Reading RA - From the Middle

Fit to Referee

One of the topics of discussion among referees, and non-referees too when they are unhappy, is what it takes to be a referee.

The qualities you need

You can imagine some of the qualities needed, like knowledge of football and the Laws and the ability to apply them, ‘man management’ skills plus things like love of the game, commitment, enthusiasm, honesty and so on. The list seems endless and it’s little wonder the referees we have are not perfect. Nowadays especially a pretty thick skin helps as well, expressed more elegantly as the ability to take criticism even when it is unwarranted . . . .

. . . and physical fitness?

I have left one of the crucial attributes out till now because it didn’t used to be as important as it is today – physical fitness. Referees have always needed eagle-eyes and good, selective hearing, but in the days of referees in blazers, bow ties and knee length shorts and clodhopper boots all round, there wasn’t the same urgency about the game.

Today, because of the higher standards of training and greater athleticism of the players and the often frenetic speed of the game in the upper echelons, especially the English game, referees and assistant referees have to reach levels of fitness way above those of yesteryear. Good positioning is essential for good decision-making and that depends on the officials fitness coupled with the ability to ‘read the game’ – to know where the best position will be.

The issue of referee fitness has been brought sharply into focus in the last few days by the removal of Gary Wilard, one of our well-known FIFA referees from the referees’ list. He has apparently failed his third attempt to reach the required standard.

What referees have to do

At FIFA and at Premiership level referees have to undertake a modified form of the ‘Cooper test’ which is based on timed runs. Two 50 metre runs, each to be completed in under 7 seconds; two 200m metre runs, each in less than 32 seconds; a continuous 12 minute run with a minimum distance covered of 2,700 metres. For referees under 35 years of age the expected distance is about 3,000 metres. A similar test is used for semi-professional and senior amateur football - the contributory and feeder leagues. However, Premiership referees also have regular fitness examinations where heart and lung function in particular are monitored.

In the Football League they use the ‘bleep’ tests - 20 metre ‘shuttle’ runs which involve turning and sprinting against the clock and which correspond very well to the demands of refereeing, where short sprints, turns and stamina are the main fitness requirements.

At the grass-roots level

Of course, the majority of referees officiate at local level and they have no more than a rudimentary eye test as part of their qualification process.

There is no doubt that the game on the parks is played by many who themselves are less than ultra-fit and the demands on the official are not of Premiership standard. It is often argued – and there is evidence – that the system works in a natural way. Only the fitter officials get promotion and appointment to the higher level of games where the standard of fitness required is higher Nevertheless, neither players nor spectators can have much confidence in a referee or assistant who is 30 yards behind play and puffing to catch up.

So what do we do?

The solution? Ideally, continue to introduce physical tests down the pyramid of leagues until the local leagues are included. But there are difficulties. Not only would we lose a lot of referees, we would also discourage many more from taking up the whistle. And the logistics of arranging the testing are pretty horrific.

Meantime we encourage our referees not to referee to be fit, but to be fit to referee. And we have to take a bit of comfort from the fact that some of our best local referees are not necessarily the fittest – they just have the other qualities in greater measure.

Brian Palmer

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