To judge by some of the fans’ chants there’s no doubt what they believe - a person of doubtful parentage, or worse.

Of course the fans don’t really mean that literally. They are simply and very clearly expressing angry discontent with something their team has suffered, whether or not the referee was responsible. I’m sure they don’t stop to think any more about the officials, about who and what they are. They just accept them as a necessary evil - that is until the next decision they don’t like.

Referees: football fans from all walks of life

In fact, players and fans seem to forget that referees are football fans as well, football lovers even. They have to be to stay with it in the face of the provocation and criticism they receive. And, contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of us have been players and come from all walks of life. The famous Jack Taylor was a butcher, David Elleray is a public school housemaster. In Reading we have, to name just a few, policemen and teachers, a soldier, civil servants and local government officers, a refuse collector and a scaffolder, businessmen and computer experts, a University professor, executives and shopkeepers, housewives and school students.

Making a good game possible

What referees have in common is not that they just like to boss people about (though admittedly a few seem to), it is the determination to try to enable a good game of football to take place. That means making it possible for all the players to play to the best of their ability, for the better team to win, and for everyone, including the officials, to get the maximum enjoyment. And, you are not going to believe this, it is a form of relaxation - you have to concentrate so hard, you have no time for the worries and stresses of your day-to-day life.

Why and how to become a referee

If you ask referees what actually persuaded them to take up the whistle, you will find no single, simple answer. ‘I was getting too old to play’; ‘I was running lines for my son’s team and thought I should get to know the Laws’; ‘I had a minor injury and thought it was time to give up, but needed to stay involved’; ‘I had loved playing and wanted to put something back into the game’.

Whatever your motivation, you have to qualify to be an ‘official’ referee by passing the FA examination and this is how even our FIFA officials had to start - local football first, then up through the ‘pyramid’ of leagues to the pinnacle, for the few who make it that is.

It used to be different

With all the media attention referees receive nowadays, it’s hard to imagine the game without them. Yet in the early days of ‘association football’ mid-last century, the referee wasn’t even on the pitch. In each half was an umpire to be appealed to in the unlikely event of a dispute among the players. The referee on the touch line was called upon only if the umpires failed to agree. He also acted as timekeeper and recorder.

It was in 1891 that the present system was adopted. Who then could have envisaged the present proposals for full-time professional referees, fourth and fifth officials, all subjected to/supported by electronic magic? They just had a little black notebook and pencil which they used to record the goals and who kicked off. No cautions, no sendings-off, no need.

Maybe there really were some ‘Good old days’ (but it does sound awfully dull).

Brian Palmer

© B. Palmer 1999

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