Minutes from the RA’s March meeting, held at Heslam Park on Thursday, November 7, 2019.
PRESENT: Rob Atkin, John Borrill, Andy Farr, Pete Drayton, James Needham, Luke Senescall, Otis Arya, Ethan Andrew-Freeston, Ryan Boult, Darrell Bright, Ryan Coulson, Robbie Hall, Wayne Mason, Ethan Nundy, Harry Atkin, Jack Snowden, James Moody, Matthew Anderton, Oscar Slater, Jonathan Walker.
APOLOGIES: Dave Babski, Andy Pontin, Kev Allen, John Buss, Neil Birkitt, Louis Stamp, Kev Booth, Jez Hyke, David Raines, Kev Clark, Lee Cox, John McPolland, Paul Toplass.
GUEST: Premier League Referee David Coote
CORRESPONDENCE
Recent emails that have been circulated by Andy Pontin:
- Grimsby RA meetings (7pm) at Bradley sports centre: Monday 6th January 2020 – Martin Atkinson is the guest speaker and Monday 3rd February 2020 – EFL AR Declan Ford is the guest speaker.
- Useful sin bin tool from the FA.
- Whirpool/Hotpoint/Indesit appliance deals from the national RA.
LEAGUE MATTERS
- Jack Kalson League
- Games are well covered (except Sundays)
- New referees are getting games which is good but there are still a lot of young referees playing on Sundays which sometimes makes it hard to cover games
- Saturday League
- Nothing major to report
- 1 referee received a mark of 100. Well done!
- Sunday League
- Nothing major to report
- Meeting coming up soon
- Reminder to get sportsmanship marks to Andy Pontin
- Lincolnshire League
- NCEL have taken a lot of promotion candidates during the month. These refs should be given middles, not lines! This is the same as last month, but hopefully we will see improvement as the season progresses.
- County FA
- New Head of Refereeing – Andy Farr
- New referees committee
- Meeting on the 13th
- Other
- LFA are looking to bring back a “Lincolnshire FA RAFA night”. Hopefully, this will return this season or next season as this was a popular event.
PRESENTATION:
- David Coote – Presentation on VAR – Very informative and enjoyable.
- There was also opportunity to discuss VAR after David Coote had left. Good debate and contribution from all!
EVENTS
- Non-league Finals Day at Wembley – looking to go again in May – date confirmed as Sunday 17th May 2020. Planning around this will be discussed closer to the time.
- Refs footy match – U25’s v O25’s at the end of the season. Proposed date: Friday 15th May 2020.
- RA dinner – Friday 29th May 2020. Looking to save money by not printing paper tickets. It is worth looking into using “Eventbrite” for e-tickets or just having a guest list instead.
AOB
- Last month or so to sell Christmas Draw tickets – please sell, sell, sell!!! Sales are going well so far. Let’s have one last push and keep up the good work.
- A polite request from Andy P – if you receive attendance apologies from any member(s) please ensure Andy gets to know. Also, if you are sending your own apologies, please ensure you drop Andy a message. This is to ensure the minutes recorded are accurate.
CHALLENGE CORNER / MATCH INCIDENTS
- First card of the game was a red card for serious foul play. This was a difficult game physically and mentally for the referee, but they did very well and got a lot of positive feedback from the observer.
- Penalty award after 15 seconds on an NCEL game
- Kit colours – Teams on local leagues appear to be turning up to games with similar coloured kits. Check this on your team sheets or when you arrive at the ground. If you can be proactive and contact clubs to avoid this, that would be great. Use your handbooks to identify any potential kit clashes before the day of the game. Bring your handbook with you in case clubs query the kit colours on the day.
- Look after pitches and don’t take risks if the pitch is not playable. The council seem to be allowing the referees to make the call on this. Turn up early to do pitch inspections if possible, to save the teams from travelling. Recent poor weather is set to continue.
- If you are refereeing at Brigg Rec, be aware of the leaves from the trees which are falling on the pitch. The leaves are covering the lines and teams are having to clear this before KO which can be time consuming.
NOTABLE APPOINTMENTS
- County cup appointments coming soon.