Ava

LINO

Legend has it that there is one job that no man – no matter how big or small – wants to complete. A job that sparks anger in many, causing many heated Twitter arguments which result in a plethora of abuse. Many have tried and failed this profession: the physical and mental demands supposedly rival of climbing Everest a hundred times over. However, I find that the task of being a football referee is not that bad.

While at first I struggled to understand the game, having to balance empathy and reason with all 17 intricate Laws that don’t really make sense, eventually it did become somewhat easier. I began refereeing almost three years ago, after completing a two-day course, the FA threw me into the depths of under 12’s football – with no support. For my first year, things went quite well on my own – I was only allowed to referee children as I was STILL A CHILD myself however some parents could not quite understand that I was trying my best with no consistent support network to understand that sometimes I WILL GET THINGS WRONG. One particular moment sticks out in my first year: a quiet, drizzly Sunday morning at the County Ground, an under twelve’s girls’ league game between the top team and a team somewhere in the murk at the bottom. Everything was normal until the last thirty seconds of the game, the score was around 20-0 and I had only needed to give a total of three fouls. I turn to look over my shoulder, and there the away team manager is squaring up to my linesman - an opposition parent. Great. Fabulous. What else would a fifteen-year-old girl want to deal with on a Sunday at 10 am? Bang – red card, game abandoned as I didn’t believe there was any other way to deal with this. Reasonable? Apparently not, the FA rescinded this red card as it would have been more reasonable for a child to step in between these two six-foot men and blow the whistle to prevent further fight. Perhaps, the problem that people are referring to with players, managers, and supporters – no respect for officials – is routed in the FA that don’t really understand how to respect us.

After my first year, things got a lot easier as I was coaxed into becoming a linesman (or lineswoman as people only tend to abuse me with) in the Herefordshire Football League – despite its androgynous name – the local men’s league. This was a new challenge as I had never properly run the line before which lead to some pretty interesting scenarios, the question being if I really knew the offside rule. After a few rusty attempts, I think the eighteen months of experience including county cup finals, receiving exemplary line reports in step five football and being given the opportunity to run the line for Aston Villa’s Academy Squads’ proves that I do know the offside rule. Funnily enough, the biggest challenge in football for me at the moment is not the football but in fact the changing room situations. Most clubs were last renovated at some point between the 70’s and 80’s, bearing in mind women were banned from refereeing until 1976, which means that only one changing room was provided for referees. EW. The last thing that I want to do is watch a fifty-year-old man get undressed. The mixed gender issue and the fact that I am a minor has lead to some interesting makeshift changing room situations. My least favourite of which was in a public toilet with brown stains on the walls – I think I scrubbed my skin raw when I got home.

Overall, my experience as a football referee has not been terrible –  I would even say that I love it. It’s very hard to find a job that is so flexible, active and makes you feel like an evil mastermind, but refereeing has it all. Moreover, I could not express how much refereeing has improved my communication and confidence, although I often get told I’m “blind”, “stupid” or a “bloody woman” it is easy now not to dwell on it as I have made lots of referee friends who would agree that I am correct. When players try and make a spectacle of me, I just have to remember that I do sometimes make mistakes, I have had my eyes checked but yes, I am sure you are offside.