Rory McKee
r.mckee@ardschronicle.co.uk
FRUSTRATION reigns among member clubs of a local football league over a lack of official referees to take charge of fixtures and the manner in which the issue is being dealt with.
The subject of referee recruitment throughout the game in Northern Ireland has been well documented in recent times, and unsurprisingly it is at junior level that this is being felt most.
Last weekend’s Down Area Winter Football League (DAWFL) programme saw more than 60 per cent of fixtures left without an official referee, requiring registered club officials having to step in to the role to ensure that those matches went ahead.
Fundamental to the job of a referee is of course the need to remain impartial, and while club officials should be commended for their efforts in stopping games from being postponed, their presence in the middle can inevitably lead to accusations of bias and favouritism.
Peter McAnally, first team manager of Dundonald-based Agape FC who ply their trade in Division One of the DAWFL structure, is one such club official who has had to swap the dugout for the pitch in recent weeks.
“The lack of official refs is having a detrimental effect on games,” he told the Chronicle.
“It ruins my Saturday as I want to manage my team, not ref the game. If I did, I would do the proper course and get paid.
“It [3rd Bangor versus Agape] was the first one I have had to do in a while and the opponents said they appreciated my efforts, which is great, but not every club ref would be so fair.
“What we need is totally unconnected men in the middle, because if anything I’m harder on my own team,” continued Peter.
“I fully appreciate the refereeing convenor for the League is doing his best, but his hands are tied with nowhere near enough official refs. Add in the Junior Cup and Junior Shield weekends and there are even less.
“I don’t think the Irish FA have run anywhere near enough club referee courses before the start of this season. I know of only one course we could have attended and even that was hastily arranged. That simply isn’t good enough and falls totally on the IFA.”
The Agape chief was clear that while he ‘doesn’t get on with every referee’, they are ‘vital’ to the game.
“I continue to hear that it’s a struggle to recruit referees due to the behaviour of managers and players, but I struggle with that excuse. The referee has the power to deal with anything they aren’t happy with during a game and if it means more punishments for clubs then so be it.
“We are losing too many good footballing people that could easily take up the whistle,” he said.
“I don’t get on with every single referee in our league, but ultimately I respect them all as they are vital to our game. At the end of the day I want the best, not only for my own club, but the whole league, to get it back to being one of the best about.”
In order for club referees to take charge of a game, they must be certified by the IFA, affiliated by paying their annual £5 fee and registered on the Comet system.
Down Area League rules state that should an official referee be unavailable, clubs have until 12pm on matchday to provide a club referee. Only at that point – two hours before kick-off in the case of most DAWFL fixtures – will the League make the decision to call a game off.
Bryansburn Rangers Football Club, whose third team play in DAWFL Division Two, are calling for the League to adopt a similar approach taken by the Northern Amateur League (NAFL).
The NAFL stipulates that games will be postponed if a club referee cannot be found by a Friday at 12pm. According to Bryansburn chairman Alan Dempster, that 24 hours’ extra notice would be hugely beneficial to players and officials who often request time off work and arrange childcare on a Saturday only to find out that their game isn’t going ahead.
“We want to see the DAWFL fall into line with the NAFL on this as it would allow everybody to change their plans accordingly,” he said.
“We have got no issues with the club referee process as without them the leagues would totally fall apart. You cannot blame the League for the lack of referees, it is how it’s being dealt with that is the problem.
“I think our third team has only had one official referee this season. Club referees don’t get paid and it’s not a pleasant job – our issue is that the DAWFL will not call off a game until 12pm on Saturday even when it is 99 per cent certain not to be going ahead.
“To me, this is where they’ve got it totally wrong and that’s the only criticism I would level at the DAWFL. The rest of it is not of their making.”
A spokesman for the DAWFL said that the issue of official referees has been raised ‘at the highest level.’
League response
“Following a recruitment campaign, there is now someone in charge of driving referee recruitment and also formulating a strategy on how to achieve stretching targets of referee numbers,” they added.
“Club referees are therefore a vital part of enabling our competitions to be played. Without them, games wouldn’t be played and our competitions would be thrown into turmoil.”
The spokesman continued: “With Junior Cup and Junior Shield games over recent weeks, our official referee quota has been severely diminished, but despite that only a few games have been lost due to the shortage of official referees.
“That is testament to the commitment of clubs and club referees and we hope that reliance on club referees will be a short term solution until official referee numbers improve.”
