6th January 2022
By Adam Holt
Several referees have given insight into their experiences over the years and have given their insight into the positive and negative experiences of being a football referee.
Mark Chester, who referees locally in the Birmingham area has opened up on how he deals with abuse whilst officiating on matches, he said: “It can be hard especially with crowds as they are one eyed and can get to you at times but to be fair you don’t hear most of it as you are concentrating on the game.
“With players I honestly believe that we can cause are own problems by not communicating enough to players. As chairman of Sutton Referee Association, we meet every month and talk to younger referees to go through their problems and help them use the tools we have.”
Chester also mentioned how abuse of referees can put of prospective officials, saying: “Refereeing is not for everyone and unfortunately some do it for money, so they stay in under 16 football. If someone really wanted to I would mentor them as I do for a lot and help them all the way with nonstop help and communicating with them.”
Fellow referee Ryan Byrne has shared some advice to those who would like to join the refereeing profession but are as of now reluctant to, as a result of the abuse that officials are subjected to during matches that they are in charge of.
He said: “I would say surround yourself with local referee’s get involved with local referee associations and they will help and support you every step of the way. I have some amazing people who have helped me in my football journey.
“I feel nowadays social media has a huge part to play. When refereeing nowadays you have to take the criticism like any other profession but if at the end of the day you know you have made an honest decision based on what you have seen at the time then you can just hold your hands up and say you made a mistake.”
Both are experienced referees in the grassroots level of the game, and aside from the negative aspects of the job, there are numerous positives of the role and Byrne highlighted the favourite game that he has officiated on during his career.
He said: I have a couple of matches I really enjoyed over the years. I once did a game at Mickleover sports vs Darlington it was an enjoyable game and I got to work with a current premier league assistant referee who taught me so much. It was amazing to see how the top professionals act throughout the whole match day experience.”
Mark Chester, who referees locally in the Birmingham area has opened up on how he deals with abuse whilst officiating on matches, he said: “It can be hard especially with crowds as they are one eyed and can get to you at times but to be fair you don’t hear most of it as you are concentrating on the game.
“With players I honestly believe that we can cause are own problems by not communicating enough to players. As chairman of Sutton Referee Association, we meet every month and talk to younger referees to go through their problems and help them use the tools we have.”
Chester also mentioned how abuse of referees can put of prospective officials, saying: “Refereeing is not for everyone and unfortunately some do it for money, so they stay in under 16 football. If someone really wanted to I would mentor them as I do for a lot and help them all the way with nonstop help and communicating with them.”
Fellow referee Ryan Byrne has shared some advice to those who would like to join the refereeing profession but are as of now reluctant to, as a result of the abuse that officials are subjected to during matches that they are in charge of.
He said: “I would say surround yourself with local referee’s get involved with local referee associations and they will help and support you every step of the way. I have some amazing people who have helped me in my football journey.
“I feel nowadays social media has a huge part to play. When refereeing nowadays you have to take the criticism like any other profession but if at the end of the day you know you have made an honest decision based on what you have seen at the time then you can just hold your hands up and say you made a mistake.”
Both are experienced referees in the grassroots level of the game, and aside from the negative aspects of the job, there are numerous positives of the role and Byrne highlighted the favourite game that he has officiated on during his career.
He said: I have a couple of matches I really enjoyed over the years. I once did a game at Mickleover sports vs Darlington it was an enjoyable game and I got to work with a current premier league assistant referee who taught me so much. It was amazing to see how the top professionals act throughout the whole match day experience.”