PLEASE! RESPECT THE REF AND THE GAME...

WATCHING a Step 4 match recently (not featuring the club I am involved in, Salisbury FC), I was struck by the logic of a manager having a reasoned word with the referee at half-time.

“They’re moaning at every decision,” he said. “And there’s been a couple of times when you’ve got fed up with them moaning so you’ve given in and given them the decision.”

He was right. Some officials unaware of the tricks of the trade can sometimes be too easily influenced.

I always remember Tony Adams telling me that George Graham used to tell the Arsenal full-backs to shout, “Eh!” very loudly into a linesman’s face at the first off-side call to try and trigger a flag out of the stunned official.

Then there is the time-dishonoured tactic of taking it in turns to complain to the referee about decisions so that no-one gets booked for a second piece of moaning.

In Non-League, everything is so much more easily seen and heard at closer quarters, and some of it is frustrating to witness. These days, it appears to be termed “game management” and can also involve petty fouls to break up the rhythm of games and opposition, along with depressing time wasting at grounds with no ball retrievers, mainly by goalkeepers.

All you can hope for, no matter how naively, is for referees to be aware of it and for managers of teams to play the game the right way.

After all, it is short-changed fans who suffer from the cynicism of the spectacle and Non-League needs as many of them coming back as it can get.