Ref Camp Diary #1
Every Saturday most of us hurl some kind of abuse at the people trying to officiate our game. So what possesses a man to make him wish to become a referee? Is he some kind of masochist? Did his parents mistreat him as a child? Or, as most of us may suggest, did he indeed have any parents? Whatever it is that makes someone want to become a referee, there are currently 43 people taking a new course to become one.
As any of you who listen to 90 Minutes on a Friday will know, three weeks ago I decided to join them and set out to try to become a referee, by sitting the Glasgow Referees Association class on becoming a ref. Why? To be honest I don’t really know. But my reply when asked that question is that I want to pick up the knowledge to know what I am talking about when I hurl abuse on a Saturday. In reality I want to have a better appreciation of the “Laws of the game.”
Each week, I not only sit in the stand of whatever ground Clyde are playing and moan about the decisions made by the referee and his assistants, but I watch TV or listen to radio and the men in black are constantly slaughtered. I have learned over the first three weeks that I don’t have the knowledge of the laws of the game that I thought I did, but alarmingly neither to most of the pundits or journalists who are slaughtering the officials on an almost daily basis.
So already after only 3 weeks I have learned something. Most of us who moan about officials really don’t have the grasp of the laws that we think we do.
Anyway, I have been asked by the website team to do a diary of sorts so this is my scene setter and typically rather than do it after week one I waited until the third week in to start.
Well, I did have to make sure I would want to go back after the first week…
Each week, the 90 Minutes show on Revival FM has a pair of tickets to give away to a Clyde home game. This week, due to the show being pre-recorded on Thursday, the competition will be held via the website.
The question to win the tickets is on the laws of the game:-
During a game the referee awards a penalty to City. A goal is scored and the referee makes his way back to the halfway line. He then spots one of his assistants with his flag raised. The assistant tells him that before the penalty was awarded one of the City players was offside and interfering with play. What should he do?
Send your answer into us no later than 6pm on Thursday by clicking here or by emailing editor@clydefc.co.uk. The winner will be drawn at random from all correct entries.