Association Referees
South Manchester :- August 6th ( Thursday ) 7.30p.m. Bowdon R.U.F.C.
West Lancashire :- August 11th ( Tuesday ) 7.30p.m. Greenall Whitley Social Club St.Helens.
East Lancashire :- August 17th ( Monday ) 7.30p.m. Colne and Nelson R.U.F.C.
North Lancashire :- August 24th ( Monday ) 7.30p.m. Preston Grasshoppers R.U.F.C.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Two complaints have dominated the Leagues since their commencement.
The perennial one is that of team loading. With the introduction of 14 Team Leagues in the majority of our National League levels, hopefully this will go some way in reducing this source of complaint. We've had to put our Cup dates on the spare National League dates really to obtain the best matches side wise and venue wise, we would hope that selections in the Cups are carried out with a degree of integrity.
In the early days one of the main complaints was one of " Homers " regards our refereeing fraternity. We set out to rectify this, fairly successfully I would suggest, by creating our 4 Associations of Referees based on the North Lancs. Group run by John Powell and Andy Thompson. They are in existence and we would hope to add to the numbers of Referees we have in these Groups to allow us to cover further Clubs and matches. I think I'm right in saying we have not had a match in the Leagues cancelled due to the lack of Referee cover. The Gents willing to don the shirt are out there.
We are looking for volunteers.
The structures are set up using the following routines and conditions :-
1) At the Meetings to be arranged the following gear will be distributed. Referee Jerseys, Shower Proof track suit tops, suitably embroidered, touch judge flags and Whistles ( Thunderer ) God they do make a noise. !
2) Appointments will be made at these Meetings covering the first half of the season. Up to the first week in January.
3) Our referees will know their committments for this period and at the Meeting they can choose matches to suit their requirements.
4) They can choose the number of matches they would like to Ref. One a week, one a fortnight, one a month, it is entirely up to them as to what they can offer.
5) Travelling will be no more than say a radius of 15 miles. Travelling expenses to be paid in line with our Societies per mile, by the host Club.
6) R.F.U. insurance covers all liabilities.
7) In cases of controversy 100% support will always be given from the Miller Homes Committee.
8) These Associations, now fully supported by our Societies, provide a grounding for lads wanting to progress.
9) Likewise Gentlemen who have been in the Societies and might be considering retiring from them would be welcome to join us on a more relaxed basis. The reverse of this is that Gents who want to progress will leave us to join the Societies
10) Our Referees meet new faces and new Clubs each Saturday and feed back suggests they get a lot of pleasure from their Saturdays operating in the Leagues.
11) Again our experience is that they are much appreciated and respected as neutral Gentlemen by all the players.
12) Clubs Referee Contact will know his appointed Referees for all games from the September to Xmas period. No more chasing to find a referee.
13) Clubs wishing to join preferably should offer a referee, but this is not a strict requirement, cover will be provided where numbers available allow.
The following Gentlemen operate as Area Managers :-
North Lancashire John Powell, 01524 424514
Andy Thompson 01253 882121
East Lancashire Bert Lambert 01282 860095
West Lancashire Brian Ball 01744 611 955
South Manchester Simon Muckle 01625 540 770
07980 565 563
Anyone who would like to join any of these Groups please make contact with the above Gentlemen or ring myself on 01524 37601.
Please watch this space for dates of the Meetings covering all the four areas, hopefully early August but North might be later.
Fred Swarbrick.
Miller Homes Leagues.
