasps junior sides based in London even though the club play in Coventry?
2) Will the junior sides be affected if the expected administration happens?
I personally have no time for Wasps, due to the events of twenty years ago, but I had not considered how youth teams (Worcester as well) can suffer due to the failings of club ownership/management.
I hope your son continues to play & enjoys himself. |
Hi Terry, no worries. They're two different clubs. Wasps RFC went professional and moved, Wasps FC stayed amateur and are still at Twyford Avenue. |  | | |
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| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 16:53 - Oct 17 with 953 views | Juzzie |
| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 09:20 - Oct 17 by ThGrimRanger |
I think it's similar with politicians - all we do is slag them off. but then we end up suffering when the talent pool of people who are willing to do it gets smaller and smaller as a consequence [Post edited 17 Oct 2022 9:40]
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the lack of willing, IMO, is not about potential criticism. The people capable of running this country are in the private sector earning mahoosive amounts of money. Why be an MP/PM on a tenth (or even fifth, maybe smaller) of the salary? |  | | |
| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 17:35 - Oct 17 with 934 views | stowmarketrange |
| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 16:53 - Oct 17 by Juzzie |
the lack of willing, IMO, is not about potential criticism. The people capable of running this country are in the private sector earning mahoosive amounts of money. Why be an MP/PM on a tenth (or even fifth, maybe smaller) of the salary? |
Luckily most of them in Parliament can earn a fair bit on the side by working a few days elsewhere,including my own local mp,who combines his full time job serving his constituents with working as a mental health consultant in the NHS.
There isn’t any information about whether he takes a partial salary for either job,or the full amount for being a part time mp. |  | | |
| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 19:49 - Oct 17 with 889 views | Lblock |
| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 13:30 - Oct 17 by loftboy |
Yep that was me 😂😂
Knew all those refs you’ve just named, I got Les into it as he used to always run the line for Brentford Royals and was always honest and very good.
[Post edited 17 Oct 2022 13:33]
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Thought so!!!
Digressing away from the ref OP a bit but..... It causes me despair to see the collapse of the grassroots game and the culture of our "yoof".
I look back at those times as proper salad days - wouldn't swap 'em for the world.
Just cannot imagine not having a mob of twenty or so fellas all around same age, many with totally different other interests but thing that binded us together was playing footy and -- even more so -- having a right laugh about it as well. It was an excuse to meet your mates three times a week and led to such a social experience.
Now all I hear is leagues are folding (like the C&DSFL) and pitches are being sold off plus clubs wrapping up.... there seems to be a chasm now between U16's to Male Senior football.
I just don't get it | |
| Cherish and enjoy life.... this ain't no dress rehearsal |
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| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 20:13 - Oct 17 with 879 views | loftboy |
| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 19:49 - Oct 17 by Lblock |
Thought so!!!
Digressing away from the ref OP a bit but..... It causes me despair to see the collapse of the grassroots game and the culture of our "yoof".
I look back at those times as proper salad days - wouldn't swap 'em for the world.
Just cannot imagine not having a mob of twenty or so fellas all around same age, many with totally different other interests but thing that binded us together was playing footy and -- even more so -- having a right laugh about it as well. It was an excuse to meet your mates three times a week and led to such a social experience.
Now all I hear is leagues are folding (like the C&DSFL) and pitches are being sold off plus clubs wrapping up.... there seems to be a chasm now between U16's to Male Senior football.
I just don't get it |
Didn’t know the C&DSFL was folding, over 100 years old! I was awarded referee of the year in 2000 . | |
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| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 22:40 - Oct 17 with 822 views | ozranger |
Thought I'd add a little bit to this to say that abuse is not just parents or copying what happens in the Premier League. I have two examples from experience to show that there are other types of abuse that could get quite out of hand as well. They are both ethnic related.
The first was when I was refereeing back in Oz in the mid-90s. It was a preliminary final to see who made the grand final. The teams were a non-ethnic club and a Serbian club. The referee, the best in the area was also Serbian and chosen for the game. I was an assistant. He eventually sent off three of the Serbian team for various incidents including one youngster having a go at his mother in Serbian. Afterwards we were told not to leave the dressing room for 30 minutes at least. When one of the Serbian team's officials came in to collect the team sheets, he asked "how could you do that to your own people?" Unlike the ethnic problems that still exist in Australia between the Serbians and Croatians or the Greeks and Macedonians, here was abuse to the referee in a different language but with ethnic undertones.
The second was during the quarter-final of the Asian Cup in 2015 when I was photographing the match between Iran and Iraq. When the referee, Ben Williams, who went on to officiate in a number of matches at the Brazil WC, sent off an Iranian player. I had the perfect angle and my photo was immediately up on the Facebook page connected to the company I was working for. Immediately, there was abuse relating to the incident. However, unlike what we have seen in the posts above and my other example, this was not against the referee but his sisters, wife and mother, from the Iranian fans. I had to take down the picture and kill the comments such was the abuse.
Passion can come in many different ways and so what we unfortunately see so much here is just one way that abuse is given. It is just part of the way the game has been for quite some time. People have used football to channel their anger, their pride, their feelings whether towards their own club or against others. The big question is how can we separate passion from abuse and how can we make sure that only the first is shown at grassroots football? |  | | |
| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 00:17 - Oct 18 with 793 views | Lblock |
| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 20:13 - Oct 17 by loftboy |
Didn’t know the C&DSFL was folding, over 100 years old! I was awarded referee of the year in 2000 . |
It’s gone already I think mate
2000 was a slow year….. we marked you high that year clearly | |
| Cherish and enjoy life.... this ain't no dress rehearsal |
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| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 09:38 - Oct 18 with 739 views | derbyhoop |
| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 15:52 - Oct 17 by PinnerPaul |
1st line fair enough - next bit less so - but can see why that's the perception.
Good line from RefChat for a come back to grassroots whinging , "I'm not Michael Oliver, but you're not Cristiano Ronaldo, so get on with it!" [Post edited 17 Oct 2022 15:53]
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My son got injured so had to give up playing. Now reffing in Sydney amateur leagues. One exchange went
Player- you're a f***ing shit ref
Son - if I was any good I wouldn't be refiing at your level.
And on the Rugby side, I remember a Scottish lock who was 6'8" lamping an opposition.player at a lineout. Ref was feet away and saw it clearly. Ref hands him an obvious red card as the Scots guy towers over him. The Scot was very apologetic and polite but he still got his.marching orders and trudged off without any protest. |  |
| "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the Earth all one's lifetime." (Mark Twain)
Find me on twitter @derbyhoop and now on Bluesky |
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| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 17:29 - Oct 18 with 676 views | PinnerPaul |
| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 13:06 - Oct 17 by DiggertheMole |
Would generally agree about our "niceness" but it got us nowhere vs Lootown where from early in the game their players were mobbing the ref and demanding cards for the most innocuous of challenges - and it worked greatly to their advantage. |
They had 2 yellows, we had none, doesn't sound like it worked to me! | | | |
| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 17:55 - Oct 18 with 646 views | Juzzie |
| Refs ARE crap, but no-one deserves this... on 11:30 - Oct 17 by TheChef |
Wow and that's in U8 football?
Our youngest has just started in an U7 team, thankfully it's all been civil so far. |
Thankfully it's the only those two games it been like this all year, all the others have been fine.
Talking to another of our club's coach it seems that the other club in question has a bit of a reputation through all age levels. It's either 'cos they're from a rough part of Hounslow (no excuse though) or it's trained in by the coaches. Or both.
Can't see much of a future for those lads on or off the pitch if that's the mentality being drummed into them. | | | |
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