Likeable Fellows!

I've had a very late start to my season this year following an end of August holiday with family commitments and then the dreaded flu.  As a result I had my first match last Sunday.  Typical of me I started at the top with a Sunday league division 8 game.

I have to admit that it wasn't a tough game to control, but did throw up a couple of interesting points.  First I forgot to ask the respective managers, I use this term loosely to describe the chaps acting as bucket and odd job men, to name their substitutes. Within ½ an hour we had an injury and a shout for the first sub to take his place. By the law, I should not have allowed him on - should I? 

Yes I did let him play and I let another on for both sides a little later.  I was wrong in law but I believe right in fairness to both teams. These amateur footballers were paying good money to enjoy their favourite sport on a Sunday morning.  Normally I do remember to ask for the subs. names, thus preventing this from happening.

I whistled for half time just as the more dominant team were through on goal with only an out of position goal keeper to beat. The score at the time was 1 - 1.  The attacking team went crazy!  I asked one of their players what he would have done if the table had been turned, and he was standing next to me when my watch started to beep, and I allowed the opponents to score a goal. He said, "We were about to score - they weren't, that's a crap question".  So much for a sporting Sunday theory.

The second half was played out pretty evenly with the weaker team down to ten players.  They only conceded one more goal, which frustrated the stronger team greatly, but it was the weaker team who started to 'get stuck in'.  In the dying minutes I had to caution one of their stronger players for his third over robust tackle.  He was a bright and easygoing type of fellow, intelligent and articulate, but like so many players 'couldn't understand why he was cautioned'.

On the field of play you have to learn to judge people by a completely different set of rules to those of the social jungle. Intelligent, articulate, humorous, likeable and generally pleasant men can be real different when their blood is up. Enjoy your pre match chat but don't form any opinions about the way that the game is likely to go from your social dialogue.

John Brown.