A couple of weeks ago I ran the line at
a cup final. As the three of us walked back to our dressing
room, we agreed what a good game it had been and the referee
remarked that it was pleasing nothing controversial had marred
the day. Not that many games overall end in controversy but we
knew what he meant.
Cup ties and finals in particular are
special because they are one-offs and the losing team doesn't
live to fight another day. That is of course unlike league
matches where a bad result can be offset by victories in the
future. Nevertheless, no referee likes to feel that somehow he
has influenced the result of any game, which by one side at
least may seem to be unfair.
That's why the referee of the Reading v
Norwich match, Neale Barry, made an apology after the game to
the Royals management and supporters for inadvertently
blocking the clearance by Reading's Dean Gordon, which meant
the ball fell to the feet of Norwich substitute Phil Mulryne
to score the only goal of the game.
A friend of mine who watches from the
East Stand said that spectators there were calling for a
dropped ball. Although the incident seemed unfair, that just
couldn't happen. The referee is what we call an appurtenance
of the game, just like goalposts or comer flagposts, if the
ball bounces off any of them and remains in play, you just
carry on.
Reading manager Steve Coppell said that
the referee shouldn't have been there but you can't have it
both ways. It is impressed on all referees that they should
keep up with play. I mentioned last week that as referees
progress up through the leagues each fitness test gets harder.
Premiership referees are also tested regularly throughout the
season and today are super fit. They need to be to keep up
with the pace that the game is now played at.
Recent research at a Premiership match
plotted the movement of players and officials during the game.
The most ground covered by any player that day was nine
kilometres whilst the referee travelled fifteen kilometres.
But fitness isn't just an end in itself, the other key factor
is positioning. In my role of mentor, I go to a match for the
sole purpose of watching the referee and one thing I find that
most new referees have to learn is positioning.
The late Sir Stanley Rous devised the
diagonal system of refereeing which means that the referee
runs a diagonal from corner flagpost to corner flagpost,
always trying to keep the ball between him and one of the
assistant referees.
Today's referees talk about patrol paths
but it is much the same idea, although they deviate from the
strict diagonal, to get closer to play. The reason for this is
simply that being nearer to play enables a referee to make
better decisions. The ideal position to be able to see
offences is said to be about fifteen yards away, looking in at
the action. Neale Barry said that this was the first time such
an incident had happened to him in thirty one years as a
referee. I think this is a pretty good record, for every
referee gets in the way sometime, as players are not always
predictable in their actions.
Neale Barry was booed off at the end of
the Norwich game and some fans may still see his unintentional
intervention as a key point if Reading fail to reach the
play-offs this season but, although it affected the outcome of
that particular match, it can't be the reason for their final
league position. As I say, referees don't want to be
controversial but this doesn't mean that they should shy away
from taking decisions, or from trying to be in the best
positions to make them.
Dick Sawdon Smith