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[AltyTunnelSteward]

Phil,

I know its not happened to you but whats the feeling of a ref when this happens?

It must be a real blow to their self confidence?

Ecky,

It depends how honest you are, with yourself and the people who "employ" you

I've seen so many people who started after me and who I have helped to develop as Referees go sailing past me onto the Contributory Leagues, the National List and the Select Group. I appreciate that this has happened because they are younger, fitter and more able than me

Some people in the game however cannot accept this and try to retain their status, moaning on and belittling younger officials.

I've officiated on all the Local Cup Finals in Altrincham, some of them more than once as well as being both Referee and Assistant on a County Cup Final. I do not expect to get any more of those appointments, in fact if I do then there is something amiss in my view.

Mr Atwell will get loads of support from the PGMO, access to their Sports Psychologists etc and hopefully (for him) will (if he wants to) regain his "mojo" and come back a stronger and better Referee

[Uncle Globnasty]

Thanks Phil....I had already mentioned Butty's reasoning in my original posting ("Apart from being exposed to the increased glare of the media spotlight"). So, what you are saying is that it's down to positional sense? If that is the case, then surely that is not a major adjustment (although I would have thought that argument would only apply to less than half the teams in the Premiership anyway)?

[AltyTunnelSteward]

Thanks Phil....I had already mentioned Butty's reasoning in my original posting ("Apart from being exposed to the increased glare of the media spotlight"). So, what you are saying is that it's down to positional sense? If that is the case, then surely that is not a major adjustment (although I would have thought that argument would only apply to less than half the teams in the Premiership anyway)?

TBH the two sort of come together. The thing about positioning is just one example but one that I have heard of first hand as it were and yes, with experience, it SHOULD be possible to achieve the neccessary improvements/changes to your game.

There will be other issues too I would imagine, one of which may well be the fact that the game at Premiership level is (reportedly) significantly quicker than the Championship.

Also because partly of the huge sums of money involved, partly because of the microscopic analysis of all things Premier League and partly because of the previously alluded to Media Coverage the pressure on Select Group Officials is significantly more than that felt by National List Officials.

On a Premier League fixture there are over forty cameras, on a League two game, highlights or goals of which may be shown on the Football League Show or SSN there may be two.

Also factor in that being a Select Group Official is actually these guy's main source of income. Most if not all are on maximum 12 month contracts, contracts which can be terminated in the event of substandard performance on the Field of Play (a purely subjective measure I feel sure you will agree) or failure to attain a satisfactory result in the regular fitness assessments.

If there are not a significant number of differences between Championship and Premiership why might so many promoted teams return to the Championship after one or, at best two seasons? (Not being confrontational, just asking)

[Altyant]

Phil,

I know its not happened to you but whats the feeling of a ref when this happens?

It must be a real blow to their self confidence?

Ecky,

It depends how honest you are, with yourself and the people who "employ" you

I've seen so many people who started after me and who I have helped to develop as Referees go sailing past me onto the Contributory Leagues, the National List and the Select Group. I appreciate that this has happened because they are younger, fitter and more able than me

Some people in the game however cannot accept this and try to retain their status, moaning on and belittling younger officials.

I've officiated on all the Local Cup Finals in Altrincham, some of them more than once as well as being both Referee and Assistant on a County Cup Final. I do not expect to get any more of those appointments, in fact if I do then there is something amiss in my view.

Mr Atwell will get loads of support from the PGMO, access to their Sports Psychologists etc and hopefully (for him) will (if he wants to) regain his "mojo" and come back a stronger and better Referee

If it was me, I'd be gutted. However I guess it depends on your mentality etc

[Uncle Globnasty]

If there are not a significant number of differences between Championship and Premiership why might so many promoted teams return to the Championship after one or, at best two seasons? (Not being confrontational, just asking)

Now that was what I call a thorough answer and thanks again Phil. I wasn't saying that there's no difference between Championship and Premiership (although I suspect there isn't that much difference between the bottom of the Premiership and the top few in the Championship). My point was that the players play against each other, the ref does not as he is there in an observational and disciplinary capacity. I would have thought, as you highlighted, that the main difference was one of pressure in terms of being more in the spotlight. Anyway, we're splitting hairs and I was genuinely interested in your point of view. Thanks again for the answer......that all sounds a little condescending, but it's genuinely not meant to be.