False Labour!

I had to wait a fortnight for my second game of 2011-12, where I was appointed as assistant on the Central Midlands fixture between Yorkshire Main and Westella & Willerby. Pete Craggs was the official and James Robinson on the opposite line.

At this point I hadn't closed my dates or withdrawn from Central Midlands football, although having said that I was still happy to pick up midweek games anyway. I still didn't feel like the season had got underway yet so was still in pre-season mode but this was a league fixture and in fact both sides had already got a number of games under their belt.

Again, the preperations didn't go quite to plan as it was arranged for Pete to pick me up at about 5:30 but I got held up at work and didn't leave until 5:25. My phone battery had also died so it was a case of rushing home as quickly as possible to Pete who was already there waiting for me. Next problem - I didn't have a house key and the door was locked, with no signs of Amelia! I guessed she might be at my sisters who had just had my little neice so Pete wisked me there quickly to pick up the key, and then took me back home for me to get my bag.

We got to the ground in good time though and took in the preparations. I guess with how unprepared for the new season I was, both physically, mentally and kit wise, it was fortunate to have started with 2 games as assistant. I needed to get on the ball quickly though as pretty soon the season will be in full flow.

I was the senior assistant today so given the delights of the dugouts, though despite them being a little vocal, it wasn't too bad.

Pete felt that he'd had a poor game overall as he did have many people on his back throughout the game, but I believe he had done well. The game had finished 5-1 to Yorkshire Main after the visitors had gone 1-0 up before running out of steam.

More fun and games were to be had though as I got passed a message on that Amelia had gone into labour! So after the game it was skip the drinks and get home asap! Thankfully though despite her being in great amounts of pain and it appears had been pretty much since I'd left that evening, it was only false labour! Any time now though!!

Unprepared

My first game of the new campaign was handed to me by the Sunday League referee secretary Pete Lang. It was for a friendly that was to be played on the Wednesday night at Pinxton Welfare.

I wasn't given the names of the teams that I would be doing and also despite it being a Wednesday night, I still assumed that it was a friendly for Sunday league teams, with it being Pete Lang that had appointed me.

It was a 7:45pm kick off so I aimed to get there by about 7:15pm but just short of 7pm I received a call from the referee asking about my whereabouts. Luckily I was in Pinxton just looking for the Welfare and the referee guided me the rest of the way. I was already changed too thinking it was a Sunday League fixture therefore the facilities aren't usually decent.

I got there to find out it was an U18 friendly between Mansfield Town and Pinxton. I was quite pleased then to have been appointed on it but felt a bit daft walking in with 30 minutes to go before kick off when the other 2 officials had probably been there a while.

More confusion ensued when I got into the changing rooms and then when looking through my bag, couldn't find my boots! It was a long way back to the car too but then the assistant pointed out that they were on the floor and I'd carried them in! Don't remember that at all!! Good start to the season!

The game was quite disappointing, Pinxton surprisingly won 1-0 and there wasn't much for either team to write home about. Still, it was good to get the season underway and to have had a run out on the line as I doubt I'll be doing too many games as assistant this year.

2011-12 Season

Following my succesful promotion last year to level 6, it would have been great to continue to aim for another this campaign but with the impending birth of my little baby, I don't feel that I should be out for the majority of the weekends, especially as I doubt I would see much of it during the week. Therefore I decided against applying to progress to level 5.

It was a shame as it feels like a minor setback if I am ever to reach the dizzy heights of league football, but I still wanted to gain some experience this year and so whilst pulling out of Saturday afternoon football, as well as Sundays due to me playing again, I had committed to the Youth League for Saturday mornings and informed the new Central Midlands Referee Secretary that I would be available for midweek games and may pick up the odd Saturday game when possible.

This way I would continue to gain experience, stay on the circuit, keep fit and also have a little spare cash for the pocket. I'm sure I will continue to enjoy my officiating this season and it'll be interesting to see what memories will be created in the next 12 months.