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As covered already in this blog I started refereeing this season for a number of reasons, which range from staying active in the game, having ambitions of seeing how far I can take it, improve my fitness, understand the game from a referee's persepective and to have something to do on Saturday's when my better half is at work but another key reason is for the extra income, especially in this, my wedding year.

So I was delighted to have been put down for 3 games this weekend and hope that I could manage to juggle them so that I could actually take all 3 on comfortably. They were all close by with 2 being for Ashfield Athletic and the third being for QE Rangers, who play in Ashfield. I had worried about them all being 11 a-side games as you'd hope that if you were taking multiple games in the day that you'd start with the easy 7 a-side games but these were to be U12, U14 and U15, so a fair bit of running for me to do!

As it turned out, 2 of the fixtures clashed and couldn't be altered, and the QE game got postponed so I ended up with just the one, which was a big shame. That being said, the U14 game between Ashfield Athletic and Newark Town Cavaliers was a great game that ended 5-1 to Ashfield and probably could've been a lot more. It was an easy game to officiate with no big decisions to make and no-one needed talking to for any discipline issues. I still received a little dig from a spectator for having 'bottled' a decision late on to award Ashfield a penalty when a cross from the left win clipped an arm on the way over but the arm wasn't raised and there was no time for the player to get out of the way so it certainly wasn't a penalty but the spectator only said it in jest anyway!

22-0! Oh Dear!

I've said many times this season that I've felt for the college team at NNC, as they're up against sides of much higher calibre and should have probably been pulled from the league long before the day after this game. This match, their 5th and worst of them all, was eventually their last official one of the season.

Cutting a long story short, they were hammered 22-0 by a very well-oiled Derby College side. Surprisingly they did finish without any sendings off, not through a want of trying though as Wes, who I'd already sent off once and booked on another occasion, was initially booked for a bit of a kick out, before purposely handling the ball preventing a Derby attack. I just gave him a word though as the score was at 20-0 and there was just 5 minutes to play, and also NNC had already been reduced to 9 players after a mass of injuries. Certainly a red on another day though!

The match itself was easy to officiate. There were a couple of clear penalty decisions given in Derby College's favour, and the only other challenge faced was the earache I was being given by a young NNC full back who, from about 15-0 onwards was asking me to blow for full time in sympathy! I had to sternly tell him at one stage that I couldn't do this with his reply being "of course you can, you've got the whistle!" I simply informed him I was a football referee, not a boxing ref! I did feel sorry for them though. Hopefully, now they've been withdrawn from the league they'll face much closer opposition in future.

15 and Out!

My 6th official game for my Sunday side, Hucknall Rangers against Nottingham Knights, became my last as a referee for a few reasons. Coming off the back of some heavy criticism in the last match for them against Linney Group on 25th October, I felt this game had gone a lot better. Rangers had won 15-0 and I didn't have many things to do other than award a couple of clear penalties in Hucknall's favour and caution a very lippy defender. But following this match, I was still criticised by a couple of Hucknall players, who I'd considered mates for the past couple of years, so thought enough was enough.

I'd taken on the task of officiating for Hucknall as a favour to manager and good friend Leon, saving him the task of tracking down a much sought after official every other week, saving him a little money in the process, whilst giving me some extra valuable experience reffing at this level (and some extra cash), as well as staying on the scene with the team whilst I recovered from my broken ankle.

After 2 seasons with AFC Hucknall, the team had been disbanded and reformed under a new name but with many of the same lads as before but there were a lot of new faces so it was good to stay amongst them, rather than not play a part at all until I had fully recovered as the task of trying to get back into the team with a lot of unknowns would have been much harder.

This game itself could have been a lot more had it not been for some wasteful play in front of goal, but I think 15-0 was hard enough on the opposition!

Big cup game

I was originally down for an easy under 11's tie in Southwell before heading to Sutton for a big cup game at Sutton Town's old ground. This would be my first fairly big game at a decent ground, stands and everything! The Under 11's game didn't go ahead for some reason or another but I got a call out of the blue to take their under 8's against Rainworth Rangers.

Working out the journey from Southwell to Sutton was key as I had less than 45 minutes to get there and prepared and I wasn't familiar with the route but hoped I would be ok.

There was an annoying wait for the opposition to turn up though and as time ticked away, I worried that I would now be late for my second game, but just as the deadline time I had set approached, Rainworth turned up. Despite being quite late, they still insisted in having a good 15 minutes to prepare first, which made it even more unlikely that I would get to Sutton on time. I insisted that half time be cut short and the game commenced. Whilst remaining fully neutral in every game, often subconsciously you select a team that you route for more than the other - although ensuring all decisions are fair - but it's nice when the team you have developed a soft spot for get the win. There are many reasons why you would route for one over the other, such as one being the underdog, or if one set of managers are particularly annoying or rude you hope they get their come-uppance. On this occasion, due to Rainworth's lateness and abruptness in demanding time at the start, I'd hoped Southwell would put one over them!

I didn't have to wait long for them to be down as Southwell appeared much stronger than Rainworth and comfortably led 6-0 at the break. Still, despite my concern for the time both teams had the full half time allowance so my worries increased further. Southwell made it 7 shortly after the break and I began to look out for a white towel being thrown onto the pitch! Despite me hoping for a Southwell win, at the end of the day these were still just 7 or 8 year old lads and didn't deserve to be at the back end of a big defeat but they pressed and near the end of the game managed to pull one back much to the delight at both sets of supporters.

When the game drew to a close, I quickly picked up my earnings and set off for Sutton. Arriving at the ground pretty much at the kick off time I was quite delighted to hear that the home side were awaiting a player and hoped for a bit of time to wait for him. This gave me time to get ready, speak to the captains and get the toss sorted ready for kick off when the player arrived.

As it turned out, we waited about 20 minutes and he'd still not arrived so I insisted we get started. Drezden, the home side took to the pitch with just 10 players but had heard that their key man was on his way. They had to play on the counter with a man down but took the lead half way through the half, literally minutes before their man arrived.

Being a new official there will be plenty of occasions where I am unsure what the rules officially allow and this was one of those times. Drezden having played the majority of the first half with ten men now had a new player arrive, was he allowed to come straight on or was he only able to be a sub? Anyhow, both managers accepted that he was to come and be the 11th man so he took his position for the remainder of the first half.

Having taken the lead with ten men, I expected Drezden to take control now they were at full strength, especially as they'd made a point of saying the missing man was on his way back from a representative match, so was obviously of good standard, but it was Robin Hood who took the initiative in the second half and not only were they level soon enough, they took the lead about half way through the half.

Both sides created chances and it was another easy game for me to officiate with little incident. Despite plenty of Drezden pressure late on, including a cross that the wind caught hold of and floated it over the keeper and along the goal line, Robin Hood managed to hold on for the win.

College boys beaten again

Taking NNC for their 4th game of the season, I'd hoped for their sake that they would fare better in this game but I didn't expect much. They were up against a Moulton College side who were struggling against the same opposition that NNC were being hammered against regularly so maybe both teams had awaited this game in the hope of getting something from it.

Moulton were the side that started the brightest and despite NNC keeping them at bay for the first 15 minutes, in typical fashion, once NNC went 1 down, heads dropped and they lost all shape and momentum. Moulton headed into the break 3-0 up and secured the same number of goals in the second half for a 6-0 win. There were positives that NNC could take from the game, not least the number of goals conceded were reduced than recent games, they also finished the game with all 11 for a change and also flirted with the opposition goal a couple of times, though couldn't manage to find their way into it.

Insanity

A couple of weeks ago I turned down the chance to line at a match in Nottingham meaning I had a free afternoon for the first time in a while, in which I spent watching Mansfield Town as well as getting a bit of shopping down. Looking back, I would rather have earnt money no matter how little, than spending what I needed for the wedding, so when given the chance of being an assistant instead of having a free day, I snapped up the game.

The match was an under 17's tie between neighbours Bilsthorpe Welfare and Welbeck Welfare and it would be one to remember. It was played at Garibaldi school, which as it turned out to be both sides home ground as the managers came from near-by Clipstone so brought the teams out of their respective villages to here.

We had a long, cold wait in the rain for the game prior to it to start before we took our positions and the game got underway. The referee was an experienced, ageing chap, whilst the other linesman was a very young lad who looked fairly new to officiating.

The first half went ok, Welbeck took a 2-0 lead into the break and the only concern for me was that there were one or two exchanges between a Welbeck full-back and a Bilsthorpe winger that went unchallenged by the referee and threatened to boil over, but what was to happen in the second half was totally unpredictable.

Bilsthorpe came out strong and pulled a goal back within 5 minutes of the restart, before pulling level a further 5 minutes later. They now looked favourites to take the game but 5 minutes later the game turned nasty. It started with an unpunished challenge on a Bilsthorpe player when he'd taken the ball cleanly from a Welbeck striker who then careered over the top of him when it looked easier to step around him. This infuriated the defender so the next chance he got to put a challenge on the culprit he did so, and strongly. I was at the other end of the pitch but had a clear view of the tackle and could see that no attempt to play the ball was made. However, it was right in front of the young linesman who called for a corner as he'd only followed the path of the ball, whilst the referee having the comfort of 2 qualified assistants, chose to officiate the game from as close to the centre spot as possible, so was fully 30 yards away from the incident. With the assistant having called for a corner, the Welbeck players were incensed at the tackle and surrounded the young lad, but the referee had signalled foul and went to speak with the linesman. The young lad had said that he'd called a corner but the referee assured him that it was a foul and needed to know whether it was inside or outside the box. A penalty was awarded, which then infuriated Bilsthorpe and after a slight melee, with the keeper having to be threatened with a caution before taking his place on the line. The penalty was scored and so Welbeck returned into the lead, 3-2.

From the resulting centre kick, Bilsthorpe now had no intention of playing a clean game and instead of passing the ball about and looking to mount an offence, they passed the ball to the nearest opponent so that they could put in as heavy a challenge as possible. Welbeck were wise to this tactic so with regaining the possession, they avoided the first 2 or 3 lunged tackles - which again appallingly went unpunished by the referee, despite no contact being made, he should have pulled it back and had words with the players. Welbeck were incensed with the tackles that were being put on them so when they next lost the ball, they took it upon themselves to dish out some justice and a 2-footed reckless tackle was put in on a Bilsthorpe winger which led to a huge 22-man brawl. I was shocked to see the resulting battle, you'd expect a fair bit of pushing in this situation and at worst a punch or two thrown but in this scrap there were rugby tackles, kicks, lunges, punches, you name it. The referee finally managed to get control, with the help of the managers who pulled their players apart and now it was down to the referee to deal with the aggressors. He immediately sent off the Welbeck player making the initial tackle before returning his cards to his pocket and looking like that was enough. I had been keeping an eye out for any assaults so that I could help the referee remove them and so when it looked like no further action was to be taken, I approached the referee and asked him what else he was going to do. It was obvious that he didn;t know what to do and asked for my opinion so I pointed out a further 3 players who must without question be sent off, 1 for a punch, 1 for a rugby tackle and punches, and another for chasing the tackler around the pitch before dragging him to the floor and kicking him.

The referee pulled the first player over and sent him off and began to look for the other two when suddenly a further distraction got everyone's attention as a number of Bilsthorpe players ran over to their keeper to prevent him from harming anyone as he had left the field only to return waving an old metal school chair at the Welbeck players encouraging them to 'come on then!'

Their was no choice for the referee as he blew the full time whistle and abandoned the game at the 60 minute mark. It was now down to the league to deal with and he made a quick exit. I wasn't in too much of a rush and didn't feel endangered myself, which you wouldn't've blamed me after the incident but I got to speak with both managers and explain the situation and what would happen next. I was asked for my support in written reports to the FA and I told them I would put one in myself. I think both teams wanted me to bail them out of trouble at the expense of the referee who had handled it poorly, but whilst I agree the game could have been managed a lot better, both sides had to take responsibility for their actions.

I was asked for my report which I put in and I have yet to hear what has resulted from it. The game got put in at 3-2 to Welbeck but the result has not stood. I just hope I'm not in charge of the next time they meet! Whilst I wasn't particularly pleased at being involved in my first abandoned match and brawl, I was delighted with the way I had conducted myself and helped the referee.

Easy

I had 2 games today, at opposite ends of the county to each other with the first at local Market Warsop for an U15 game against FC Huthwaite, followed by an U16 match at Arnold Town's ground where I had qualified in the summer, for a league tie between Arnold Blue and Ordsall Rangers.

Both games were pretty uneventful in terms of discipline and controversy. I issued no cards nor even had to speak to anyone, which is a surprise at U15 and U16, and there wasn't even a penalty, which may be seen as an even bigger surprise with the way my career has started!

In the first game, a poor Market Warsop Windmills side beat an ever poorer Huthwaite by 2 goals to nil, before Arnold were beatn 5-2 on their own ground.