Amateur Refereeing, A Problem Worth Solving?

Last week I considered the ability of referees to do their job sufficiently with the speed and complexity of modern day professional football. Yet an equally pressing issue is that of the refereeing situation in amateur football.

Due to a lack of referee supply, the standard or refereeing is frankly pretty terrible. But you can’t blame the refs, they’re doing their best and it’s not their fault that they are officiating games that are too high of a standard for them to manage adequately.

The problem lies with one of two things, the complexity of football laws full stop (as we well know that the best professional referees are lambasted week in week out), or the education of referees at a lower level.

Solutions?

Solution 1: Tougher Refereeing
From my footballing career so far (as an amateur (unfortunately)), I feel that referees should be tougher with their decisions, giving more yellow and red cards than what they currently do. A zero-tolerance approach to violence and dirty challenges is likely to affect and change amateur footballers’ style of play more than the pros, as fines will actually hit players where it hurts. This mentality can only come from the people who initially train them.

Solution 2: Sub Linesmen
It seems madness to me that my league currently disallows teams from having their subs helping out by running the line. Referees have a tough enough job as it is, making them control the offsides is ridiculous, there is no way that they can handle it. This results in defenders appealing for literally anything which looks like it could be offside, then abusing the referee for not giving a decision if he decides not to. It also results in strikers hanging just behind defenders, trying to get a headstart for the ball over the top. It’s not healthy for football to not have linesmen.

Solution 3: Club Referees
This is perhaps a controversial and unpopular suggestion, but it could make things better.

I think refereeing standard at a decent level of amateur football is no better than what you or I could do. If you play football, you probably already know the laws of the game inside out, and probably have a better understanding of certain aspects of the game than non-playing referees.

So would it be possible for each team to select a different player each week to referee a game that their team isn’t playing in? Basically, if you are a player, you will be required to referee a game just 2 or 3 times a season.

Not only would this be cheaper for the governing body, as they’d only have to cover expenses, but I feel the standard of refereeing would genuinely increase. Also, it would provide players with the perspective of the referee, and perhaps lead to a change in their behaviour towards referees.

Ideas, Ideas, Ideas

I’d be interested to see what the general reception to such an idea would be. Would you be willing to sacrifice a couple of weekends a season to referee in another match? Even if this turns out to be a terrible idea, ideas are needed, as poor refereeing is stopping amateur football from being the game it could be.

(Image Courtesy Of soccerisalive)

Related Posts:

• The Youth Football Guide – No. 9: Referees
• The Youth Football Guide – No. 13: Winning at all Costs
• The Last of the Spanish Invaders
• Unfairly Paying the Penalty
• The Youth Football Guide – No. 7: Away Games