Football as we all know is the most popular sport in the world. What’s not keeping up with it, especially in this country, is the number of referees, so many games are played without qualified referees.
At the higher level of course this is not really a problem. Where the shortage is really felt is what is known as ‘grass roots’ football, in other words is what is played on our local parks.
When we had our local training teams before it was centralised, we were limited to 24 people on a course and the County FA decreed that we shouldn’t have more than four who were under 16. Today, it is the other way around, there are seldom more than four who are over 16.
There are perhaps two main reasons for this, one is the Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme. You can gain points if you become a football referee (community service).
The other is money. The starting age for referees is 14. Until they are 16 they can only referee teams that are two years younger. So an under 12 match doesn’t last very long and often a referee can do two games on the same day. The fee can be as much as £20 so that’s £40 for a mornings work.
As one youngster said to his grandfather ‘Better than a paper round’ which is of course where many of us older types earned our pocket money.
We must not decry early starting as the last three number one referees in this country began as teenagers. Howard Webb was 15, Martin Atkinson 16 and Michael Oliver, today’s top man, was 14. The problem is that not enough of them continue refereeing after a couple of years.
There are many reasons given for this. One often quoted is they then go to university, but I don’t see this as an excuse for not continuing with the whistle. However, whatever the reason, the fact is that not too many of them get to go into adult football.
As I’ve said, in the past many older people took the referees exam. Many of these would have been players, who for some reason decided not to continue playing.
It may have been that they weren’t too good and felt they could get further as a referee, others through injury or age, who had enjoyed playing and wanted to ‘put something back into the game’.
If this describes you, then why not think about refereeing. Full details on how you can go about it can be found on the Berks & Bucks FA website. You could be refereeing by the time the next season starts. The clubs and leagues will welcome you with open arms.
By Dick Sawdon Smith
