Post by robotsmfc on Apr 26, 2009 16:59:34 GMT
It has long been accepted that some people just aren't any good at football. It has been taken as a feature of the game that players make mistakes; some more than others. Why is it, then, that it is not accepted that some referees are entirely rubbish, and make mistake after mistake?
I was watching my younger brother play football today, which is the genesis of this rant. It's U12s Division Two stuff, and my brother's side, Millpool, were already relegated before today's encounter with Arden Forest, barring a freak accident seeing them win their last two games against two of the league's best sides, while relegation rivals Kingshurst lost their last two against two of the league's worst. Evidently it was never going to be, but Millpool started the match brightly, and soon found themselves ahead with Arden Forest barely getting a touch of the ball for the first five minutes.
Having gone a goal down though, Arden Forest set out to prove that the maxim "We're a right bunch of bastards when we lose" can actually be true. Players were pulled back, pushed over and tripped, much to the chagrin of the watching parents. However, it seemed that the more stick the referee got, the worse he was determined to officiate. Tempers began to simmer, comments became nastier and more personal. Arden Forest clearly felt vindicated to charge into even more rash tackles, with my brother getting a kick in the jaw from a player twice his size, and then mysteriously getting a free kick given against him.
I don't normally like to abuse referees at kids games; I accept that they have a very difficult job to do and being shouted at by parents doesn't make it any easier. However, as Millpool looked to be getting squashed under the Arden steamroller, even I began to get riled. As a Millpool winger was cynically tripped before my feet as he tried to break up the line, I summoned my loudest voice before observing in true Ojive style, "They say it makes you blind, ref - you're the living proof!".
He didn't seem to have taken any notice though, as less than a minute later my brother's roving central midfield partner was taken out at the knee with a late, off-the-floor lunge by perhaps one of the fattest bastards I have ever seen in child football. As he writhed on the floor with a dead leg, the referee looked shocked and called for the manager and first aid bag. His shock soon turned to sheepishness, however, as he was reminded by the away parents that it was he who had let the temprament of game escalate to this point.
The lumbering centre back was booked and subbed at half time, not to return for the rest of the game. The referee continued to bumble his way from box to box, and his decisions became more and more perplexing. His linesmen were overruled to give throw-ins and free kicks the wrong way. Four handballs were given, without any of which actually having touched a hand, and a wrongfully awarded throw-in resulted in Arden's equaliser, albeit well deserved after sloppy defending. Perhaps the referee was wracked by the guilt of having nearly allowed a broken leg on his watch, or perhaps he was just a useless wanker, but his influence eventually faded into an accepted idiosyncracity of the gameplay, as Millpool conceded another and looked to have lost their fight, eventually succumbing to a 3-1 defeat.
The referee quickly made his way off after the game, having collected his fees from the clubs and collected his paperwork. The real issue is that he is definitely not the only one out there, and yet due to the reprehensible behaviour of some yobbish soccer parents who can't accept the correct decisions, we run the risk of getting into trouble for criticising the likes of him. The problem is, with a shortage of referees in the system, is it really worthwhile to weed out the gimps like him, knowing there may be no replacement?
I was watching my younger brother play football today, which is the genesis of this rant. It's U12s Division Two stuff, and my brother's side, Millpool, were already relegated before today's encounter with Arden Forest, barring a freak accident seeing them win their last two games against two of the league's best sides, while relegation rivals Kingshurst lost their last two against two of the league's worst. Evidently it was never going to be, but Millpool started the match brightly, and soon found themselves ahead with Arden Forest barely getting a touch of the ball for the first five minutes.
Having gone a goal down though, Arden Forest set out to prove that the maxim "We're a right bunch of bastards when we lose" can actually be true. Players were pulled back, pushed over and tripped, much to the chagrin of the watching parents. However, it seemed that the more stick the referee got, the worse he was determined to officiate. Tempers began to simmer, comments became nastier and more personal. Arden Forest clearly felt vindicated to charge into even more rash tackles, with my brother getting a kick in the jaw from a player twice his size, and then mysteriously getting a free kick given against him.
I don't normally like to abuse referees at kids games; I accept that they have a very difficult job to do and being shouted at by parents doesn't make it any easier. However, as Millpool looked to be getting squashed under the Arden steamroller, even I began to get riled. As a Millpool winger was cynically tripped before my feet as he tried to break up the line, I summoned my loudest voice before observing in true Ojive style, "They say it makes you blind, ref - you're the living proof!".
He didn't seem to have taken any notice though, as less than a minute later my brother's roving central midfield partner was taken out at the knee with a late, off-the-floor lunge by perhaps one of the fattest bastards I have ever seen in child football. As he writhed on the floor with a dead leg, the referee looked shocked and called for the manager and first aid bag. His shock soon turned to sheepishness, however, as he was reminded by the away parents that it was he who had let the temprament of game escalate to this point.
The lumbering centre back was booked and subbed at half time, not to return for the rest of the game. The referee continued to bumble his way from box to box, and his decisions became more and more perplexing. His linesmen were overruled to give throw-ins and free kicks the wrong way. Four handballs were given, without any of which actually having touched a hand, and a wrongfully awarded throw-in resulted in Arden's equaliser, albeit well deserved after sloppy defending. Perhaps the referee was wracked by the guilt of having nearly allowed a broken leg on his watch, or perhaps he was just a useless wanker, but his influence eventually faded into an accepted idiosyncracity of the gameplay, as Millpool conceded another and looked to have lost their fight, eventually succumbing to a 3-1 defeat.
The referee quickly made his way off after the game, having collected his fees from the clubs and collected his paperwork. The real issue is that he is definitely not the only one out there, and yet due to the reprehensible behaviour of some yobbish soccer parents who can't accept the correct decisions, we run the risk of getting into trouble for criticising the likes of him. The problem is, with a shortage of referees in the system, is it really worthwhile to weed out the gimps like him, knowing there may be no replacement?
