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[Dougals Dad]

For those who saw both:

Which was more offside: Histon's 1st goal v Alty or Kidderminster's (1st) goal v Cambridge on Sultana tonight?

[Hamilton]

The Kiddie goal was an atrocious miss by the ref & linesman. It wasn't as if it was a snap decision that had to be made - the guy was offside for a good few seconds

[Uncle Globnasty]

Didn't see the Alty one, but the kiddy decision was appalling. How the hell could you miss that?

[AltyTunnelSteward]

I'll paraphrase a letter in the NLP from, I think, a couple of weeks ago.

A striker, shooting from around the Penalty Mark, puts the ball out for a throw in to the defence and it's "Hard Luck, keep going!"

A Match Official misses something and (s)he's pilloried for about the next 4 days (or until the next official misses something) in the media (written and broadcast, in the bar, on fora etc.)

Fair and equitable???

[Bob]

I'll paraphrase a letter in the NLP from, I think, a couple of weeks ago.

A striker, shooting from around the Penalty Mark, puts the ball out for a throw in to the defence and it's "Hard Luck, keep going!"

A Match Official misses something and (s)he's pilloried for about the next 4 days (or until the next official misses something) in the media (written and broadcast, in the bar, on fora etc.)

Fair and equitable???

Managers,players, directors and fans all make mistakes - just like refs.  We can't expect refs to be perfect when we're not.

But the ref is here today, gone tomorrow.  We have no affiliation to him.  He's an easier target or scapegoat.  Unfair?  Perhaps, but nothing will ever change.

[seasonticket]

The difference between a player making a mistake and a ref making a mistake is in some ways an unfair comparison.
A player can make up for his mistake in future matches (perhaps). The ref has no such opportunity and therefore his mistake can be more costly, (loose points, league position, promotion, relegation and possibly money)
As for fans making mistakes they have no bearing on the outcome of the game/season etc.
Of course the player has to put up with the often unhelpful comments of the clubs own supporters but the ref come the final whistle picks up his fee and sods off home with out a care in the world for the consequencies of his mistakes. That is if he believes it is possible for him to be wrong on occasion.

[Dougals Dad]

I did not see the Histon goal so I cannot comment. The Kiddie goal, however, was a horrendous missby the liner as the player was offside for a comparatively long time.

In all honesty, a half-wit could have spotted that one - I did!

D'Oh!

[AltyTunnelSteward]

The difference between a player making a mistake and a ref making a mistake is in some ways an unfair comparison.
A player can make up for his mistake in future matches (perhaps). The ref has no such opportunity and therefore his mistake can be more costly, (loose points, league position, promotion, relegation and possibly money)
As for fans making mistakes they have no bearing on the outcome of the game/season etc.
Of course the player has to put up with the often unhelpful comments of the clubs own supporters but the ref come the final whistle picks up his fee and sods off home with out a care in the world for the consequencies of his mistakes. That is if he believes it is possible for him to be wrong on occasion.

I would have to disagree with the last bit of your comment here. Referees and Assistants make mistakes, they are, like you and I, only human, recognise their mistakes and, in a good number of cases do have a care in the world for the consequences of the mistake.

Also, when you're talking about Blue Square Level Officials their time really is not their own. As a level 4 Official (Blue Square North Assistant) you are at the beck and call of the FA at any time. I know a guy personally who was called at work in Manchester City Centre at 2.45 on a Tuesday and told that he was on the line at Barrow that night.

A guy on the Premiership Line whom I officiated with at Crewe Academy a couple of years ago hadn't been home for just short of two weeks, only saw his wife when they exchanged his case of dirty clothes for the case of ones she'd washed at some Motorway Services and hadn't even spoken to his Children for a week

If, as happens at Conference (BSP) level the Officials performance is assessed then the consequences can be major for that official. I know of cases this year where Assistants have been taken off BSP matches to which they had originally been appointed due to a poor performance either on the line or in the middle of a match at lower level.

So, what I think I'm trying to say is that it isn't just a case of turning up, doing the match, picking up the money and being home for Dr Who, there's a lot more commitment than that.

[Hamilton]

No-one's doubting their dedication, just - sometimes - their eyesight or judgement. When you consider also the grief they get from players many refs never get beyond Sunday leagues and the like - they feel its simply not worth the abuse/hassle/violence.

However, where you get the size of blunder that we had in the Kiddie v Cambridge match, you have to wonder which direction the liner was looking. Many offsides are difficult to pick - this was not one of them.

[louise1925]

I personally don't have a problem with officials making mistakes. As ATS said, we are only human and without the technology how would any of us do better? What I do have a problem with is officials like the guy who blew up every few seconds in our game at home to Crawley last season. Theses types of officials really annoy fans and players alike. I'm not sure if the inconsistency expressed by the guy who added on 6 minutes v Weymouth recently was particularly helpful either. You can't put these kind of decisions down to mere human error, it's just poor.

[AltyTunnelSteward]

I personally don't have a problem with officials making mistakes. As ATS said, we are only human and without the technology how would any of us do better? What I do have a problem with is officials like the guy who blew up every few seconds in our game at home to Crawley last season. Theses types of officials really annoy fans and players alike.


Good point.

I'm not getting on a soapbox here just trying perhaps to give some sort of explanation of why match officials do things which either annoy or bamboozle us (or frequently both)

Sometimes it is human error, sometimes incompetence, never cheating or being malicious.

With regard to the point quoted above. Most if not all Referees like to let a game flow, indeed too much whistle and breaking up the play can have two downsides for a Ref. Firstly there will be criticism from the assessor and secondly it will make the players increasingly fractious and consequently the match harder to handle.

However, if players commit fouls, Referees will blow their whistles and award free kicks so, maybe a proportion of the criticism ought to be laid at the door of the two sets of players?

[Dougals Dad]

Sometimes it is human error, sometimes incompetence, never cheating or being malicious.

I think we can safely say no refs at our level are cheats or are malicious