BECOMING THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE
Up-and-coming referee Arran Hodgkinson talks about how he got into the black shirt.
Have you lost your mind, you might ask? Or you don’t know what you’re letting yourself in for was the response when I said I wanted to become a referee.
Yes, I heard all of those comments when I signed up for training in my field of work. The role I play is one of the most stressful, controversial and widely criticised jobs in the world. The start to the process is simple, but many people do not understand it. You apply to attend a basic referees course at a selected venue that your local FA are running and you do 14 hours of training over two days. It consists of practical and theory-based lessons and then at the end of the second day you do an exam. The course is run by registered referee tutors and if you pass, you have provisionally qualified to become a referee.
You still must referee six 11-a-side football matches and record the details of the matches and then send them back to your parenting county FA so they can verify this and certify it happened.
When I speak to a lot of older referees they say how they wished they had started refereeing when they were younger. The main advantage would be that you have a lot more time to progress, and achieve at a higher level should you stick to it. Now you’ll be asking: Why Arran did I decide to take up refereeing and cut short my playing days?
I finished playing football at 13 because I was lazy, not the best footballer and didn’t have the motivation to play in a football team. So I was watching a match on the TV when I was 14 and my attention was diverted to comments by the commentators about the referee. They were discussing his performance as they usually do, despite not knowing the laws themselves! I sat for a moment and thought – I wonder what it would be like to referee a Premier League match? Then I thought, I wonder what it would be like to be a referee? My dad urged me to sign up for the basic referee course, and I did.
A few months later, I found myself sitting in the main suite at the Lancashire FA’s HQ in Leyland, and here I am now – a qualified match official.
It was hard to believe but I had done it, I had come to a junction of decisions and taken a route, this was where the journey started, a career that no one can describe unless you are a referee yourself.
One thing I will always remember is that one of the tutors on the day of my course said to me, based on facts and figures, at least one person in that room on the day when I did my basic referee course would make it to the football league and further as a referee. I made a promise to myself that day that person would be me.
After qualifying the next step was to sign up for a league. I chose the Bolton Bury and District League – for me this is one of the best leagues in the area
that develops talent. Players, coaches and referees develop with a committee made up of selfless volunteers who give their time and hard work for the benefit of the league.
But it must be said my biggest ally was Bill Eaton, he was the referees’ secretary for the league at the
time. Little did I know that Bill would be a great part of my development as a match official and he would produce opportunities for me that would
ensure I took one little step closer to that final dream; refereeing in the Premier League. Bill appointed referees weekly, and during my first few months there were some ups and downs…and there were plenty of cards too, I can tell you that! The first few games as a football referee for me were bumpy.
I will always remember one particular game, where the players’ behaviour was in-excusable and the managers from both teams ended up coming on to the pitch and squaring up to each other. By this point in the match I had lost all control and I honestly told myself that when I got home I would never referee another game of football; that is how bad I felt. I was an inexperienced referee, and I did not have a clue what to do. I was stood on the pitch like a lost child, I didn’t know how to handle the two coaches, what action to carry out and at that moment in time I don’t think I even knew what my name was!
But I got through the game and with some excellent advice and support from my local referees’ society I got through what was for me a rough patch. I was taught how to handle these sorts of scenarios and what I can do as a referee to deal with them.
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