The Respect Campaign

Got a bit of stick on Twitter for saying respect needs to earned not granted per second so being unable to make my argument in 140 characters I thought I'd do a few ramblings on here.

Firstly can I say that back in the 70's and 80's I was a referree so I have experience of what faces the men and women in black (Or nowadays any colour of the rainbow) when they step on the pitch.

So we'll with the concept that as they line up for the handshakes the Officials respect the Players and vice versa, so where does it all go pear shaped after that and let's start with the refs
1. Communication, how often have you seen a ref wave players away like the lord of the manor dismissing a serving wench,or lad when they want to dispute or clarify a decision, not exactly condusive to fostering a good relationship
2. Teamwork, there are 3 teams out there and the smallest one has no supporters so they need to look after and help each other but so often they make life difficult, when I was a ref we worked on the principle that the assistants (Linesmen in those days) flagged for offsides,ball in and out of play and fouls but the ref could overule them if he saw fit.Not sure when it came in but I regularly see now Refs Assistants waiting for the ref to indicate which way a throw in or foul is even if their assistant is in a much better position to see the incident,players and spectators not realising what the assistants instructions are get wound up and comments of get your flag up abound
3. Enforce The Laws and two in particular, foul and abusive aimed at the officials and players surrounding the ref and or assistants,if you think not sending off a player who calls you effing useless or anything that contains the word cheat is going to earn you respect then you are very much mistaken.Now for the don't surround the ref, recently clarified and applied with the same enthusiasm as kids going back to school after the summer holidays,you do wonder would football be a different game had Andy D'urso stood his ground and said back off or out come the cards instead of retreating like a frightened rabbit as the United players advanced on him.And talking of refs on TV I think we have all lost count of the number of times we have seen players let a few expletives off at our supposedly top officials with no punishment,what chance does a youngster starting off on a parks pitch  have when their betters set such an awful example
3. Give what you see and nothing else,don't assume or presume something if you or your assistants didn't see it don't give it ( See Teamwork)

Ok so now the players

1.Youre not perfect you're human and make mistakes and the officials are no different, they will make mistakes but not deliberately so get off their backs and give them the benefit of the doubt occasionally

2. Don't go down easily, claim a corner or throw in when you know you touched the ball last ,ITS CALLED CHEATING and you should be ashamed of yourselves and why should the ref have any respect for you, players not cheating gives the officials a fighting chance of getting most decisions right
3.See Refs item 3 call them cheats or expletive deleted this that and the other then expect to get sent off because you deserve it, only in a tiny minority of cases world wide through the the history of the game have refs gone out to cheat so the chances of your ref being one of them are miniscule
4. Surrounding the ref,it's against the laws and when has it ever caused a decision to be changed, ask them to explain their decision but does it take 11 of you screaming in their face to do that

So that's my take on Respect,will anything change I very much doubt it and the game will continue to hemorrhage refs who can't put up with the abuse however much they the game and their part in it

PS Bring in the dealth penalty for any pundit who says there was contact when that contact wouldn't have caused a Butterfly to deviate from its flight path

PPS Parents at kids games behave ,stop screaming at the ref because you thought little Johnny or Jenny was fouled,act your age and if you can't spectate properly don't go

A Lovely Day In The Welsh Marches

Many will remember the success of Total Network Solutions Llansantffraid more latterly The New Saints but that is not who I visited yesterday,TNS are the masters of Welsh Non League football having won the league many times and qualified for the Europa League on many occasions,Llansantffraid Village FC play in the old TNS ground but were founded after TNS merged with Oswestry Town and moved to pastures new eventually ending up at at their modern Park Hall ground

Llansantffraid have almost certainly the largest stand in the Mid Wales League and I guess the only permanent TV tower in that and many other grounds across Non League in Britain as a result of the success of TNS when they played at the Recreation Ground

TNS Llansantffraid were used to crowds of 4 figures whilst Llansantffraid Village are happy if they get 20 hardy souls turning out to watch them and of course that makes the huge stand a bit of an anachronism

It is however a very friendly club and I was welcomed by 2 Wolves supporting officials (we sympathised with each other and reminisced about happier times at Molineux) , at this level of football we don't have the false teams walking out together and shaking hands even though they may be kicking lumps out of each other a few minutes later,i fact the referee changes at the opposite end of the ground to the players and it was nice to witness a scene reminiscent of my own days in amateur football where the ref gives club linesmen their instructions for the day

The match itself whilst obviously not of the highest standard was hard fought and much more competitive than the final 4- scoreline suggests it was just that the home side were much more clinical in front of goal than their visitors

One of the goals came from a penalty and as a former ref I hate to say it but after giving 2 of the most ludicrous yellow cards I can ever remember seeing the ref was totally fooled into giving a penalty by a forward going down before he was even in the same post code as the keeper,he was also oblivious to a bit of "Afters" going on behind his back

But despite the ref it was a very enjoyable day this is a cracking ground that looked great in the early winter sunshine and I would recommend anyone with a love of the lower reaches of lower level Non League football to pay them a visit,they were even kind enough to invite me to join the players at the after match meal but I had to decline as  Mrs Cliff's special Spaghetti Bolognaise awaited me at home 

So as the sun went down behind the TV tower I bid Llansantffraid Village FC a very fond farewell

Sandbach Is More Than Just a Service Station

For any who travel the tarmac ribbon of hell that is the M6 then all you probably know about Sandbach is the Services and little else,that was me until yesterday when I paid a visit to Sandbach United FC at the invitation of their club photographer Kevin Warburton,it turned out to be a very pleasant experience unlike the motorway and Services on the way up



United are like my own club AFC Wulfrunians a fairly young club having formed in 2004 when Sandbach Albion and Sandbach Ramblers joined forces,starting in the Staffs County League they moved into the Cheshire League in 2011 and gained promotion to the North West Counties League at the end of last season,the current ground was built in 2011 and floodlights installed within the last few weeks.


This is obviously not a ground for the aficionados of historic grounds with character but is made up for by the pleasant facilities and very friendly locals

The above shelter drew the ribald attention of the visiting Atherton Collieries fans with a chorus of "My garden sheds bigger than your stand"


The match itself was a challenge for the home side as the visitors are the reigning cup holders and well placed a division above in the North West Counties League, after an even start Atherton took the lead with a well worked goal that left the Sandbach keeper Ryan Moss flat footed

Sandbach however fought back well to equalise before half time when a penalty area melee was calmly finished by Danny Bartle

The second half was well contested but Atherton just had the edge and although Sandbach hit the bar the clinical finishing of the visitors was the ultimate difference

Sandbach fought hard to the end but were always in danger as Atherton looked dangerous on the break and Moss had to be alert to prevent the home team falling further behind

Slightly away from the action it was good to meet up with Groundhopper Alex Latham who is fairly local at me ,at well over 6 foot and in a yellow jacket you cant miss him and at one point we were buzzed by a low flying aircraft

So an excellent day out and commiserations to Sandbach but on the evidence of what I saw I;m sure they will have an excellent season,oh and the dreaded M6 was better on the way home

Sandbach Is More Than Just a Service Station

For any who travel the tarmac ribbon of  hell that is the M6 then all you probably know about Sandbach is the Services and little else,that was me until yesterday when I paid a visit to Sandbach United FC at the invitation of their club photographer Kevin Warburton,it turned out to be a very pleasant experience unlike the motorway and Services on the way up


United are like my own club AFC Wulfrunians a fairly young club having formed in 2004 when  Sandbach Albion and Sandbach Ramblers joined forces,starting in the Staffs County League they moved into the Cheshire League in 2011 and gained promotion to the North West Counties League at the end of last season,the current  ground was built in 2011 and floodlights installed within the last few weeks.

This is obviously not a ground for the aficionados of historic grounds with character but is made up for by the pleasant facilities and very friendly locals

The above shelter drew the ribald attention of the visiting Atherton Collieries fans with a chorus of "My garden sheds bigger than your stand"

The match itself was a challenge for the home side as the visitors are the reigning cup holders and well placed a division above in the North West Counties League, after an even start Atherton took the lead with a well worked goal that left the Sandbach keeper Ryan Moss flat footed

Sandbach however fought back well to equalise before half time when a penalty area melee was calmly finished by  Danny Bartle

The second half was well contested but Atherton just had the edge and although Sandbach hit the bar the clinical finishing of the visitors was the ultimate difference

Sandbach fought hard to the end but were always in danger as Atherton looked dangerous on the break and Moss had to be alert to prevent the home team falling further behind

Slightly away from the action it was good to meet up with Groundhopper Alex Latham who is fairly local at me ,at well over 6 foot and in a yellow jacket you cant miss him and at one point we were buzzed by a low flying aircraft

So an excellent day out and commiserations to Sandbach but on the evidence of what I saw I;m sure they will have an excellent season,oh and the dreaded M6 was better on the way home