Techniques and Tips for Assistant Referees.
TECHNIQUES OF AN ASSISTANT REFEREE(Source - The Football Association booklet `A Guide for Assistant Referees')
Siqnalling
From the time you leave the dressing room the flag should remain unfurled.
In order to ensure that the referee can see your flag when necessary, keep the flag field side at all times. You must practise the passing of the flag from hand to hand at low level, to enable you to fulfil this requirement on match days.
When the ball goes out of play either over the touchline or the goal line for which you have responsibility, you should signal to the referee as illustrated in the Laws of Association Football. However, there may be occasions when the referee of the day takes responsibility for signalling the direction for the restart, and asks you only to signal that the ball has gone out of play and not the direction.
When it is necessary for you to raise the flag to draw the attention of the referee to an infringement in law, the flag should remain raised until the referee signals in acknowledgement. This acknowledgement will either take the form of the referee penalising the offence by blowing the whistle or a hand signal to continue play. At this stage the flag should be lowered immediately. Should the referee not see the signal, it must be maintained until he does, or the pattern of play changes and the offended side gains an advantage.
However, if it was your intention to draw the attention of the referee to a serious offence, the flag should be maintained until such time as the referee acknowledges the signal. It may, however, be necessary for you to
advise the referee of exactly what occurred should he later seek clarification from you. You should be able to inform the referee of the players involved and give a brief description of the incident.
All flag signals should be clear and not over demonstrative. You should refer to the illustrations in the Laws of Association Football. When you draw the referee's attention to unfair play, it may be necessary to slightly
wave the flag to denote the severity of the offence. Under normal circumstances, a positive and authoritative signal is all that is required.
When indicating offside offences, or that a substitution is proposed, use only the appropriate signals indicated in the Laws of Association Football.
An awareness of the position of the referee will enable you to achieve immediate eye-toeye contact should your assistance be required.
There may be occasions when the referee acknowledges your signal but chooses not to act upon it. Under these circumstances you should lower your flag immediately, regain your position, and be ready for the next phase of play.
A referee will normally only do this on occasions when, in his opinion, it will benefit the game. Such occasions could usefully be discussed in the dressing room to verify the circumstances. Do not allow it to affect your co-operation
with the referee in the game.
In instances where you are about to indicate to the referee an infringement of law, take time to consider all aspects of emerging play before raising the flag. This is commonly referred to as `thinking time', and can sometimes help to avoid play stopping unnecessarily, or denying possible advantage situations from developing.
The only signals that an assistant referee should use are those as approved by the International FA Board. It is not necessary for you to mime offences or give signals with the non-flagging hand. However, there will be occasions when your body movement, in addition to the approved signal, will confirm to the referee that the ball has gone out of play for a goal, goal kick or corner kick.
Positioning and Movement
It is essential that, having completed the pre-match ceremony, you move onto the correct patrol path as indicated in the referee's pre-match instructions. In order that you are able to give accurate information to the referee from the start of play, you should take up a position in line with the second rearmost defending player. The only times that you will vary from this position will have been detailed in the instructions of the referee and discussed in the dressing room prior to the start of the game.
Technical Area
The Technical Area has been defined so that team officials may offer advice to their own players. They should return to their place immediately afterwards. Different team officials may give tactical instructions during the match provided the person returns to his position after giving these instructions. It is the duty of the assistant referee closest to the Technical Area to ensure that it is used for that purpose only. As an assistant referee, you should use your management skills to ensure that team officials comply with the spirit of the law. In the early stages of your career there may be no defined Technical Area but it is still your responsibility to ensure that the club representatives conduct themselves in an acceptable manner at all times.
Siqnalling
From the time you leave the dressing room the flag should remain unfurled.
In order to ensure that the referee can see your flag when necessary, keep the flag field side at all times. You must practise the passing of the flag from hand to hand at low level, to enable you to fulfil this requirement on match days.
When the ball goes out of play either over the touchline or the goal line for which you have responsibility, you should signal to the referee as illustrated in the Laws of Association Football. However, there may be occasions when the referee of the day takes responsibility for signalling the direction for the restart, and asks you only to signal that the ball has gone out of play and not the direction.
When it is necessary for you to raise the flag to draw the attention of the referee to an infringement in law, the flag should remain raised until the referee signals in acknowledgement. This acknowledgement will either take the form of the referee penalising the offence by blowing the whistle or a hand signal to continue play. At this stage the flag should be lowered immediately. Should the referee not see the signal, it must be maintained until he does, or the pattern of play changes and the offended side gains an advantage.
However, if it was your intention to draw the attention of the referee to a serious offence, the flag should be maintained until such time as the referee acknowledges the signal. It may, however, be necessary for you to
advise the referee of exactly what occurred should he later seek clarification from you. You should be able to inform the referee of the players involved and give a brief description of the incident.
All flag signals should be clear and not over demonstrative. You should refer to the illustrations in the Laws of Association Football. When you draw the referee's attention to unfair play, it may be necessary to slightly
wave the flag to denote the severity of the offence. Under normal circumstances, a positive and authoritative signal is all that is required.
When indicating offside offences, or that a substitution is proposed, use only the appropriate signals indicated in the Laws of Association Football.
An awareness of the position of the referee will enable you to achieve immediate eye-toeye contact should your assistance be required.
There may be occasions when the referee acknowledges your signal but chooses not to act upon it. Under these circumstances you should lower your flag immediately, regain your position, and be ready for the next phase of play.
A referee will normally only do this on occasions when, in his opinion, it will benefit the game. Such occasions could usefully be discussed in the dressing room to verify the circumstances. Do not allow it to affect your co-operation
with the referee in the game.
In instances where you are about to indicate to the referee an infringement of law, take time to consider all aspects of emerging play before raising the flag. This is commonly referred to as `thinking time', and can sometimes help to avoid play stopping unnecessarily, or denying possible advantage situations from developing.
The only signals that an assistant referee should use are those as approved by the International FA Board. It is not necessary for you to mime offences or give signals with the non-flagging hand. However, there will be occasions when your body movement, in addition to the approved signal, will confirm to the referee that the ball has gone out of play for a goal, goal kick or corner kick.
Positioning and Movement
It is essential that, having completed the pre-match ceremony, you move onto the correct patrol path as indicated in the referee's pre-match instructions. In order that you are able to give accurate information to the referee from the start of play, you should take up a position in line with the second rearmost defending player. The only times that you will vary from this position will have been detailed in the instructions of the referee and discussed in the dressing room prior to the start of the game.
Technical Area
The Technical Area has been defined so that team officials may offer advice to their own players. They should return to their place immediately afterwards. Different team officials may give tactical instructions during the match provided the person returns to his position after giving these instructions. It is the duty of the assistant referee closest to the Technical Area to ensure that it is used for that purpose only. As an assistant referee, you should use your management skills to ensure that team officials comply with the spirit of the law. In the early stages of your career there may be no defined Technical Area but it is still your responsibility to ensure that the club representatives conduct themselves in an acceptable manner at all times.