Pic of the week 30/1/22
… it could be now.
Way back in September I decided that I wasn’t going to referee on “my” Sunday league anymore – a combination of getting fed up of low level dissent, a lack of respect and appreciation of what I did, and the time it took up on my precious day off each week.
On Thursday I got a text from Rich at New Forresters: they hadn’t been assigned a ref this week, and would I do them a favour and do the game. I agreed. It was foggy as I left Street, but the air cleared by Ashcott and beuatiful blue skies made me think it wasn’t such a bad thing to do.
But 5 mins into the game, I was reminded why I packed it in. The opposition keeper – who is also the manager of this team (I won’t mention it here, but you can use Full Time to find it) – started gobbing off that the nets weren’t fixed properly. I remembered this keeper/manager – always gobby, always questioning everything and today was no different. He set the tone for his team and the morning became quite unpleasant. I sent a player into the sin bin, then later, another two. Things were calming down now, but then a NF player continued to argue, called him over, he was going to get binned, but continued so I gave him a red for offinabus. He then got aggressive. Below is my report of the incident. I am certainly done with this league now, quite possibly refereeing altogether.
This relates to the red card/sending off of xxxxxxx, New Foresters FC Having taken the players name & number, I showed the red card to indicate the decision. The player then took a step towards me and raised his hands in my direction in a threatening manner. I felt physically threatened by his actions and took a pace back to add distance between myself and the player. Other players – from both sides – immediately stepped between the dismissed player and myself to provide a physical barrier between myself and the dismissed player, who then lowered his hands and left the pitch. Players from both sides checked that I was OK, and happy to continue with the game. After a moment to compose myself, we continued with the game. Some 10 minutes later, I became aware that the dismissed player had returned to the side of the pitch. I was aware of his presence as he shouted out a sarcastic comment about my officiating. I know the player should no longer have been pitch side, but the pitch was a public space without the facilities, structures and officials one might find at some clubs. Whilst I felt safe on the pitch, I did not feel safe to go and confront the player and ask him to leave, or ask any of his team to do the same, so the game continued with him pitch side. At the end of the game, accompanied by his manager, he did come and apologise to me on the pitch. At the time of the sending off, some of his team mates told me they would accompany me off the pitch at the end of the game, to ensure my safety. By the time the game ended, this was not needed as the threat from the player had diminished, but I am grateful for the support and assistance offered to me by the club & teammates of the dismissed player.
[Edited to add: the pic is of the amaryllis flowering, grown from bulb planted just before Christmas]
