We had a surreal game today that left a bad taste in the mouth. (I co-coach an U18 team). The ref pulled out at late notice and the home team, our opponents, supplied a ref who was one of the dads and was supposed to be qualified. It didn't start well when our player was clearly tripped at least a yard inside the area and he gave a free just kick outside. Then he gave them two goals, both of which had two of the most obvious fouls you can imagine in the build up. I mean ridiculously obvious. They then scored a third just before half time which was a fair goal.
The injustice of this homer fired us up and we pulled two goals back, then one of our players fouled one of theirs - it was a bad enough foul to earn a booking but not intentional and he immediately apologised and was pushed over by the player he was apologising to. This resulted in a melee between the two sides which we managed to calm down. Except one of the opposition players then ran 100 yards and assaulted with much force one of our lads. The ref booked our player who commuted teh foul and their player who initially reacted but I asked him, what about the assault from the number 6. He said there was a lot going on and he didn't see it, although it wasn't hard to miss. It really wasn't! I said, why don't you speak to your lino then and he reluctantly did (the lino was part of their team). He was honest and told the ref what the player had done and he had to send him off. I made sure I got close enough to hear him being told and that he knew I could hear it! He really didn't want to do it.
Our lads basically said they picked up after that from talking to their players during the game that the player who was sent off was a ringer named Harry (no Harry in their squad) and another of our lads who left at the time the opposition supporters/family were leaving reported seperately he heard them saying as much not knowing he was there. They were saying he was thinking of joining them! We ended up losing the match 4-3 but the incident made the game flat.
Sometimes we have to ref when the ref pulls out, but we and to be fair other teams refs when this happen are usually fair. In fact they tend to make decisions against their own side! When you see such blatant bias it leaves a bad taste. We missed a few chances at the end and maybe I should just forget about it and see that it was still in our hands- but it angers me they can get away with it. I am very inclined to put in a complaint.
Sorry, had to get that off my chest! Anybody else had anything similar and if so what did you do?
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Ref gave no cards at all but awarded us a corner! Definitely the worst ref i ever had. The rest of the game was a write off as players flew in on each other and it was amazing no one was badly hurt, save for the fella missing a tooth.
We played the same team the following week with a different ref and the match was abandoned after about 10 mins as they had already had 3 sent off !!
The abuse was generally continual for all of us refs.
The best bit though was when teams had no ref at all, and the manager would half heartedly ref from one corner of the pitch giving 60 yard decisions.
It may well be true that the standard of refereeing is poor, but the standard of abuse and threats has never been better.
If people want a game of football, but want to have a go at the refs...the neutral refs especially, fuck em if they're threatening and abusive. Supply their own refs from one team or the other then.
I can say one thing with absolute confidence, at Sunday league level I was a far better referee than they were players. When a player miserably scuffs a penalty yards wide, I didn't rush up to their face and scream that they ought to do something else on a Sunday morning.
However I would get the screaming treatment over a throw in on the half way line.
Yes ref’s make mistakes but when everybody tells him it was a goal and he point blank refuses to listen it leaves a nasty taste.
There is nothing so boring and pointless as a club managers meeting either!
My understanding has greatly improved and I now see that refs make so many difficult decisions and under great pressure. The managers and coaches could do so much more to help these young refs, but in reality they are the worst.
I hate losing. I always want to win. But not at all cost. I hate cheats more than losing. I don’t like Charlton to win by cheating. Cheats are scum and ruin the game from top to bottom. I hope you do file a report. I would not expect anything to happen as a result of it, but if everyone did it, eventually something would be done.
Mangers and coaches of junior teams just need to grow up. It is about the kids playing football for fun and in safety. It is not about their egos and glory. The game really is more important than the result. You should want to win, but fairly.
It turned out to be a promotion decider. The embarrassing thing about this was that we had also played a ringer that day. Neither manager or any of the players knew our secretary was going to complain. When the game was replayed we didn't have the stomach for it and got hammered!