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Ten Referee Tips By Julian Carosi
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Referee Tip No. 1: Preventative Refereeing.
Referee Tip No. 2: The 15- Minute Trial.
Referee Tip No. 3: Ten-Minute-Refereeing.
Referee Tip No. 4: The Goalie Trinity.
Referee Tip No. 5: The Learning Ladder.
Referee Tip No. 6: Remembering.
Referee Tip No. 7: Perceptual Positions.
Referee Tip No. 8: The Goal (or outcome) Path.
Referee Tip No. 9: ABC of Conflict.
Referee Tip No. 10: Mark Yourself Out of 10.

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Introduction:

The 'Ten Referee Tips' below are meant to encourage lateral thinking, by offering ideas that on occasions may be somewhat controversial and unorthodox. Nevertheless, each of you should find something that will undoubtedly help you be a better Referee. If these ideas only get you to question the way you have been refereeing up to now, then they will have achieved their objective. And their objective is to encourage you not to be stifled in the way that you have been taught your refereeing skills, but always to seek other ways to add to them, by considering other methods that suit YOU, rather than the textbook. These 'Ten Referee Tips' are also a good basis for Referee Instructors to produce a learning session for Referees, which is a little bit different to what is normally provided!


Referee Tip No. 1: Preventative Refereeing.   Take me back to the top of this page.

There are many ways in which a Referee can actually prevent an incident occurring. If you can anticipate trouble, then you can do something to prevent it happening - even if this occasionally means breaking the Laws. 

"To anticipate something, is for it to never happen"…….think about it!

There are many examples that could be used to illustrate preventative refereeing, none better than the one in Referee Gordon Hill's book 'Give a little whistle' 1976. Gordon was a top class Referee in England, and retired in April 1975. He is forever known as 'the players' referee' due to the skill he had for interacting with the players. The words below from Gordon's book says it all:

Allen Wade, the FA's Director of Coaching, once told me: 'If you remember that refereeing is taking the heat out of a situation, you'll not go far wrong.' To me, this is what it's about…………….

I suppose the classic one as far as I was concerned was provided by Derby County's Willie Carlin and Coventry City's Ian Gibson during a match between the two clubs in the late 1960s. Carlin and Gibson were very similar in that they were both small, clever, cheeky players who loved to take the micky out of the opposition.
In this particular match, Coventry were really showing Derby how to play and Gibson, in particular, was having a tremendous game. Just before half-time, he jinked up towards Carlin in the middle of the field, and impudently nutmegged him, pushed the ball between Carlin's legs. Not only that, as he ran around Carlin, he gave a really loud, evil laugh. Carlin's face just changed colour. His teeth seemed to grow in length and take on devil's proportions - he was uptight as hell. As Gibson went off towards the right hand corner flag, Carlin went chasing after him 'This is going to be interesting,' I thought, and I set off as well. Within seconds, I realized I'd no chance of getting there in time, so I blew my whistle to stop the game. I ran up to Carlin, who'd not managed to catch Gibson, spun him round, Put my finger in front of him and said: You were going to 'do' him weren't you, Willie?'

And he replied: 'I'd have f……g killed him!' 

I restarted the game with a dropped ball.

Had I not stopped the game, I am convinced Carlin would have kicked Gibson off the park. I suppose correct refereeing would have been to wait for it to happen, and then send him off the field. But that would have ruined a game of football.

Gordon's example worked well for him, and meant that the players (and the spectators) were able to enjoy the rest of the match. The moral in this first of my 'the 'Ten Referee Tips', is not to always Referee with our hands tied behind your back whilst holding the Law book; rather, be brave and confident enough to occasionally break the Law yourself when needs be. 

If dissent is building up in your game, but it is not quite at the yellow card stage, wait for the ball to reach a safe zone in the centre of the field, and blow your whistle loudly to stop the game. Make a big deal of it!
Call the latest perpetrator over to you, give him a verbal roasting, and restart play with an indirect free kick to the opposing team. Don't worry about trying to find a justification for doing this in the Laws, because it's not there. Nevertheless, this method used sparingly and at the right times, is excellent for getting your message across to EVEYONE. And will undoubtedly prevent further trouble. In troublesome games, it only needs to be done once. 

Are you brave enough to break the Laws when it is needed for the players' benefit?

Referee Tip No. 2: The 15- Minute Trial.        Take me back to the top of this page.

John Tudor, an experienced 1970's goal-scoring forward of Newcastle United, Coventry and Sheffield United once said, that "players need most of all to know what to expect from Referees. Players go into a match with three things on their minds: 1 - to weigh up the opposition; 2 - decide what to do about them; 3 - test out the Referee."

Colin Waldron, the Burnley captain of the same era, also said, "most players do try early on to push along and try their hand to see if the Referee is lenient. They look, in other words, for the Referee to set his own standard, and to guide the players. The Referee's own standard usually establishes itself inside the first quarter of an hour."

How very astute of those players of year's gone by, to capture the early progress of a typical game of football, and the Referee's role, in just a few sentences.
It's no good a Referee setting 'his own standard' in the 60th minute of a game when nearly all the water has gone under the bridge, and the tide of aggression starts to swell. The time to 'set out your stall' is in the early part of the game. And you need to do it IN EVERY GAME! This does not meant that you have to wear a small peel-off black moustache under your nose for the first 15 minutes of every game, and then in the 16th minute, rip it off to indicate your dominance over the players (no offence meant to my German colleagues). Set your stall out gradually, by firstly completing all the pre-match preliminaries in good time and in a proper way. When you blow your whistle for the start of each game, think back to the three things on the players' minds, as Tudor astutely reminds us above. And most of all, remember the third thing that players will do, "test out the Referee."

Just knowing this, will make you aware that you need to show the players whether you are (as Tudor says) "lenient" or not. 
So how do you do that, I hear you say? It's very easy. 
As Waldron reminds us above, " the Referee's own standard usually establishes itself inside the first quarter of an hour." 
You either establish yourself, or you don't!
In the first 15 minutes, be alive and alert; apply the Laws more strictly, be on the spot; be into everything, even if you don't really need to be!; talk to the managers; talk to the players; give them instructions; tell them to take the throw from the correct place; make a bigger show of interacting with your Assistant Referees; blow your whistle more that you would normally do; manage all the free kicks if you can, by getting there!………………in short, start off in top gear, and maintain it for the first 15 minutes. Don't let the players set the standards. YOU set the standards. In the 16th minute (or thereabouts), rip off the imaginary moustache, put it metaphorically in your pocket (you might need it again later!) and replace it with an invisible smoker's pipe, as you change down to cruise gear. By now, you will have given the players a good idea of what you are about! 

Now ask yourself, "Do the players think I am lenient?" The answer of course, should be, no. Don't ask yourself this question in the 30th, 40th or 50th minute, because if you do, the players will have already provided you with the answer, which will be plain for all to see.

I think by now, that you have the drift of 'The 15 Minute Trail" methodology. 

Get to the market early, and set your stall out with all the prices showing before your customers (the players) have arrived to bargain with you. In the first 15 minutes, don't sell anything for less than the price shown on your tickets. The bargaining can come later, when the players know whom the owner of the stall is, and who will decide the final price!

Finally, don't wait until the 15th minute before you suddenly switch off the light, but use the last 5 minutes (the 10th to the 15th minute) to gradually diminish the strict control, so that when the 16th minute arrives, the players will not be wondering why the Referee has suddenly gone soft! 

Referee Tip No. 3: Ten-Minute-Refereeing.                      Take me back to the top of this page.

Moving on from 'Referee Tip No. 2, let us look at another method based on periods of time, called 'Ten-Minute-Refereeing'. This is not an alternative method, rather it can be used in conjunction.

For the Referee to manage a game in a flexible and efficient way, he will need to constantly vary his degree of involvement, based on the fluctuating temperature of the game, and the allowance of leniency he allows players. 
There will be periods in most games when teams are in their most heightened state of battle (for example, following a flash point), when the Referee will need to be authoritative. This can be achieved by applying strict Law to control (or regain control of) the game; for example: (a) Allow no advantage and stop play for every foul. (b) Work much harder at identifying and being near the confrontation areas. (c) Warn players in a more open and public way. (d) Discipline players in strict accordance of the Laws. (e) Deal swiftly with acts of dissent. etc………….. 

Conversely, during less confrontational periods, the Referee can relax his control by being more lenient (such as applying greater use of the advantage clause, and being more openly friendly towards the players), thus increasing the flow and enjoyment of the game for all. 

A study at Cardiff University in Wales, revealed that there are important 10 minute periods in each game of football, that nearly always require more strict policing by the Referee. For example, the first 10 minutes of a game; the five minute period immediately before and immediately after half time, and the last ten minutes of the game. It was found that a large proportion of problems occurred within these periods. In addition to this, further variable ten-minute periods (for example, following an incident trouble flash-point or the scoring of an important goal) were also identified as periods where confrontation and trouble abounded.

As an analogy, consider riding a frisky horse. To gain initial control of the horse, a rider will concentrate on using his riding skills to constantly pull in the reins when the horse misbehaves itself in any small way. Once the horse has 'got the message', the rider can release his grip on the reins thus allowing both the horse and the rider to relax. If later on, the horse starts to misbehave, the rider can pull in the reins again for a period until the horse is back under the control. Using this method allows the rider to demonstrate to the horse what he can, and what he cannot get away with! It is much the same with players in a game of football.

In general, Referees already adjust the level of control they use in a game, but this is normally done in a random manner. The 'Ten Minute Refereeing' method used by top Referees is a more structured and conscious way to gain initial control of a game when it matters, and to adjust the level of control following 'flash-point' incidents. This allows the Referee to maximise his capability by focusing his (fitness and mental) resources into gaining proper control of the game in those periods identified as being more troublesome than others. And then relaxing to rebuild his resources during the quieter periods of the game.

When a Referee is officiating with Assistant Referees, there are two signals that the Referee can use to tell his Assistants when he intends to start (or finish) a 'Ten Minute Refereeing' period. 

There will be times when 10 minutes of tight control is just not enough, and the Referee will need to extend the period. In fact, in some games, the 10 minutes can become 90 minutes! If this is the case, then the Referee will need to give his Assistant Referees the clenched fist signal from time to time. But in general, a full 10 minutes is usually sufficient to get the message across to players. 

Referee Tip No. 4: The Goalie Trinity.                    Take me back to the top of this page.

Let us ponder the following three questions.

1. What is the worst thing that can happen to a player? 
2. What is the most dangerous thing on the field of play? 
3. How can a referee live with him/herself, if they fail to complete a thorough field of play inspection, and the worst thing happens?

The stark answers are as follows:

1. A player can die. 
2. The goal framework can kill. 
3. With the greatest of difficulty!

Let us go on, to picture the following scenario (not so rare as you might think).

A father, who is blissfully watching his young son enjoy his goalkeeping role for the village team, suddenly has his world destroyed, when the crossbar fatally crushes open the head of his son.

YOU are the referee. 
YOU were responsible for thoroughly inspecting the field of play and the goals. 
YOU have to look the father in the eye!

The Goalie Trinity

"In the game of the father, the son, and the goalie post."

It might sound humorous. 
It is not meant to be. 
It is written so that you will remember it.

When you next step onto a field of play as the referee, roll your eyes from left to right along the goal framework as you approach each goal, and envisage:

The left hand post as the father. 
The crossbar as the son, that died. 
The right hand post as the 'goalie post'.

"In the game of the father, the son, and the goalie post."

This will help to remind you of YOUR responsibilities as a referee.

Players continue to be killed, due to crossbars falling on their heads - the referee should therefore, never compromise players' safety concerning the structure of the goals. And neither should they sanction repairs that are not 100 percent safe. If in any doubt as to the suitability and safety of a repaired or replacement crossbar, the referee MUST abandon the game. Tape, rope and wire are wonderful things, but they will not be able to hold the weight of the crossbar, or sustain a fiercely driven shot. Flimsy, unsubstantial anchoring stakes that supposedly secure portable goals, are also a great danger, very often leading to the whole goal framework toppling over, causing serious damage (sometimes fatal) to players' skulls.

"His world is destroyed, when the crossbar fatally crushes open the head of his son."

Below, is the most important paragraph in the Laws of Associated Football. It can be found at the end of Law 1.

"Goals must be anchored securely to the ground. Portable goals may only be used if they satisfy this requirement."

So each time that you officiate in future games;

Think about The Goalie Trinity. 
Think about how you would feel if this was your son. 
Think about actually testing the goal framework, instead of ignoring them.

Never compromise players' safety concerning the structure of the goals. 
Never allow unsatisfactory repairs in your game, or anyone else's game. 
Never place yourself in this position.

The Goalie Trinity

"In the game of the father, the son, and the goalie post."

It might make you laugh or it might save a life. Remember it. Always.

Referee Tip No. 5: The Learning Ladder.                      Take me back to the top of this page.

The Learning Ladder describes the steps that someone goes through when learning the skills of refereeing. It can be applied to virtually all learning scenarios. It is very important to understand that there is no such thing as perfection. A referee who is content by believing that he knows everything, is in great danger of becoming complacent, and will automatically switch to automatic pilot; it is human nature to do so. Referee Tip No. 5 will tell you what to do, to prevent this, and why you should do it.

Have you ever completed a journey in your car, and then can't remember anything about it? Were the traffic lights red? Was there anyone on the pedestrian crossing? Were there any other cars approaching the roundabout?

Don't worry; it's a natural progression. As a competent driver, your mind falls into a state called 'Unconscious Competence'. In other words, you did every thing right but can't remember doing it. The traffic lights were green (had they been red, you would have stopped). There were no pedestrians on the crossing, and there were no cars approaching the roundabout at the same time as you.

"Have you ever completed a journey in your car, and then can't remember anything about it?"

There are four steps in 'The Learning Ladder'

Step 1: Unconscious Incompetence: 
(We don't know what we don't know).

A new referee, learning the Laws of the Game in the classroom, is unable to take charge of a game because he does not know the Laws (he is incompetent) and he does not know what is required (he is unconscious of what is needed).

Step 2: Conscious Incompetence: 
(When we realise that we need to learn something).

When the new referee begins his first games, his awareness expands, and he moves to a level of Conscious Incompetence. He is vaguely aware of what needs to be done as far as the Laws are concerned, and he knows that he has the option to do something about it (he is conscious); but his lack of experience means that he struggles with applying the Laws (he is incompetent).

Step 3: Conscious Competence: 
(This is when we are mastering a skill and still have to concentrate all of the time we are doing it).

After about a year or so, the referee is aware of his limitations. He is not yet fluent; and still has to concentrate hard to get it right (conscious). He realises that there needs to be some improvement, and embarks on becoming more proficient (competent). He will need to constantly re-assess his performances, and continually learn as much as he can.

Step 4: Unconscious Competence: 
(Doing things without thinking about it).

Finally, after many years of learning and practising, and officiating in as many games as possible, refereeing becomes second nature (unconscious), and a referee no longer has to concentrate too hard on what he is doing (competent). He has reached the topmost learning level of Unconscious Competence.

OK, you might ask yourself? So what does all this have to do with refereeing?

Think back to the car driver analogy at the beginning of this tip. If you cannot remember what you did during a game, then you will have switched to autopilot mode. And this is when you are at your most vulnerable as a referee. Don't worry; it is human nature for a competent person to fall into this trap.

Question: So how can a competent and confident referee stop this from happening? 
Answer 1: By appreciating how 'The Learning Ladder' applies to him, and how it will affect his performance. 
Answer 2: By always fluctuating between Step 3: Conscious Competence: and Step 4: Unconscious Competence:

'The Learning Ladder' (starts at the bottom Step 1). 

Step 4: Unconscious Competence: 
FLUCTUATE BETWEEN STEP 3 AND 4 
Step 3: Conscious Competence: 
Step 2: Conscious Incompetence: 
Step 1: Unconscious Incompetence:

Question: So how does a referee FLUCTUATE BEWEEN STEP 3 AND 4? 
Answer: By constantly re-reading the Laws; getting up to date with the latest developments; discussing matches with colleagues; trying out different methods; listening to match assessors; watching other referees and using best practices etc. and then applying them to his game.

In short, when autopilot kicks in (Unconscious Competence), then it is time to manually turn it off, and to actually start thinking about, and questioning what you are doing (Conscious Competence).

Referee Tip No. 6: Remembering.                       Take me back to the top of this page.

Firstly, let the ratios of what people remember, be your guide to what is the best method for you to remember things.

95% what you teach to someone else

80% what you experience personally

70% what you discuss with others

50% you both see and hear

30% of what you see

20% of what you hear

10% of what you read

Don't just be referee with limited knowledge. Be a Referee with unlimited knowledge.

The descriptions above are self-explanatory, so Instead of tackling the 95% end of spectrum let's look at one way of expanding, and getting the best out of the lowest 10% level.

Thirty minutes before each game, read one chapter of the Laws of Associated Football. When officiating in the ensuing game, and when the occasion allows, focus particularly on that Law, and deal with every aspect of that Law as though it was the only Law. After the game, make a list of any problems, and how you dealt with them. Research solutions, and add them alongside your listed items. Add to the list, and as it grows, read it also before each game. As time goes on, weed out from your list, the learning points that have become embedded into your brain. As the list progresses, start adding non-Law techniques and tips covering man-management, dealing with club officials, fitness, positioning etc.

Finally, to increase your promotion prospects, let us look at the top end of the 'Remembering' spectrum. People remember '95% of what they teach to someone else'. It is evidently clear that becoming a Referees' Instructor, a Referees' Assessor, or a Referees' Mentor, will hugely increase and improve your performance as a Referee.

Don't just be referee with limited knowledge. Be a Referee with unlimited knowledge.

Referee Tip No. 7: Perceptual Positions.                Take me back to the top of this page.

"Think of the awkward incident through the eyes and ears of others; and you will soon find better ways of managing similar occurrences. The steps are easy."

Have you ever dealt with a difficult player, and wondered how you could have done it better? This tip will help you to look at an incident from different viewpoints. This should help you to find ways of managing similar future situations in a much better way.

Consider a single difficult situation that you have been in recently, by thinking about it from three different perspectives:

(1) Yourself (the Referee). 
(2) The Player. 
(3) An Observer (perhaps an Assessor, manager or a spectator).

These are called Perceptual Positions. When you explore perceptual positions, you will start to develop an ability to experience interaction in a new way. You will learn to see and to hear, and to feel the relationship through the eyes and the ears and the emotions of the player. You also develop the ability to explore the relationship through the eyes and ears of a neutral observer (a fly on the wall, a hidden video camera, a spectator etc).

When you add these new dimensions to your current self-assessment, you will learn new ways of behaving that will enrich and enhance each and every relationship you have with players. You do this by putting yourself in their shoes, and by asking yourself how you would have felt in the same behavioural situation?

Developing Perceptual Positions:

Step 1 of 6: History:

As you think about a difficult situation, you begin to remember other times when things did not go quite as well as you would have liked them to. As you mull this over in your mind, you start remembering the interaction (history) in greater detail.

Step 2 of 6: Through Your Own Eyes:

First, you see the experience through your own eyes, becoming aware of what trouble the player gave you. You hear the experience through your own ears, listening to what the player is saying, what you are saying out loud, and what you were thinking to yourself at the time. You experience what it is like to be with this player, what you feel about the player, and also about your behaviour and the awkwardness of the interaction. Then you freeze the interaction and notice what you have learnt about yourself. It is here, that you can perceive better ways of dealing with the situation, such as; controlling (or hiding) your emotions; better positioning; ways to be stronger or more polite, and making your instructions clearer for the listener etc.

Step 3 of 6: Through the Player's Eyes:

See the experience through the player's eyes, becoming aware of what you look like from his perspective. You hear the experience through the player's ears, listening to what you are saying. You feel what it is like to be the player, what you feel about yourself from here. Then you freeze the interaction and notice what you have learned about yourself and the player. It is here, that you can imagine what the player thought about you, as you were dealing with him. Would it have worked better if you had been calmer; or had used different words; or perhaps used more authority; or by being more friendlier and polite etc? Did you really need to embarrass him? These are the questions seen from the player's perspective. Next time this incident happens, you should now be able to temper your approach to eliminate the things that did not originally work.

Step 4 of 6: Through the Eyes of an Observer:

See the experience through the eyes of an observer who might be neutral. You listen to the Referee and the player talking to one another. You become aware of how they have interacted together previously in the game and notice any patterns and repetitions. Then you freeze the interaction and perceive what you have learned about yourself (the Referee) and the player. Was there a clash of two strong characters? Who was in charge of the situation? Was the incident resolved in a satisfactory way? How was the anger managed? etc.

Step 5 of 6: Using the new Perceptions to Improve:

By now, you will have lots of additional information that you have gathered about yourself (the Referee), from the player, and from the observer. As you consider all of this information, think about what it is that you could say or do or feel differently that would improve your interaction and values to allow you to shift this interface to a different, and more successful level. This might only be a very small change, or it could lead to a significant change in how you manage future incidents. It might only be one thing or several things that need developing. Some of the things to consider might be a new posture or more friendlier gestures, moving closer to the player or further away, moving next to them or in front of them, changing the look on your face, different words or a new tone of voice, or just feeling differently about the player or yourself.

Step 6 of 6: Test Out the Theory:

Now in your mind, imagine the next time that you will be in a similar situation with this player, except that this time, you have some new behaviours to try out. As you try out these new possibilities in your mind, notice how the player changes the way in which they are behaving. And you begin to realise that you can use these new behaviours whenever you want to, with this player or with other players in future games.

Next time that you have trouble with a particularly awkward incident, analyse it by developing the perceptual positions. Don't just accept that the next incident will be dealt with by you in exactly the same way. Think of the awkward incident through the eyes and ears of others; and you will soon find better ways of managing similar occurrences. 

The steps are easy:

Step 1: History: 
Step 2: Through Your Own Eyes: 
Step 3: Through the Player's Eyes: 
Step 4: Through the Eyes of an Observer: 
Step 5: Using the new Perceptions to Improve: 
Step 6: Test Out the Theory:

Referee Tip No. 8: The Goal (or outcome) Path.                  Take me back to the top of this page.

"Why did the player react as he did? These are the sorts of things that you should think about."

When we interact with players during confrontational moments, or when we are disciplining them, we very often rush straight in to the 'task', which often leads to failure, or poor management of the situation. This will affect the outcome path of what you are trying to achieve. If you consider the stages below, rather than rush in thoughtlessly, it will hone you skills and provide a structure to the outcome you are trying to reach.

Stage 1: Emotional State:

Firstly, you must consider, and be aware of your own emotional state - are you in a state that will help the interactions? If you are tense and nervous, it will be difficult to instil confidence in the player you are dealing with. Attend to your own state of mind before you approach the player. The first stage is therefore, to try and calm yourself down. Once you have done this, only then can you move on to Stage 2 with some confidence.

Stage 2: Building a Rapport:

Next; build and maintain a rapport with the player. You can do this by: calming him down; asking him if he is OK; listening to him; giving him a few seconds to let off some steam; smiling, and isolating him from the other players etc.

Stage 3: Information Gathering:

When you have established a rapport, you will be able to gather better quality information to enable you to make a decision on the best way to deal with this player. You can do this by: considering which Law has been broached, and the appropriate punishment; extracting information from the player by asking him questions (for example, "what did the opponent say to you, to make you react so badly?") and by thinking about the circumstances that led up to the occurrence. i.e. why did the player react as he did? These are the sorts of things that you should think about (at least once in your mind) before making your decision.

Stage 4: Goal (or outcome):

Once you have dealt with your emotional state, created a rapport with the player, and considered all the information that you need, you should now be able to come to a suitable conclusion. For example, issue a public warning, caution, or show a red card etc.

The important aspect of the 4 stages above, is to appreciate that there is a structured 'Goal Path' to go along, before any result can be achieved.

If you are not achieving any movement towards an outcome stage when you are dealing with a player (i.e. you're not quite sure what to decide), consider which stage you have reached, and then backtrack.

For example, if you are unsure of how to punish the player (i.e. you cannot reach a well-formed outcome at Stage 4), go back to gathering more information (Stage 3). If you do not feel that you calmed the player down enough to establish a rapport (Stage 2), then attend to your own emotional state (Stage 1). The calmer you are, the calmer the player will be. Once you have done this, you can return to working upward again along the 'Goal Path' and towards the final Stage 4.

The 'Outcome Path' is easy to travel along!

Stage 1 Emotional State: 
Stage 2 Rapport: 
Stage 3 Information Gathering: 
Stage 4 Goal:

Referee Tip No. 9: ABC of Conflict.                    Take me back to the top of this page.

Advanced Buffer Circle (ABC)
(More extensive details on this tip can be found here):
http://www.carosi.freeserve.co.uk/corshamreferee/conflict.htm

This tip will hopefully encourage referees to think positively about the best place to stand when disciplining players. Whilst it is all well and good focusing on a perpetrator during a period of admonishment, a referee should also keep a wary eye on the remainder of the players. It very often happens, that when a referee is dealing with a player, he completely ignores everything else. The 'ABC of Conflict' provides some thoughts on how the referee can better position himself, so as to maximise his observation and increase his safety, without having to lessen the control and view of all the players (not just the perpetrator). Therefore, the next time that you (the referee) need to administer a public warning, or issue a yellow/red card, try to consider whether you would be better off standing in a different position, rather than remaining static where you are.

1. As soon as conflict materialises, and you need to speak to a player, think about the best position to manipulate the perpetrator, so that he is standing in front of you. Your position should be such, that it allows you to view all (or most) of the other players, over the perpetrator's shoulder. In other words, don't just stand in the centre circle amongst the other players, most of whom you will not be able to see as you are dealing with the perpetrator.

2. In addition to this, the perpetrator should be positioned between you and the nearest active Assistant Referee. This maximises the officiating team's visibility and control of the conflict area. It also allows the Assistant Referee to make a note of the perpetrator's number written on the back of his shirt.

3. Try and move into a position where you have your back to one of the boundary lines surrounding the field of play. This will give you a panoramic view of the remaining players whilst you are dealing with the perpetrator. If a boundary line is too far away, move to a position where you have your back to an area of the field of play that has the least number of players in. This way, you can at least keep an eye on most of the other players. The technical area is also something else that you will need to keep an eye on! Therefore, never place your back towards a nearby technical area when you are dealing with a player.

4. Aim to have an empty safety zone behind you. There are two reasons for this:

(a) So you don't have to worry about being attacked or abused unseen from behind.

(b) So that you have an empty 'back-off' retreat zone should things get out of hand, and you need to take a few steps backwards.

5. When you have reached your position, make sure that you leave a protection zone between yourself and the perpetrator. This zone is commonly known as your 'personal space', and should not be invaded by players. It should be of sufficient distance that makes it impossible for a punch to be thrown. In other words, it should be at least an arm's distance. If you allow a player to invade this space, you are jeopardising your own safety, and the intimidation stakes will quickly rise!

Inner Ref. circle: Now that you have gained your optimal position, think of the 'ABC of Conflict' as you (the Ref) standing in the centre, surrounded by three wide circular rings (like sugary doughnuts with holes in!) Each doughnut is progressively wider than the other, and they are all surrounding the Referee (see diagram).

1-metre circle: The Referee stands in the middle, and is surrounded by a 1 metre wide ring (or doughnut!). This is the buffer zone, the no-go, or no-mans area and should be at least an arm's length away from the perpetrator.

2-metre buffer circle: Surrounding Circle 1, there is a 2-metre wide ring. This is the area where the perpetrator should be positioned. The perpetrator must not enter the inner buffer zone (Circle 1), as this could be seen as invading the Referee's personal space, but he must be near enough to be dealt with quietly and politely, without the referee having to shout.

3-metre advanced circle: Surrounding the two inner rings (1 and 2), is a further 3 metre wide ring. This is the advanced exclusion zone that applies to ALL the other players. In other words, when you prepare to caution or send-off a player, shoo away any others who want to get involved - and this includes the captain!

To summarise: The 'ABC of Conflict' is a simple visual concept, which you can refer to, when considering the best place to position yourself, when dealing with major conflict on the field of play. When you need to deliver a public warning, or to issue a card, don't forget, that your duties and responsibilities extend to all the other players, and not just the one you happened to be dealing with. You can't do this by turning your back on them - unless you have eyes in the back of your head!

Note: The 'ABC of Conflict' refers to referee positioning when dealing with the more serious cases of indiscipline. There are many other lesser levels of referee control (and subsequent positioning) such as delivering a quiet word, where positioning is dependant on other factors such as the continuation of play, or the location of a free kick etc.

Referee Tip No. 10: Mark Yourself Out of 10.                Take me back to the top of this page.

Displaying a calm body language whilst dealing with problems is a difficult skill to learn and control. The following idea is an easy self-assessment marking method that can help Referees train themselves to remain calm in difficult situations.

Marks 0 to 10.

During a game, when a serious incident occurs (and they nearly always do in every game) - as you make your way towards the incident in readiness to deal with it, and before you have done anything else - say (or think) to yourself:

"Let's see how calm I can be when dealing with this incident."

When you have dealt with it, make a mental note by awarding yourself a mark out of 10, along the lines of either:

"Nahh I dealt with this too quickly, made a fool of myself and showed the players that I was unsure of what I was doing - marks out of 10 = 3".

Or

"I approached the players in a calm way, took my time, isolated the players, dealt with them politely, ensured that everyone knew (by the raising of my whistle) that play should not be restarted until I give my signal, and made my way calmly to my restart position etc. etc. marks out of 10 = 9"

Do this throughout the next few games and then tot up an average at the end of each game.

For example: How did I do overall in this game out of 10 = 6

You only need to do this for a few games and you will find yourself automatically starting dealing with conflict in a much calmer manner. Once you have honed your technique (so that dealing with conflict automatically becomes less stressful), you can will only need to resort to this method in future games, when you get a 'really serious incident' to deal with, and the old nerves are starting to jangle again!.

It works. It's easy - and it will make you a much more confidant Referee.

One last note - the trick is not to necessarily worry about how nervous you are, but to train yourself NOT TO SHOW IT to the players. In other words, the marks out of 10 that you award yourself, are more to do with how you control your body language and deal with the incident, despite how nervous you might feel inside.

Everyone gets nervous, it's a good reflex to have, as it keeps you on your toes - so don't fight it.

Accept that you will get nervous sometimes!

I hope that you have found something that you can use. Let me have your thoughts. 
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End of the Ten Referee Tips page.