march Newsletter

After the series of strange cup results this season, things have pretty much evened out as usual, with the Premiership clubs coming through in the FA Cup. Only Bolton remain to fly the flag of the Nationwide League, but, unfortunately, the romance is over for Gillingham and Charlton. The latter, of course, are in a particularly strong league position, so hopefully we will still get some local success this season. Also, Leicester's defeat of Tranmere in the Worthington Cup Final spoiled a few dreams. However, there have still been some strange results around - just ask Celtic fans!

On a sad note, this month saw the sad loss of Sir Stanley Matthews. One of football's all time greats, he was not just a great player, but a gentleman as well. If only some of the present day players could follow his example, the game would, I'm sure, be in a healthier state.

And the five members of England\rquote s 1966 World Cup winning team, who were not already honoured have received the MBE from Her Majesty The Queen. Better late than never!

This month's Newsletter includes an article based on the surfing exploits of Brian Foreman, an update on the Quiz team's exploits, and another update on the Mystic Ref competition. I have also included a copy of a letter from The Referees' Association regarding the RA Personal Accident Insurance Policy. The letter is self explanatory, and the message is simple - Pay your Branch subscriptions early to make sure that you are insured.

Certainly the e-mail system seems to be popular wit h some Branch members, and I am receiving a number of articles through this new medium, not all of them about football. Vic Taylor is like a child with a new toy, and many of us are well aware of Brian Foreman's exploits surfing the net. Basically, I don't mind where the articles come from, or how you send them to me. And obviously, there is always room for more!

Finally, apologies to those of you who received last month's Newsletter without the normal header sheet. This is basically all down to the fact that the Newsletter is now dealt with by e-mail, and I cannot send the emblem as it is not installed in my computer (and I don't know how it can be!). Therefore, when Brian Foreman and Steve Peeke did the photocopying, they had no header sheet. Hopefully, the situation has been resolved in time for this edition, as I have passed copies of the header sheet to Brian and Steve, so they can print it out as usual.

Please send any articles to Ian Miles, 17 Church Farm Road, Upchurch, Kent. ME9 7AG. Telephone 01634 - 235148. E-mail ian.miles@marshalls.co.uk

There appears to be some confusion on the question of referees' being covered for insurance after their current season's membership ceases on 31st March each year.

In order to clarify the situation the Council of The Referees' Association considered this important matter at their meeting on 20th February 1999. It was resolved that:

"As from 1st April 1999 any member who was registered with The Association as at 31st March in any given year will be deemed to be a member upon renewal of that membership on or before 30th June in that year. Members who have not renewed their membership as at 1st July in any given year will cease to be in membership of The Referees' Association and therefore will not be entitled to the cover under the Personal Accident Insurance Policy until their membership is renewed".

This year's County Quiz took place on 16th February at Beauwaters Sports and Social Club. Eight branches were represented, including Gravesend, who were defending the title we won last year, having previously loaned it to Ashford for a year. The Quiz followed the now familiar format as set in the National Quiz, with four rounds on the Laws of the Game, although these are preceded by a general knowledge football round in the County Quiz.

The first round on football general knowledge saw us sco ring on every question, although John Aggett was the only one to get 2 points. The rest of the team were unable to answer their questions individually, and had to rely on the rest of the team to give the correct answer for 1 point. We finished the round in third place, with 5 points, behind Sevenoaks on 8 and Medway on 6.

Then the Quiz proper started, with questions on the Laws of the Game. The first round on this was a True/False round, worth 2 points per question. Our team outscored the opposition in this round, missing out on only two questions. The 28 points accumulated put us into the lead on 33 points, ahead of Medway on 30, and Sevenoaks and Ashord on 28.

The next round was the dreaded numbers round. However, the other teams must dread it more than our team, as once again we outscored all of them, in spite of John's efforts to put a spanner in the works by failing to score! In fact, he was one of no less than 17 out of 32 players who scored either 2 or 0 in this round! Fortunately, the rest of the team managed either 6 or a maximum 8 points in the round, so the lead was extended. We now led on 53 points, with Sevenoaks a clear second on 44, with Ashford, Medway, and East Kent on 38.

The penultimate round was on restarts, and every team member scored full points to stretch the lead slightly further. In fact, very few points were dropped on this round, and at the end of the round, Gravesend led with 85 points, followed by Sevenoaks and East Kent on 68.

The final round was on playing situations, with scoring from 0 to 3 points per question. This round also provided a high standard of answers, but once again, our team came out on top, although we were matched by Ashford. Needless to say, therefore, Gravesend once again secured victory in the County Quiz. To add to this success, Ian Miles was the highest individual scorer on the night, and therefore became the first to receive the magnificent new Roland Gawler Trophy.

The final scores were: Gravesend 123; Ashford 104; Sevenoaks 101; East Kent 100; Maidstone 99; Bromley 99; Medway 94; Tonbridge 93.

The individual scores of the Gravesend team were: Pat Carey 31; John Aggett 23; Gary Groutage 33; Ian Miles 36.

The Gravesend Branch has really made it now! International recognition! Our website has now been visited 450 times, but the most notable to date has to be an e-mail we received from a colleague in France! The communication read as follows:

Hi, I' m a top French referee (assistant ref on the premier league in France). I' m asked by magazine why English refs run on the left wing (opposite of most European countries) and date of apparition of linesmen in the laws of the game.

Well, as you can imagine, Brian Foreman got extremely excited by this communication from afar, and once he had let everyone have a copy of Bruno's e-mail, he set about the task of compiling an answer, which you may well find of interest, so here goes:

Thank you for making contact with us at the Gravesend Branch of Referees in Kent.

To try to answer your question, we in Kent try to encourage our referees to be flexible and be able to run either wing. Indeed they should be good enough to change their wing at half time, giving flexibility to take account of any situations that may have arisen during the first half.

1) The sun could be in a position such that it prevents the referee from having a good view of play.

2) The Assistant's line of patrol may be particularly difficult to run on, due to it being muddy/waterlogged etc. It could also be that the field of play that the referee would normally run on is also difficult.

3) There could be a hostile section of the crowd where the assistant would normally be and to take him away from the problem helps concentration.

4) For the referee to use different wings during a match makes him flexible and the players do not always know where to expect him. This has the advantage of stopping misconduct, giving different viewing positions, and the unusual can surprise players.

5) Finally, referees who use different wings give pitches and the touch line even wear over the season. This pleases many groundsmen who have to prepare worn turf.

It does appear that FIFA referees have to run right wings. I think FIFA impose this for some reason.

I read somewhere that the first formal set of rules were known as the Cambridge Rules, as the game was then played by the Public Schools and "Gentlemen". I think these were formulated in about 1831. (The FIFA website has a short history of the game and should show the year). I believe in those days the teams supplied an umpire each, who agreed together over any dispute.

However, a referee had to be appointed eventually, because the umpires often had problems agreeing between themselves. Eventually, the referee made all the decisions and the umpires became his assistants. Sorry I don' t have any dates.

However, why do we run a left diagonal? Is it a dictate by management? I saw Vic's comments, just some added information.

f) Best of the lot! Referee given complete control of game. Now unnecessary for players in future to appeal to him for decisions. Nothings changed!

A friend of mine at work has translated this into French for me, see below. (Sorry, my French is very poor).

Very best wishes to you and fellow referees in France from all referees at Gravesend Branch in Kent.

Well Phillip Flynn has maintained his first position on the same number of points as last week, however, the fild has slipped behind giving him a five point cushon as against his previous 2 point lead. There has been a few positional changes, note Coral has slipped slightly whilst the old boy has crept in directly behind her (nothing changes!). Graham East has launched himself up the table, the holiday break obviously needs paying for.

What were the major changes to make these subtle movements. Top and bottom of the second division saw the two teams at either end switch positions and with Barnet slipping out of second place in the third division shot a lot of backers in the foot. Shearer joined Andy Cole in being second in the Premiership league scorers, which was supported by a lot of forcasters. Bradford moved into second place as being the leagues lowest scorers behind Sheffield Wednesday and Watford. Sadly Spurs slipped a couple of places in the league from 7th to 9th.

Simon Smith is still the weightlifting champion supporting the other 32 players, could he make a miraculous recovery and put himself amongst the front runners, of course he could as Spurs could still win the league! Have you also noticed Candice Lynham has quietly moved up seven places, I wonder if she has an Uncle Des? I bet that's an original!! Lets hope your position improves at update number 3. All details are inclusive of fixtures up to and including Saturday 26th February 2000.

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

Keith Gawler, Paul Goodwin, Brian Badrick, Andrew Stevens, John Goodman, Mark Robinson

Well done to all of you, and best wishes for your continued success up the refereeing ladder.

Congratulations also to the following Branch members who have received County Cup Final appointments.

Well done gents! We all hope you enjoy your day, and I am sure you will all do the Branch proud.