One of the most important duties of a referee is to control the match. The best way of doing this is to apply the Laws effectively and earn the respect of players. But how can a referee do this?

Have you ever ended a game and then on the way home thought ‘I have cautioned two players today, one for arguing with me (dissent) and one for kicking the ball away (delaying the restart of play), but why did the players and officials think that I had a bad match?’ It is possibly because you did the easy things and shirked the big decisions!

Players’ and officials’ perception of control is perhaps different to that of a referee. A referee who uses his/her authority to caution players for the ‘lesser offences’ and then fails to correctly deal with the ‘big decisions’ will not gain respect. So what are the big decisions? These include unfair challenges that have or could have caused injury to players, decisions have influenced the outcome of the match – like a penalty or a sending off for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity - and dealing properly with players who commit serious foul play or violent conduct.

Some referees have difficulty recognising if a challenge is fair or unfair. By the time they have thought about it, several other incidents may have occurred. Referees who do find it hard to make decisions often respond to players shouts. Try to avoid this – be decisive and blow your whistle quickly. Indeed, some referees hide behind the advantage clause by waiting for players to appeal following a bad challenge and then shouting ‘play on advantage’, suggesting that they have seen the incident. More often than not there is no advantage to the team who has been offended. The advantage clause should only be applied when the team who has been offended has a good opportunity - perhaps a 70 percent chance - to score a goal. The advantage clause is not there to provide referees with an excuse for not making decision.

When you have made your decision to award a free kick for the ‘looks bad category’, try to classify the challenge into careless, reckless or involving excessive force. That will help you to decide if any disciplinary action is required. He is one strategy that you can employ to maximise your match control:

Careless challenge – e.g.. holding, pushing, accidental kicks on an opponent whilst trying to get the ball, clumsy play – give a clearly heard blast on the whistle and award the free kick. There is no need to take any disciplinary action.

Reckless challenge – e.g.. the lunging challenge that could easily hurt the opponent, use of arm in a way that could cause the opponent harm, more forceful challenges and mistimed tackles that cause players to fall to the floor, nasty challenges from behind that make clear contact with the player – give a long hard blast on the whistle and caution the player. Act quickly and decisively to stop other players getting involved – if you take action the incident may be swiftly diffused.

Excessive force – these are the challenges that really make you wince. Typical examples are the over the top challenge, the scything tackle from behind, flying tackles that are made from a distance away that chop players to the floor – blow your whistle very hard and for a long time. Send the offender off. You will know that positive action is required because usually these types of challenge will end up with a baldy injured player and provoke a fracas involving a number of other players.

Remember the old saying, "sticks and stones may break my bones but calling never hurt me". Perhaps the referees’ version of this is: "Bad tackles may break players’ bones but calling and kicking the ball away never hurts"!

A referee who keeps control of a match by penalising the bad challenges and being appropriate and consistent when administering discipline will gain the respect of players, club officials and spectators. Of course it is also necessary to administer the easy cautions for dissent and delaying the restart of play by kicking the ball away – we can all get those right – but you must get the big decisions right as well.

David Hutchinson

FA Licensed Referee Instructor & Registered Assessor. Surrey FA  England

It started off as a holiday. Almost five weeks of sunshine and experiencing a different culture and a positively different religion. Friday afternoon, 2.15pm, the centre of the capital city Kuala Lumpur, the Muslims are called to prayer. Everything stops. The prayer-mats are laid out, anywhere, and worship commences. Kathryn and I were attempting to gain access to a railway station at the time and were forced to step over and around the worshippers on the sidewalk, on the stairs and on the platform.

There is a second religion in Malaysia, too. That is football. It is all very serious. Most things are based around Islam - and football. They all support English football with a passion, mainly Manchester United and occasionally Liverpool. I had no chance of converting them from Islam but did my bit in the other direction. There are now at least 3 Evertonians in Kuala Lumpur and seven in Penang!!! I did some shopping in Kuala Lumpur where soccer kit and accessories are very reasonably priced. I purchased two referees kits which no doubt some of you will see and criticise during the season.

We arrived in Penang on 8th July. Weather hot and sunny. The pool, the beach and the beer was inviting. Plenty to enjoy here. Most days were spent on a sun lounger reading the complementary newspapers which kept me up to date with the happenings in the football world back home. I was quite contented and Kathryn looked bronzed and relaxed. After three weeks away I began to yearn for some live football. Then I remembered. I had the telephone number of the Secretary of the Penang F.A. "Might give him a call," I thought. Next morning, while Kathryn was in the shower, I did just that.

Rosley Sidek is a 61 year old retired school teacher who runs most things to do with football in Penang. He attended at the hotel where we chatted for about half an hour and then he produced two complementary tickets for Penang`s next home match against Terengganu the following Saturday evening. He told me it would be a great game as the home side only needed to win to more or less secure the Liga Premiere Championship. He told me to be ready at 6pm as we would have dinner first.

Even Kathryn was looking forward to the evening. Give her her due, she is a good referees assistant throughout the season and her motto now is "If you can’t beat them, join them." One thing about the Malaysians and Orientals in general is that they are always on time. 6pm and there was Rosley together with chauffeur. Off we went. "We will see some lower grade football first," said Rosley. We were taken to a ground which roughly equates to Buckley Hill although the pitches were in superb condition. The first thing I noticed as I took in bits of the three matches that were in progress was that nobody argued with the referee or his assistants. Yes, assistants even at this level, and even more, a fourth official at every game. The standard of play was not great but the players were obviously enjoying themselves and the game appeared to be played in the correct spirit.

While we were driving to our dinner rendezvous Rosley told me that he now has 1200 referees at his disposal. They are recruited from schools, colleges and sports clubs of which there are many. He is well able to appoint four officials to each match of whatever standard and his drop-out rate is virtually nil apart from authentic causes such as injury. He admits that Mums and Dads are a nuisance at boys games but they have been known to ban them from grounds, a circumstance which strangely is obeyed. By this time I was feeling rather peckish. I wondered where we would go for dinner. Some fancy hotel or restaurant no doubt. Imagine my surprise when we pulled over at a street cafe. The place did not look very appetising. They did not sell beer for a start!! The look on Kathryn`s face will never be forgotten. Rosley told us to leave the food selection to him. While he went and placed an order I apologised to Kathryn for bringing her to such a place and we sipped our diet coke.

When the food came it was absolutely beautiful despite the doubtful surroundings. The curry and spices were magnificent. Right at the end Rosley took great pleasure in "zapping me" with the hottest thing I have ever tasted. I love hot curries and chillies but this was something else. Highly amusing.

Now to the serious business. Off we went to the stadium. We were introduced to just about everybody. The stadium manager, the match assessor, the club secretary, the ground security chief, the Police officer in charge, and finally the referee Nik Ahmad Yaacob, proudly displaying his F.I.F.A. badge on his shirt, and his assistants. Getting his officials on the F.I.F.A. list is the sole aim of Rosley. Apart from the official for this match I was also introduced to Mr. Abdullah, with whom I sat for the duration of the game, who is also a F.I.F.A. referee.

Preliminaries over, we were taken to our seats in what I suppose we would term "the Directors Box." It was not a box, merely a raised platform with four comfortable chairs and the remainder plastic. The prime seats were for dignitaries of which I mistakenly thought I was one. Later, when the First Minister, Khor Tzu Koon, and his entourage arrived I realised I wasn’t.

Football in the Liga Premiere does not kick off until 8.45pm. This is dictated by Islam as prayers conclude at 8.40pm. The clock was ticking around. Not long to kick-off time. Then I spotted them. Policemen in smart navy blue uniforms and bright red berets. They formed a "guard of honour" from the players tunnel to the pitch which was surrounded by a running track. The loud music started, the crowd roared. Out came the young children carrying the flag followed by the officials and the teams. About 8000 spectators were present in a stadium not unlike Kirkby Sports Centre. Everybody around was convinced Penang would win easily and go on to become Champions.

In the 32nd minute Terengganu scored, much against the run of play, after a terrible defensive mix up. In the 64th minute Penang defender Ng Kok Heng was justifiably sent off after a tackle which could easily have been interpreted as attempted murder on the opposing winger. In the 68th minute they fell further behind. The crowd were getting restless. This was not what they had come to see. Shortly afterwards an incident occurred on the far side of the ground. From my vantage point the ball went out of play across the goal line. The referee, adorned in a pink outfit incidentally, pointed for a goal kick. The crowd nearby obviously disputed this and thought it should have been a corner kick. Missiles rained onto the pitch, mainly drinks containers. The nice young men who were resplendent in their navy blue uniforms and red berets now wore riot helmets and carried bright red truncheons. The game was held up for five minutes. Riot police patrolled the far touchline until the end of the match. Penang pulled a goal back with a last minute penalty kick which, if I did not know better, I would say the referee gave to take the sting out of a volatile situation. The final whistle. I could read the disappointment on Rosley`s face. Penang had created enough chances in the first half alone to have won easily. Still they weren`t out of it yet.

Fun and games started at the final whistle. The riot Police again formed up adjacent to the tunnel. Disgruntled supporters attempted to break through and express their opinions to the players. It all looked rather nasty. Kathryn tapped me on the shoulder. "Guess where I`m going," she said.

"Don`t know," I replied.

"I`m going to stand right alongside that First Minister!!!"

Clever girl, eh? We were escorted out and whizzed away to a coffee bar in downtown Georgetown. Even in there some local who spoke excellent English wore a Liverpool shirt with Fowler’s name and number on the back. Rosley never mentioned the incidents at the match although I detected that he was ashamed that such a thing could have happened in front of his guests. He took us back to the hotel where we arrived just after midnight. I needed a drink, I mean a proper drink. The Muslims don’t drink apparently and that was why we were supplied only with Coke, water and coffee. Out came the Johnnie Walker and the Tiger beer. I slept soundly.

Reading the newspapers the following morning it transpired that the situation at the ground worsened after we left. Missiles were thrown at players who were accused of "selling" the game. Some of the players became so annoyed that they attempted to assault those responsible. Eventually, they were shepherded onto the team bus and driven away. The club were fined heavily for these incidents by the Malaysian Football Association. There had been similar trouble at another match in Sarawak the same evening.

To summarise, the holiday was fantastic. Rosley Sidek is an amazing man with whom I will keep in contact. The standard of play in the Liga Premiere Malaysia is probably equivalent to UniBond League. Some players have a nice touch, others could not trap the proverbial "bag of cement." Defenders attempt to play themselves out of trouble when the "wellie" would have been more effective. The finishing was not good and the standard of crossing and the "final ball" poor. England is certainly not the only country with a sprinkling of nutcases in the ranks of supporters. I witnessed an unsavoury incident which I felt was dealt with superbly by those "nice young men" with their red berets and red truncheons.

I was made an honorary "Pengadil," (i.e. referee) and I have the badge to prove it. The Malaysians love their football. Their referees love refereeing, and long may it be so while the remarkable Rosley Sidek is in charge.