Official Complaint

The powers of referees have changed a lot over the years. However, as this man in the middle from Germany attests in the first of a two-part feature, it can still be a struggle to control players at grassroots level.

- Ian Plenderleith

“Your refereeing’s a pile of shit!” The player knows what he’s doing here. He’s had enough for today. It’s a relief to us both that I can show him the red card and conclude our unhappy afternoon together. His coach, though, is beside himself. “You’re a disgrace!” he screams. “Why don’t you go back to England?” He’s been yelling at me all afternoon, so I send him off too.

Every weekend I referee in the amateur youth and men’s leagues of Frankfurt. If you were able to harness all the anger from the city’s fields on a Sunday afternoon, it could meet the annual energy needs of the state of Hessen. The level of noise, fury and frustration directed at opponents, fellow players and, most of all, referees, makes you think that if there was no football to act as an outlet, these lads would have to start a revolution instead. Though a revolution would be far less important than that last offside decision you clearly screwed up. For Christ’s sake, how did you not see that, referee?

Offside is a perennially contentious issue. There are no linesmen because the clubs say they can’t afford them. This parsimony doesn’t translate into any understanding of the inevitable difficulties this presents for a single referee. Every through ball is loudly appealed by the defence. Every whistle is counter-disputed by the forwards. That was never offside, ref. Never!