September Newsletter

Hello again. Well, what an interesting season it's turning out to be. At the time of writing, Manchester United have regained their customary position at the top of the Premier League, having returned from their little escapade in Brazil. Nothing new there, then! However, who amongst us would have predicted a Worthington Cup Final between Leicester and Tranmere! I do wonder if the days of this competition are numbered, as more and more Premiership teams seem to be paying less credence to the com petition, even though there is a place in Europe up for grabs for the winners.

And who would have thought the FA Cup Quarter Final draw would have included Tranmere, Bolton, Charlton, and Gillingham! It's an old cliche that the cup is a great leveller, and this season it seems to be truer than ever. I wonder if, deep down, Manchester United are regretting their decision to opt out of this season's FA Cup. And what a great boost for local football, with both Gillingham and Charlton doing so well! I wonder what the odds are of these two meeting in the final! There is an update of the Mystic Ref competition from Colin Morris in this edition, as things are starting to get interesting as the season develops, but I would hazard a guess that those names mentioned above don't appear too often.

Also included in this edition are a quiz to test your powers of observation, and an extremely thought provoking article from Brian Foreman, entitled "It's That Time Of The Season Again" . If you have any ideas on this article, then please let me know. Thanks to both Brian and Colin for their contributions. I hope to publish a monthly update of the Mystic Ref competition from now until the end of the season.

It\s strange that Brian should send me his article now, because I wa s also having thoughts along similar lines. Personally, I find it extremely irritating when top managers and players complain about the number of cautions being issued. I find it even more frustrating when referees are told to be more lenient and hold back on yellow cards. As a result, I have seen several incidents over the last few weeks, which I would have considered to be an automatic caution. However, because referees have been told to hold back, no caution has been issued. This could possibly endanger the referees' control later in the game, as players may seek retribution, or could lead to the old chestnut of inconsistency if a similar tackle at a more heated stage of the game is punished by a caution. In my opinion, it is not the referees who should be told to change their methods, but the players and managers! If they see other players being cautioned, and lack the intelligence to adapt their game to avoid being cautioned for the same offence, they deserve to be cautioned! The football authorities should be stronger, and stand up for referees, who, after all, are only upholding the Laws of the Game. After all, we do not hear of the police force saying they will not punish burglars or car thieves because there are too many others being fined or jailed, do we? Why not let me have your thoughts, so that I can publish them in the next Newsletter?

Here's a bit of light-hearted fun to test the brain cells. I expect we all watch Match of the Day every week, and we can all recognise the teams by the colour of their shirts and by the players who are wearing them. However, every single one of those shirts has something else on it which distinguishes that team from any other. No, I don't mean the club crest, I mean the name of the team's sponsors.

Now, as we all know, a sponsorship deal for a Premier League club is worth millions of pounds. Therefore, the sponsors need their name to be noticed as much as possible. So I wondered how effective the sponsorship really is. You will see below a list of Premier League fixtures, but the names of the teams have been substituted by the names of the sponsors. See if you can name the teams from the names of their sponsors.

Season after season for almost as long as I can remember we have a period during the season when practically everyone from players, managers, newspaper journalists and our TV "experts" want to tell us how poor our top Referees are. It seems Referees are always spoiling games, cautioning and sending from the field of play too many players. It' s as if that is "our" sole aim in life, to spoil football matches up and down the country in front of millions of spectators, not to mention the viewing millions! To create havoc and upset every football supporter that it is possible so to do and to create extra pressure on all our colleagues.

The game is in crisis and it's all the Referees' fault. I did not know Referees were so powerful, to single handily bring the game of football in this country to such a low point and to be able to do it every season!! (Yes, that may be stretching the imagination a little far.)

So what are the problems, how are they caused/created and what can be done about solving the problems?

No, I don't have all the answers to solving the problems but I do have some views and possible solutions.

I believe that some of our "top" Referees do not have the required experienced to officiate at the level they currently operate. This is not to say they are not good Referees but have had promotion, in some cases, too quickly. This in part has been caused by the age rule at which officials have to be removed from senior leagues, the "fast tracking" of young officials to replace those removed and the demise of the assessing scheme at that level. When you then add to this the various Law changes and FA/Premier League instructions to Referees, it is perhaps little wonder that mistakes occur. Though in the circumstances I think generally the Referees adapt very well, much better it seems than players.

The Laws of the Game were changed, I believe, to deal with player misconduct and Referee inconsistency. (Something players and managers had complained about for some time . One Referee would give a freekick and a lecture for a foul, while another Referee would give a freekick and a caution, and another Referee would give a freekick and send the player from the field of play, all for very similar offences). The Law changes, to a large extent, removed the Referees' "flexibility" in such circumstances and left little option but to caution or send off the offender. Well we have the consistency but players/managers now complain they are loosing too many players with suspensions. Perhaps Referees have adapted better to the Law changes than have the players!!

It is true to say that the pressures at the "top level" of football are greater than ever before. Managers, players and Referees have immense pressure to deal with because of the money involved in the game. Success is everything, it brings more and more money to players and clubs. Failure is costly in that it will loose revenue for clubs, cost the manager his job, possibly, and various other financial knock-on effects.

Referees are only too aware of their responsibilities and the effects their decisions can have. Add to this the TV coverage, cameras in all parts of the ground to show decisions/incidents from many angles, slow motion etc, etc. Once this footage is availabl e the journalists and TV "experts" can then add their "knowledge" . If it does turn out to be an incorrect decision and lets face it we are all human, no leniency is shown. It is all too easy for the "experts" to make the correct decision with the technology available to them in the comfort of their chairs.

The disappointing thing to me and I am sure other Referees, is that there never seems anyone to explain the Referee's point of view. With all the criticism "flying about" you would have thought the TV/P ress would have wanted to hear why/how the decisions on particular incidents were made. The Referee's view of the incident, what the Law says about such incidents and the options available to the Referee to make in a split second and under pressure the correct decision.

So what can we do about this ever increasing, or so it seems, gap between players, managers and Referees? Communication is probably the key. Why are the Law changes not communicated and fully explained to Referees, Players and Managers/Coaches as and when the details are known. It should then be possible for the FA to inform everyone involved what the new Law changes are going to mean for the coming season. All being informed at the same time, given the same message should prevent different interpretations being put across to different audiences. It could even be videod for wider distribution.

A "disciplinary Committee", consisting of FA, RA, PFA and Managers representatives could investigate controversial incidents and if necessary take act ion as appropriate against the guilty party(s). This would be for all involved, Referees included if they are guilty of "misconduct". The findings should be released to the press, with the explanation as to how/why the decision was reached. The FA should h ave its own WEB Site where such items would be posted. The RA WEB Site should also be used more for such items as should the Premier League and Football League WEB Sites. In this way a maximum audience would be reached.

I find it strange that our TV "experts" who criticise Referees for their lack of control etc. during matches, put the responsibility of stopping players diving, play acting to get other players cautioned/sent off and generally cheating to their own ends, squarely with the Referee. Surely Managers have a responsibility to control their players? Also the PFA should accept responsibility for their members behaviour towards other members.

If all these bodies accepted and carried out their responsibilities with honesty, some respect for Referees and their authority would return. This would not occur over night but the sooner it starts the sooner we will see results and some sanity be restored to the game.

Why not write to Ian Miles, Newsletter Editor, and air your views. Someone just might have the answers we are all looking for.

13th May 2000 Referee of the Year Dinner & Dance Venue : Mid Kent Golf Club Cost of tickets : £17.50 To be paid in advance to Mick Smith Menu : Smoked salmon & prawns Roast lamb Chocolate profiteroles or raspberry & apple with ice cream Coffee & mints

We have seen some strange results in the various cup competitions this year, as has been borne out by the teams in the latter stages of both the FA Cup and the Worthington Cup. However, my thanks go to the eagle eyed Steve M artin for drawing this particular result to my attention.

A few salient points come from the details so far, it proves Coral (Newson) knows more about football than John, still that fact has never been in dispute! Philip Flynn is our current leader with potential still to collect points on the F A Cup questions. Dodgy Sam (last years winner) Wright is hovering in a nice position, will it be another dip at the winning post to get him home? I, yet again, figure in the top echelon, not for long I fancy. Simon Smith is the supporting runner at the moment, holding us all up, will it be a Sheffield Wednesday escape act, who will plummet from mid table into the relegation zone? Mant twist and turns will occur from now to the end of season, a monthly update will be issued with the Newsletter until the winner is known. Sadly no one marked the box with an 'X' for no publicity, therefore it will be my pleasure to 'sing their praises' or similar.

Those figures (except total) in bold are the final score for that particular question, all others can change subject to the nicities of the games to be played.

The Branch would like to thank all those taking part, hope you will enjoy. Sadly, due to shortness of notice of this seasons competition we only received 33 entries, still thats a nice drink (£33) for someone at the end of the competition and an additional £33.00 to the Branch funds.

POS	____PLAYER_____	POINTS
1	P Flynn	34
2	C Newson	32
3	T Ball	31
4	C Morris	29
5	S Wright	27
6	A Storey	26
7	D Errington	26
8	R Avery	24
9	J Aggett	23
10	R Wilde	22
11	S Panting	22
12	J Vidler	22
13	J Newson	21
14	N Baynton	21
15	T Woolhead	20
16	N Wilde	20
17	S Flynn	20
18	G Newton	19
19	J Lavelle	19
20	D Errington	18
21	G East	18
22	L Mason	18
23	G Avery	18
24	A McAlister	17
25	D Avery	17
26	R Baker	16
27	G Biagioni	15
28	J Beaver	15
29	C Lynham	14
30	C Freed	12
31	K Storey	12
32	T Smith	12
33	S Smith	6

West Ham v Leeds; Derby v Chelsea; Arsenal v Newcastle; Manchester Utd v Aston Villa; Leicester v Sheffield Wednesday; Middlesborough v Everton; Wimbledon v Southampton; Tottenham v Watford; Bradford v Coventry; Liverpool v Sunderland.

So, observant are you, and how effective is the advertising of the club sponsors on the shirts? If you scored well, then the sponsors would consider their money well spent, but if you failed to identify some of the teams, th en they could be wasting their money!

Our Quiz team is about to embark on it's defence of the County Quiz Shield, and also attempt to regain the Southern Division Quiz, and ultimately, the National Quiz. The County Quiz takes place on 16th February at Beauwaters, with the Southern Division Quiz at Woking on 5th March, and any supporters/spectators are welcome.

As I have previously mentioned in the Newsletter, our team members are pretty well established. However, we only have the bare minimum number of Branch members involved with the Quiz. This means that if anyone is unavailable, then we have a problem. I really feel that, as arguably the most successful Quiz team in the country and also the Branch with the biggest membership in Kent, this is a problem we should not have. Indeed, this time around, Graham East will be away celebrating his silver wedding anniversary when the County Quiz is being held. Fortunately, John Aggett has agreed to step into the breach, although he had planned to retire after last season. If there had not been a rule change reducing the number of team members from five to four, we would have a real problem this year.

Therefore, I am, once again, appealing to you all to consider becoming part of the Quiz set up. If you are interested or would like more information, whether you are a new Branch member or an old hand, then please contact the team captain, Ian Miles, using any of the methods of communication shown at the bottom of the page.

All articles to: Ian Miles, 17 Church Farm Road, Upchurch, Kent ME9 7AG. Telephone 01634 235148. E-Mail: ian.miles@marshalls.co.uk

All opinions expressed herein are not those of the Branch unless otherwise stated.