Celebration on the cards for men in black
REFEREE PALS MARK 25 YEARS AS OFFICIALS
A TRIO of referees from Nottingham are due to celebrate 25 years as match officials.
Mike Mcgill, 61, of Beeston, Ian Smith, 55, from Nottingham, and Ian Wilkinson, 64, of Bingham, all passed their referee courses on March 9, 1999.
Mike took up refereeing at 36 to help out his son’s under-13 football team but later went on to referee the likes of Nottingham Forest’s Premier League under-18 matches.
Mike, who works as a transport manager, said the secret of a longstanding career as a referee is to communicate with players.
He said: “If you talk to them, they tend to respond because they prefer people that talk to them rather than people that are just authoritarian.
“I also encourage players to tell me if something happens during the game and not wait until after.”
After qualifying, Mike officiated in the Nottinghamshire Senior League but, after establishing himself at that level, he wanted more of a challenge.
He was then promoted to Level 4 at the age of 49 and enjoyed seven years at semi-professional level and a further three as a specialist assistant referee, which included his Nottingham Forest Premier League U18 matches.
The twice-a-week travelling, however, took a toll on him and, 18 months ago, he decided to return to grassroots football. “It was like I had never been away – friends and colleagues were still there and I was even nominated for the Referee of the Year in Nottinghamshire in 2022.” Mike, who has officiated in all of the Nottinghamshire Sunday Football League cup finals, said abuse did not affect him. “When I started, I was 36. It wasn’t so much that I was a shrinking violet when I started, or I was just a young boy coming into it. I was a grown man. I had a life experience already,
As long as my little legs can keep running, I have no intention of stopping as yet
Mike Mcgill
so I’ve dealt with it the way football law says I have to deal with it.”
Mike said Sunday football was “a little more rough and ready” as there was usually only one referee.
He said that the main thing about being a referee was to “enjoy it”, despite the comments that will inevitably come their way, as the decisions taken on the job are subjective because “nobody can accept being told ‘you can’t do that.’”
Mike said: “As long as my little legs can keep running, I have no intention of stopping as yet. I’m either crazy or just really enjoy football.”
To mark their anniversary, Mike and his two friends will officiate a game together at Basford in the Nottinghamshire Senior League on Saturday.