I read with interest Dave Churchley's article in the October issue of
touchlines in regard to his recent FA Cup appointment, (have they really got
that far down the barrell),it got me thinking about the differing emphasis
placed by leagues and competitions in regard to appointing officials.

The junior leagues are essentially local arrival times before kick off is
normally down to the referee appointed and clubs can be disorganised to the
point of negligent. How many games have I allowed to proceed when one or the
other team are absent at the required starting time

Intermediate football is run very much on the line of the junior leagues but
with the advent of The Surrey Premier League some seasons back "time"
becomes more important. Officials on this league are usually appointed in
threes so it becomes more and more important for referees and assistants to
arrive well before kick off.

Geographically competing teams in these competitions have become more
widespread and officials journey times have obviously increased to an extent
that it must be planned before hand. Referees responsibilities are
increased, match instructions to his assistants therefore more time is
required before kick off.

The senior leagues impinge even further on an officials time. This can be
seen in most dressing rooms on a Saturday or midweek when the man in charge
has not only to concern himself with assistants but also prematch checks in
the programme (in some leagues referees have to report clubs if to many team
number changes are made) and getting ready match report sheets that are to
be given to club representatives after the game informing them of cautions,
dismissals and other items for which they are to be reported.

The higher you climb the promotion ladder the more time you spend at the
grounds and travelling to games. When you approach the more professional
side of the game fourth officials are appointed more paperwork has to be
done and you may have travelled hundreds of miles for a midweek fixture.

There is obviously an element of good fortune when it gets around to
promotion time whether it is on classification or between leagues but we all
do the same "job" at the end of the day. Apart from winning the battle on
the field of play, to reach the top of our national game you must be
organised, have the time to travel and prepare yourself and have
understanding bosses and family.

Barrie Gale