years' conference.  Considering that the minutes were issued well in advance, any amendments could have been submitted in writing to the RA Secretary without having to open up a debate.  Incredibly, the Secretary had not received any correspondence!  It was clear that some delegates treated the conference as an ordinary society meeting to air differences of opinion.  In fact, the President said as much and stopped the speakers in their tracks.  Much hot air was generated about items within the Annual Report, but significant comments were made about the inability of the Southern Division in hosting Conference 2001.  The principle reason was cost.  I fear that this may be a common objection from the Northern Divisions which could well scupper any efforts on behalf of the Southern Division to host conference.  Speaking of money, there was much poring over the annual accounts, but these were stoutly defended by my good friend, John Harvey, Chairman of the Finance Sub-Committee, Vice President of the Western Division and FA Licensed Instructor.  The sales of the "Football Referee" had greatly improved but RA supplies had dipped during the year.  Membership stood at 17,493 which reflected the increase in income in subscriptions.

There was little change in the officers of the Association and Executive Members, as is often the way at AGM's.  The next significant part of Conference was the proposed alterations to rules.  Norwich RA proposed that the annual subscription be reduced by half for members under 18.  Surrey, in particular Guildford, had wished to table the same proposal but were happy to second the Norwich proposal.  Eccles RA tabled an amendment to the Norwich proposal preferring that the age for half subscriptions should be under 21.  Eccles' argument for their proposal was thought to be weak.  It was further undermined by John Harvey (see above) who said that the cost to the Association would be greater than if the Norwich proposal be accepted.  Conference voted to defeat the Eccles' amendment but favour the Norwich proposal.  Should the proposal be ratified by Council, then it would come into effect next year.  Credit had to be shown to the Norwich delegate who attended without, I believe, any other member from Norfolk present.  His argument was sound and he stuck to his guns resisting persuasion by hostile opinion.  Dover RA had proposed a change to rules regarding the election of Divisional Executives.  The reasoning was felt to be undemocratic and the proposal was not carried, this for the second time as it had been tabled two years' ago.  A cosmetic rule change proposed by Council as a result of the Norwich decision was carried almost unopposed.

A formal invitation to attend Conference 2001 was announced.  This to take place in Coventry on 15th and 16th June 2001.  So make a note in your diaries.  This was followed by a presentation by the Management Consultancy Team.  Whether you remember John Brown mentioning something about a questionnaire on the RA, well, this presentation gave an interim report of the findings.  It was well delivered with a lot of substance but proved to be a cure for insomnia for some delegates, especially as it came after lunch.  There was so much detail that I do not think that I could do it any justice in this account.  Besides, it was an interim report only, the fuller final version will take a little longer and will be published for all members to see.

We were then privileged to hear John Baker, Head of Refereeing at the FA.  He has succeeded Ken Ridden in that post.  When he was finally able to get his Powerpoint presentation working, he gave us detailed proposals on how the thorny issue of Referee Recruitment and Retention (R&R) be resolved, and then only after a further interruption by some crass stupid nitpickers wanting some vote statistics corrected on a display.  These could have been amended after the speaker had finished.  (Peter Willis was observed banging his head against the wall at this point.)

John Baker expounded that the FA wanted to get directly involved with this R & R issue augmenting efforts done locally by various FA's and Societies.  Initiatives included "Welcome Packs" containing FA literature on:
Advice to Newly Qualified Referees
Advice to Assistant Referees
Advice on Application of the Laws of the Game
Advice on Misconduct Report Writing
all of which are given to new Surrey referees at present anyway, but will be contained within a style of wallet/document holder.  The FA will remain in contact with the new referees every time they re-register in their first five years of refereeing congratulating them on their progress so far and basically, for staying in refereeing.  Promotion of mentorships was important.  Making referees feel valued was a central message.

Education of referee assessors in the construction of their written reports and promo

Continued.