FA, refs etc

As a Director of a non league club team able to go to talks about behind the scenes stuff. This article is mostly about a presentation by FA staff on refs. I hope you find it interesting.

Marking of officials

After every game the officials are marked by both the home team and the away team. Marks generally vary between 60 and 80. According to the FA, an 80 mark a standard satisfactory performance. And I quote “this is based on the average employee in a job who performs to 80% of capability most days”.  Who else thinks this is odd? I work for myself, so if I did 80% of a job I would be sued and bankrupt in no time. A mate is responsible for putting chemicals on a plane, thankfully he hasn’t blown one up yet!

If a ref is marked below 60, a detailed report has to be made giving reasons. Sadly, a number of clubs mark 61 so ducking the issue. Honestly, these clubs don’t really help themselves do they?

In the 12/13 season, 7 refs have been marked less than 60 by Southern League clubs. My club is responsible for two of them. We decide to make a report when the four directors and the secretary all agree. That way it isn’t just one persons view.

Training refs

In 2005/06 the training budget was virtually non-existent. I cannot remember the amount for the current year, but its a decent amount and bears no resemblance to 05/06. The FA are proud of this as it shows their commitment to the officials.

In my view the standards have dropped since 05/06, so I say the money is being wasted. In 05/06 I criticised about two refs a year and about 6 linesmen. Today most linesman are poor. And I saw 6 men in the middle have a shocker by November this season.

Chucking money at something does not bring success. You must spend it wisely.

Assessors

On average an assessor is at every other game. The assessor always makes his visit known to the officials as soon as he arrives at the ground. This is done following legal advice! Apparently every assessment is in fact an employee appraisal. Therefore it cannot be done anonymously. So, how many people do you know are appraised pretty much every week? None? Me neither!

At the end of every year (runs to end of February) officials are then promoted, demoted etc to other levels, or left where they are. This takes effect at the start of the next season. So, they have a weekly appraisal and an annual appraisal. Heaven forbid anyone to suggest that the weekly assessor is only providing on the job guidance or training! We just cannot have anonymous reports done can we?

Number of cards issued

The head man says that if 10 cards are issued in a game, the ref has clearly had a bad game. He also maintained that if no cards are issued, the ref has also had a bad game. Think the chap really likes his statistics to come up with that sweeping statement. If you do not know, a yellow card is a £10 fine on the player and a straight red is £30. These fines are collected by the FA and then passed over to the local FA region. My FA regional currently sits on about £1.3m of cash.

Regional FA Authorities

The FA have a set of national rules. The Southern League and equivalents also have a set of national rules. In turn, clubs have a national set of rules. Sadly each local FA authority still has its own set of rules. By and large they different all over the UK leading to very odd clashes at times. The FA has no intention of changing this set up. However, the Southern League Chairman is actively encouraging members to bring all pressure to change the situation.

Don’t you just love political; infighting. Oh, and the FA’s reluctance to change a century old rule. Oh now, we cannot have change now can we?!

Southern League Cup

Everyone is well aware that fans are voting with their feet and do not want to watch these cup games. Pretty much every game generates a loss for both clubs. Despite this, the competition will continue. The odd rules they brought in for 2012/13 will however be rescinded as they did not work.

So no one has backbone to either do away with the competition or “suspend” it till the economic position improves. That is probably because the other regions also have their cups and no one want to be the first to admit clubs financial losses should be taken into account.

Fixture back-logs

Due to the awful weather this season, there are some clubs with dreadful fixture back-logs. As expected the season will not extend into May. apparently the waterlogged pitches are basically the clubs own fault. If they invested £400k (?) into 3G pitches there would not be a problem. In fact the problem is only £200k worth as the FA will give a 50% grant in most cases.

How many clubs do you know are sat on £200k of spare cash?

A lot of what I have said above is FA people quoting legal advice and statistics. This I think was done in a way to ensure there was no major questions from the floor. In other words, they put themselves into a position to deflect comments away. All you need know about statistics is what my Uncle Phil says “if half the population are male, and half female, everyone has one bollock and one tit.” Nuff said.

Finally, all the above are my own personal views.

Very Interesting Stuff

In the 1400’s a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have ‘the rule of thumb’.

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 Many years ago in Scotland, a new game was invented. It was ruled ‘Gentlemen  Only….Ladies Forbidden’…and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language. 

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 The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone. 

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 Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the U.S.  Treasury. 

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 Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better. 

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 Coca-Cola was originally green. 

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 It is impossible to lick your elbow. 

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 Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair. 

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 The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer. 

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 The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments. 

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 Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: 

 Spades – King David

 Hearts – Charlemagne

 Clubs -Alexander, the Great

 Diamonds – Julius Caesar 

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 111,111,111  x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321 

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 If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes. 

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 Q.  Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested? 

 A.  Obsession 

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 Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter ‘A’? 

 A.  One thousand

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 Q.  What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common? 

 A.  All were invented by women. 

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 Q.  What is the only food that doesn’t spoil? 

 A.  Honey 

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 In Shakespeare’s time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes.  When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase……… ‘Goodnight, sleep tight.’ 

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 It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride’s father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon. 

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 In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts… So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them ‘Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down.’  It’s where we get the phrase ‘mind your P’s and Q’s’ 

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Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. ‘Wet your whistle’ is the phrase inspired by this practice. 

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 At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow!

You know you are living in 2010 when….

YOU  KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2010 when… 

 1.  You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave. 

 2.  You haven’t played solitaire with real cards in years. 

 3.  You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three. 

 4.  You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you. 

 5.  Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don’t have e-mail addresses. 

 6.  You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries. 

 7.  Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen 

 8.  Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn’t even have the  first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and  you turn around to go and get it. 

 10.  You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee. 

 11.  You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : ) 

 12.  You’re reading this and nodding and laughing. 

 13.  Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message. 

 14.  You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list. 

 15.  You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn’t a #9 on this list. 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~AND  FINALLY~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

 NOW U  R LAUGHING at yourself.