That time of year again

Just a little something for those who don't normally work with neutral assistants. If you click here, you'll find an old blog post from 12 months ago which will help with your pre-match instructions to your assistants.

Is it over yet?

Another crazy week in football has passed and I still have a mountain of reports to complete before taking the rest of the week off.

Last Monday Jamie, David and I planned out the next Basic Course for New Referees being held at County HQ in October. This one is slightly different in that both of the RDOs and David are not available on the first week, so as Course Leader, I'll have more work to do.

Tuesday saw me take a trip to Savile Park in Halifax to watch a new referee in his first open age 11 v 11 game. Michael was on the course in May and this was his first opportunity to put into practice the things he learned. He put in a good stint and writing his coaching feedback report was easy to fill with compliments.

On Wednesday I travelled to our office in Livingston (Scotland) to support the manager there with some staffing issues. The staff involved work on the night shift and my last meeting finished just after half past midnight. I got back to my hotel and crashed into bed around 2 a.m. On my journey back from Scotland I think I triggered a speed trap, so I'm waiting for a call from the hire company to advise they have received a ticket!

Thursday night and I turned in at the County HQ for a meeting about Full Time, the free software and website package provided by the FA to help leagues keep on top of their administration. Our Sunday League is in our third season of using Full Time and I still picked up some tips and tricks that I will put into practice over the next few weeks.

On Friday I went along to the local athletics track to support friends and colleagues as they tried to pass the County Fitness Test of running for 12 minutes (completing a minimum of 2500m in the process) and then completing 2 50m sprints each one in 7.5 seconds or less. Most got through but there were a few casualties, but I'm sure they'll be back next year.

Saturday came and went with a trip to my latest Supply League game. It was a good performance by all three teams and a really enjoyable game. This was closely followed by another coaching trip to watch a relatively new referee on Sunday morning, followed by my first assessment in the FA Women's Premier League. In rushing about between games I may have triggered another speed trap ... two in four days!!!

The FAWPL games are still assessed on Supply league standards, but without the provision of a written report for the assistants. The report is finished but needs proof reading before I send it off.

Finally last night I completed another Supply League assessment and that will be typed up tonight (Tuesday) before I take a rest for the remainder of the week. At the weekend I have two promotion candidates to assess then two more Supply League assessments on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. No rest for the wicked!

Game 26

A great game to officiate on and I thought the referee had a cracking game.

An early goal settled the home team down but an equaliser and three more goals for the away team saw the home team disappointed. The referee managed a lot of situations for which I may have issued a caution, however his match control was excellent.

This is a particularly brief report for one simple reason - I was on another game today and suffered what I have decided is a career ending injury. More on this later.

Calories 1919 (a new record) and I think this is because my fitness is less than previously so when I work hard, the recovery time is longer, meaning my pulse stays up.

For Sale - one whistle, one notebook ...

Having suffered a re-occurrence of an injury I incurred 3 years ago, which made me virtually lame for 6 weeks, on top of the worry about a re-occurrence of the Achilles injury which has just taken me out of action for 5 weeks, I have had to contemplate the unthinkable ... is it time to hang up the whistle?

I am considering my options at the moment. I've chatted to friends and colleagues about it and I've been comforted by their comments about my desire to stay involved in the game, as an assessor at a higher level than the one I currently operate at. So my current plan is to see out this season as a Supply League Assistant referee but this may have to be curtailed if I don't feel I can meet the demands of the pace of the games to which I am appointed.

When the weather stops being as foul, I intend to start training on the track twice a week to keep my fitness up and protect against further injuries. When the nights get lighter then I will train on a field instead of the track. I certainly will not make myself available for games 5-6 days each week when the midweek fixtures kick off in late March and will restrict myself to a maximum of 3 games and 1 training session or 2 games and 2 training sessions.

If I suffer no further injuries I plan to register as a referee for next season but not as a Supply League Assistant. That will be my last season on the green stuff whatever happens and I will hang up my whistle in May 2011. If I decide that it is too much for me, then I will hang it up at the end of 2010.

If I decide to retire earlier, say at the end of this season, then I will be asking my Supply League if I can shadow an experienced assessor and perhaps offer my services to them for next season. If they agree, I may just retire completely from Saturday football at the end of this season and do one more season refereeing on the occasional Sunday.

The plans are pretty fluid at the moment and depend on appointments received (I'd be daft to reject a cup final if I was appointed to one), injuries incurred/aggravated, the response of my current/former Supply League to my offer of help and finally, the least of my worries, whether I am still enjoying refereeing.

When I went out on Sunday morning I really enjoyed myself and after a 5 week enforced break I savoured every single minute out in the middle, enjoying the fun with the players, admiring their skills and even having to make/sell close calls. I am going to miss that aspect of the game.

Game 23 ... Return of the Baldy

So it was a tentative return to the green stuff assisting Craig in the middle and Chris on the other line.

We had the bottom club against the club who have been bottom for much of the season and with the heavy rain experienced in the local area for the last two weeks, we knew the field would be soft and cut up easily. The warm up was gentle and I was nervous about pushing myself too hard as I was still having twinges in the Achilles damaged in Game 22. Even so, I felt comfortable, if a little hyped up, after the warm up.

The game kicked off at 3 pm and by 20 minutes past I had managed to tweak my soleus tendon in my left leg. It was nothing too serious, certainly not as bad as when I did it 2 years ago on the line in the FA Youth Cup at Farsley Celtic. I was "crabbing" as much as I could as the assessor was my mentor David who picked me up on being out of line with the second rearmost defender a few weeks ago.

The home team took a lead in the first half, taking advantage of a disastrous goalkeeping error and then they fell asleep letting the away side equalise almost immediately. Just before half time, the home team added a second and a few minutes after half time, they added a third. So with the score at 3-1 they seemed to have stamped their authority on the game and as the temperature dropped, settled into a deeper and deeper defending position, letting the away team push on.

The away team took advantage of a bad goalkeeping error and as the ball was lobbed into the goal from around 25 yards, the tempo of the game began to grind up through the gears. The home team continued to strike on the counter attack and re-established their 2 goal cushion following a close "not offside" call right in front of me. So at 4-2 with less than 20 minutes to go, you might expect the team bottom of the league to collapse or at least just play out the game.

Well this team obviously hadn't read the script and pushed hard for a third goal, which they got and then an equaliser with less than 2 minutes left on the clock. Neither team wanted to concede another goal and we finished at 4-4. Craig had cautioned three players, one for dissent and two for USB. All were justified and the player who got his card for dissent was lucky not to pick up an earlier caution for leaving the away goalkeeper in a crumpled heap after he challenged him late for the ball.

So at 4-4, I suspect the away team will have been happier, twice having been behind by two clear goals. Despite this, if you had offered both teams a point before kick off I think they might just have taken it bearing in mind their relative league positions.

Now the big thing for me, having come back to the green stuff after a 5 week break through injury was how did my fitness hold up. Well to be honest not too well. As mentioned I tweaked the tendon in my left leg and my Achilles certainly wasn't happy in the second half, but I'll cope. I burned 1877 calories (which is a lot!!!), average hr 84% and a max of 98%. I intend to train the week after next before deciding whether I take on my next line on December 12.

I think I might have to retire from the line and concentrate solely on refereeing. This will certainly hinder any chances of promotion next season but it might just prolong my career past the 10 year mark.

I have a lot of other things I can do in the game and I certainly don't want to end up refereeing from the centre circle in the lowest division of the lowest league just so I can stay in the game. I'm not instructing on next week's course but I am ear-marked for the course in February (Happy Valentine's Day my dear wife x) and hopefully I'll get picked up for May's course.

After that I'll re-register for next season but probably not operate as an Assistant on a Supply League so I can assess at that level (if accepted). I'm not looking forward to it as my friends have often said, you're retired a long, long time!

Another busy day

Chuckle Elder passes his Football League fitness test (yay!), I start scouting for referees for a local tournament (bad move), receive some good advice (thanks David) and my pre-season friendly between Guiseley and Sunderland is moved back to August 11.

This last one means closing another date with my Supply League. My mail to close the date coincided with receiving some guidance notes from the League Chairman who also has the role of Referee's Officer. I hope he doesn't see this as some sort of knee-jerk reaction and that I really was only advised this evening of the change of date.

Oh well ...

My pre-season friendly featuring the team I have supported since I was a boy has been cancelled.

Instead I have been retained for the replacement fixture featuring a Unibond side vs the only team from the North East of England who still play in the English Premier League. I have lost the opportunity of working with Chuckle Elder as the game is on a different day, but I am now out with Mr H ... that will be a treat! So I've lost my dream team and favourite colleague but I get a higher quality team and an established FL referee - happy days!

As for the Achilles injury incurred on Friday, it seems to have been eased. It flared up again this afternoon after taking the dog, boy and Mrs on a walk for an hour around a local park. I think it's the high heel support on the brand of trainers I wear that's causing the problem. I wear the same brand of boots during the season, which would explain the lump and swelling on both Achilles!

Supply League Assistant

I asked to change Supply Leagues when re-registering for the 2009-10 season for a couple of reasons, the major one being that I'd done all I was likely to do in my existing league in the 5 seasons in which I had refereed/assisted, felt I was getting stale and I needed a change of scenery.

I hadn't received a notification letter, despite many others getting theirs. I was a little concerned that maybe I'd been dropped as an assistant. I phoned Mr C at the County office and he confirmed that I had been moved to the Northern Counties - East League and my letter had been sent out. On hearing that it hadn't arrived, he agreed to send me another.

I then have to accept my appointment and then the appointments will start coming in for August 8 onwards. I'll need to be careful with closing my dates this year to ensure I don't create a bad impression in my first season. I almost feel like the new boy at the grammar school!

Speaking of closing dates I need to send an e-mail to The FA to close my dates through to the end of November. I have been nominated by my County for consideration to The FA's competitions, FA Vase, FA Cup and FA Trophy. An appointment in any of these competitions or the Youth or Women's Cups are always a real boost and a great honour. I've ready a list of dates from pre-season tournaments, prior engagements and work on which I can't take games.

I hope I get an appointment like Fat Lad, who was on ITV.com for the highlights of the preliminary round of the FA Cup last season!

Game 58

Another game and another with a lot riding on it ... 1st vs 3rd in my Supply League's Premier Division and two teams who have provided some real highs and lows of football over the last few years - an interesting night ahead.

Some background first though ... yesterday while driving my young school to my mum's where he spends Tuesdays and Thursdays, I was driving past Jcn 45 on the M1 when the cambelt on my "Beast" snapped and did untold damage to my engine as well as stranding me by the motorway. After the recovery, the driver took my son on to my mum's, the car to a garage close to my home and then dropped me in a nearby town to catch a taxi to work.

All good so far but then I had a criss crossing journey to get my son to nursery, my wife to work and me to work. The return picking him up, collecting my wife from work and then dropping at tonight's game left me with little time to prepare. Martin and Craig were already there and but not changed. On getting changed Martin mentioned his calf strain which he felt was ok and we were ready for the game but without a warm-up which made me nervous.

We kicked off and there seemed to be little cutting edge being demonstrated by either team. Then disaster struck ... not me this time, but Martin and he had to be replaced by Craig who did a fine job. The away team opened the scoring 8 minutes before half time and doubled it 8 minutes after the break. They seemed to be coasting to a victory until a breakaway by the home team.

I was following play through to the penalty area and watched in disbelief as the defender clambered all over the attacker, committing a foul for me - but some 50 yards across field from my position. As I raised my flag, Craig, who I couldn't see because of bright, low-level sunshine, blew the long blast on the whistle. This all happened in a split second and as I signalled a kick from the penalty mark, Craig ran into the area and pointed at the mark.

The resulting goal rattled the away team and they conceded a second goal. For a few minutes they looked like they might concede a third, but gradually they got control and the game petered out to a 2-2 draw. Craig had a fantastic game, certainly showing that he has little to fear when he inevitably moves up to the next level of refereeing, despite having to issue some cautions as indiscipline crept into both sides.

Nevertheless, it was a good night for all, except Martin who might have to rest for a couple of weeks. Calories 1278, average hr 78% max hr 92%.

Game 52

As mentioned below Marine Boy was taking care of the semi-final of the District FA's inaugural U14 cup. What made it even more special was that the competition was named after his grandfather. If it had been me, I think the emotional tides would have been running very highly and he did well to control this game, which got a little scrappy at times. But on to the full story ...

He arrived with Titfer who was on the opposite line to me and we got the pre-match chat over and done with, once I had showered away the outputs from my morning game. The game kicked off and within 10 minutes the score was 1-1 as first the "home" side and then the "away" side scored.

I had little to do, apart from repeatedly ask for my line to be cleared, as play seemed to be constantly at the other end of the field. One spectator had a menacing looking dog who, according to his owner wasn't interested in me, just my flag that was flapping in the light breeze.

A second goal for the home side put them into the driving seat at half time and their third, just after half time, killed the tie. The away team wanted to make some substitutions which took a little time to resolve as they had played their two named substitutes from the start of the game, leaving two players named in the starting line-up as substitutes.

It was resolved amicably but had little impact as the home side added a fourth goal. A nasty challenge just before this goal saw a caution for one of the home team's attackers. A disagreement a few minutes after the 4th goal, saw a team mate collect the game's second and final caution. Time ran down and we finished at 4-1 to the home side. I burned 947 calories 92% max and 76% average.

After a quick shower it was time to meet Landy and Fat Lad for a drink and a catch-up before heading home for something to eat - I was starving!!! Recovery training scheduled for tomorrow night and something a little tougher perhaps on Wednesday. No training on Friday as I'm heading south to visit the in-laws. Back at it though next Monday!

Game 50

An early morning call from Fat Lad as he was heading to Thorp Arch to assist on an academy game but didn't have the post code of his destination, having mislaid the correspondence about the game.

Once I'd given him directions I didn't expect to receive a further 4 calls receiving progress reports on his journey and his arrival! I made my own preparations and headed out for my Supply League line at the home of the team who won the league in the 2006-07 season. They haven't done too well recently and their top scorer from the last two seasons has travelled back to his former home around 5 miles away, leaving them short of attacking options.

I was picked up by Captain Currie and he drove us the 20 or so miles to the game. We were greeted by the assessor and the match referee who neither of us had worked with before. Once the pleasantries were complete we headed out for the warm up. I had some reservations as my tweak from two weeks ago had contributed to a severe bout of cramp on Wednesday night. Nevertheless, we managed the lap around with the shuttles without any discomfort.

The game kicked off and was a scrappy affair ruined by the wind blowing from one end of the field to the other. The away team scored their first goal just after the start of the second half when a defensive mix-up saw the lone attacker going around the goalkeeper and putting the ball into an empty goal. A caution near the end of the first half appeared to have dampened the enthusiasm of the home centre half (who usually has the role of team manager) and it was his mistake that lead to the goal.

The away team added a second goal a few minutes late and despite the consolation goal almost immediately after, the game was played out to a 2-1 away win, with just one more caution for the home team. I had a fantastic "wait and see" moment as the ball was played by an attacker right in front of me, towards his team mate standing 3 yards offside.

The defence howled at me to raise my flag, the player who played the ball stopped and the ball trickled past the offending player. He then put a foot out and pushed the ball further upfield , immediately changing status from being in an offside position to committing an offside offence and my arm shot up like it was on a spring. That was the end of things except to mention that the referee thought he'd lost his match fee but had popped it in a different trouser pocket from the rest of his cash!

A quick sausage sandwich, pint of orange squash and a mad dash back down the motorway to meet Fat Lad ensued. We were soon joined by Johnno and another colleague. Fat Lad regaled us with the tale of his early arrival at his afternoon game. He bought a newspaper and a Mars bar in a local shop to while away the time. As he was waiting for the teams to arrive he managed to dribble on to his pristine white shirt and spent the rest of the pre-match and post-match conversations trying to cover a chocolate coloured splodge with his tie!

He offered me a lift home so that Captain Currie could take the short route home and then when he dropped me off, he tried to drive off with my kit bag still in the back of his car. Fat Lad isn't getting any more sensible in his old age. Calories burned 1225, average hr 75%, max hr 89% - easy :-)

Game 48

Easy one this between the reigning Supply League Champions and the team which has finished runners-up in the two seasons prior to that - not!

I'd never met the referee for today but I knew the other assistant from the Youth tournament I've been doing in the summer for the last 6 years. He was also Dee-El who ran around 3400m in last night's fitness test. I was pleased to hear that he had a few aches in his calves today (he-he!).

The game was a toughish one to manage but the referee did a great job issuing only two cautions when I might have dished out 4-5. He tried to play some brave advantages and most of them came off for him. So he had a good day.

Dee-El ran his socks off on the line helping out the referee to award a kick from the penalty mark for the home team. It came a little too late. They had shipped 3 first half goals and a 4th in the second before the home team got themselves into gear.

As for me, I was loping up and down the line, nursing my tweaky leg through. I forgot it most of the time especially on two occasions in the second half and one in the first. In the first I managed to drop my flag while trying to swap hands when awarding a corner kick. At the start of the second half one of the home players was substituted and then talked to his friends near the perimeter fence. Space was tight and as the ball was played through, I stumbled over his toes and went sprawling.

The third incident made it all up to me. I had noted 4 WAGs of players near the half way line and as I stood there waiting for play to restart during an injury assessment, I heard one say that they thought I had nice legs while the other commented on my backside. As I smirked I was brought down to earth by another spectator who promptly told me that it wasn't me they were talking about. I pointed out that they couldn't possibly be talking about the other assistant as he was too far away.

In between times, the home side pulled back 3 goals to set up a grandstand finish. They would have gotten a draw had it not been for the excellent/brave saves by the away keeper who seemed superhuman at times.

So 1271 calories burned with an average of 73%, max 91% - a stroll ... honest

Postie

My "chat" at the County FA has been scheduled and will be completed on March 9, which is good news.

The postman also brought an appointment as Assistant to Sarge for a game between Huddersfield Town U18 and Derby County U18 a week on Saturday. There's some disagreement over the kick off time which I need to sort out. If it is the earlier time, then I'll comfortably make it to my afternoon Supply League Assistant's appointment. If it's the later time, then I may need to beg a favour from the referee!

Game 44

This was my first line since the end of November and like riding a bike, it's not something you forget how to do.

I had to assist the referee a few times today, most noticeably during a mass confrontation, when both the other assistant and I provided information to the referee who was then able to take appropriate action. The assessor seemed happy with all of us and highlighted something for each of us. My point was that I was in too early to indicate offences had occurred rather than giving the referee the opportunity to get in first.

It's something which has been pointed out in another assessment before. On this occasion I thought the point was harsh as I can only remember indicating 4 free kicks. On two of those events occurred after the direction of play had changed and they were late challenges or off the ball incidents. The referee in both cases had, correctly, followed play and on another the referee and I went together. I acknowledged the assessor's point with good grace as it's not good manners to challenge someone who has given up his Saturday afternoon to help three referees develop their game. After all, if that's all he found fault with, then I must have had a good game.

The game finished with an away win and they did well in that respect as they completed the game with 9 men and the home team with 10 following indiscipline. I burned 1622 calories, with an average hr of 75% and a max of 95%.

The best part was going back to the meeting point where I'd parked my car and I found Munch, Fat Lad, Tank and Johnno having a quiet drink after their game. I joined them as did the referee. We were soon joined by Jimmy2bob who was on his way back from his own game. A good half hour of swapping tales rounded off the day nicely. Also got a text from Dr Jones to say that a game we were due to do together back in November is back on for next Thursday!