r/Referees

Or do you expect them to be volunteers same as the board members and coaches?

If you pay officials, what is the rationale behind paying them but not paying coaches?

Point of emphasis for 2026 fall season:

Ensure players socks are one color

Interpretation:

If grip socks or tape is worn, it must match the primary sock. If it doesn't, the player is removed from the field to address the issue

Are we serious? Cmon

Black shoes and socks are a fine combination for a rainy, windy, muddy chewsday night in Stoke, but in America, a large proportion of games are played on turf above 80 degrees. Ussf can we change this? Am I the only one thinking this.

Are there any referees in here who are doing USL Championship games? If there is anyone, how are they to do? What’s the day to day look like for you? Does USL ask you to travel for games? Really interested!Thanks!

I'm a new ref. About 4 months of adult rec league (its a work league, low dissent issues, cards are very rare), and now several weekends into youth games. I spent last weekend at a tournament, and did four different ages from u14 to u9. I was AR1 in all but the U9 (1 ref only), and I studied up on the tournament specific rules, but when coaches would ask for clarity, all my confidence left, and I second guessed which age group had which rules, and whether I was mis-remembering the league rules entirely.

How do folks keep all the different rules in their heads, especially when moving between 4 different age groups in a single day? Do you keep a cheat sheet, or am i just going to get better at it?(honestly, writing this out may have helped me more than any studying ive done before)

Example rules being:

• holdback lines (9U-12U have them at different places, and 13+ doesn't).
• Headers and punts allowed/disallowed at different ages.
• Some rule about every freekick being indirect, even for 9U/10U (i keep hearing this one from coaches, but cant find it written down - it may be a local league rule, but not in the tournament notes?)
• Which age do you re-try foul throws (i think just 9U?)
• Offsides enforced or not (the league typically doesn't, the tournaments typically do, i think)
• My adult league doesn't allow slide tackles

Happy note: Coaches were never rude; it was still a great experience - even when i said, "hey lets talk at half, we'll double check". Also, since i was AR, i wasn't really making many calls based on this, but felt i needed to be responsive.

Over the weekend I was CR for a few high school tournament games. During one of the games I called a trip against one of the teams and I heard from the head coach on the side line on the far side of the field "You call that foul but not the one against us?" With play stopped I went over to the HC and issued a yellow for dissent. HC asked "Why was that a foul but not the one against us?" I reiterated to the coach that he could ask what the call is, but that was the end of it. Trip by orange, DFK for white coming out. Assistant Coach asked "What's Dissent?" This was at least the third time I've had a (high school) coach ask me that question. I threw out "Look it up in the dictionary." I briefly considered a YC to the Assistant, but thought it may have been a legitimate question. Has anyone else been asked that question by a coach? I find it hard to believe that a high school soccer coach does not know what dissent is. A rec coach, maybe. I was not going to explain what is and is not dissent to a coach in the middle of a game, or the finer points of any of the rules for that matter either. Any suggestions on how to address that question by a coach? Lengthy conversations are generally not helpful at this point in the game. Has anyone every quoted the law at a coach? "Law 12, section 4, cautionable offenses by Team Officials."

Hallo,

ich zerbrechen mir zu viel den Kopf, ob es nun Abseits war ja oder nein, ob der Einwurf in die richtige Richtung zeigt. Könnte mir da jemand Tipps geben?

Hi

I’ve just been allocated a youth league for my first 5 games as a referee after completing the referee course. However I was hoping to referee adults football and have no interest in kids leagues.

Has anybody based in the UK had a similar situation before and how did you handle it?

This clip was posted over on r/soccer and thought it should be here too (Mods, hope you let this video get through).

https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/s/34rTZtuJxx

It’s pretty horrific, easily the most brutality I’ve ever seen in a high school match… maybe any match, anywhere. Kicking an opponent on the ground in the head is bad enough, but them jumping on him and planting several punches… uff.

So, one question folks are asking: as a referee, can you do anything here? If you see one kid actively assaulting another, what’s the best course of action? Luckily other people stepped up and stopped him, but… ugg…

ALSO, just a rant: this is one reason why I hate the clock in HS games. In USSF when a player commits VC/RC, the guidance is to not add time if it’s the losing team committing VC. They’re degrading the game and adding time only rewards bad behavior. Let the clock run out and end the game. BUT in high school, the clock is stopped. Assuming white is losing, they’re now rewarded by their teammates horrific actions with more playing time, which is opportunity for them to come back and score (at least in theory). Aside from playing down, there’s no consequence for this, they still have 3 minutes remaining. It infuriates and frustrates me. Get with it, NFHS!

EDIT: David Gershon post this on RefsNeedLoveToo, and among the comments someone said this took place in the FIRST HALF! So not three minutes left in the game, but in the first half!

How do you become a referee in Major League Soccer (MLS)? Is hard work and refereeing ability enough, or do connections, networking, and knowing the right people also matter?

How many years can it realistically take to reach MLS as a referee? What obstacles might you face along the way, and is it worth investing the time and effort to reach the MLS level?

Was doing a tournament and brought my kid as a fourth to handle game sheets and keep the bench in line. There's just something about a youth girl acting as the Forth to keep everyone nice and polite.

One of the games the other game ran late and I went from ar1 to solo centre and I told my kid whose a small sided but trained to do entry level and is grounded in offsides to take the flag and go be AR1.

She kept up, and gave the game up when the others arrived, but I put them on the line.

So I guess is it better to run with a small sided youth but grounded in the laws than solo? Thoughts?

In this hypothetical scenario, say you have a sweeper GK who is also a good striker and an athletic tall striker who could play well as a GK. They could switch mid-game during a stoppage without using up a substitution, mainly for stamina management, but also potentially different tactics if they do have different strengths when played as a striker.

Or it doesn't have to be GK and ST if that's too unrealistic of an example, it could be GK and CB. The idea was mainly that outfield players in general exert more energy than GKs having to run a lot, and being able to rotate positions without making a sub could be really valuable.

I was thinking of that time Giroud managed to be named to the official Serie A Team of the Week as a goalkeeper for his crucial crunch time save. And how Pep famously thought about playing Neuer as a midfielder. And maybe it's just enough of a stupid idea that it might work lol.

Am I fucked? I don’t know where I will be in regards to center or AR.

Recently got into a discussion with some fellow officials and we were split on this issue.

In age groups where deliberate heading is not allowed, is the head considered for purposes of a player being in an offside position?

I know this is splitting hairs, but at some point I received instruction that the head is excluded in these cases because it can’t be used to legally play the ball. However, I can’t find ANYTHING from any source that backs this up.

Bonus question: Would you disallow a goal that was accidentally scored from an attacker’s head (ie: deflected off the head into the goal) in U12 and below?

Edit: Consensus seems to be that there’s nothing explicit, even in USSF, state, and local association guidance and ROCs. This would suggest that we fall back on Law 11 and include the head as a body part which can put players offside. Interesting thought exercise though.

I just had my first games as a new grassroots ref, and feeling very discouraged. I have played soccer for over 20 years, I watch a lot of professional soccer, I know the rules in that respect. My first weekend as a referee I was assigned to U11 and U12 games as an AR and Center. I felt completely lost. After a couple games as AR it got a bit better, but I still felt like I was missing a lot. The worst part was my first game as center. Things were moving fast, I didn't know what to call and when. I didn't know where to be. The team I was working with had one other very experienced ref and it was not helpful to throw me in as center when he as the AR. I just don't understand how I can know a game so well and feel so out of my league trying to ref a basic youth game. Why does non of the referee training actually prepare you for a game situation.

What’s one rule change you’d like to see in the Premier League this season?

Mine would be changing how penalties are handled.
When a penalty is awarded, everyone except the goalkeeper and the player taking the penalty has to leave the penalty area. If any other player is still inside the area 10 seconds after the penalty is awarded, then automatic yellow card.

I’d take it even further with the goalkeeper too. Once the penalty is awarded, the keeper has to stay on their goal line until the ball is kicked. None of this walking halfway towards the penalty spot, talking to the taker, trying to put them off, etc.

It would get rid of all the bullshit around penalties and make the whole thing much cleaner.

What rule would you change?

Hello dear referee friends.

In football, how do yoi deal with players screaming at you in the very first minutes?

Do you give a yellow or do you ignore it?

Talking with them has done nothing till now and it doen't matter what the decision is. There's always one screaming for a foul or because someone got fouled.

I am tired of this right now.

I’m a first time ref getting ready for my USSF class, can anyone point me towards some good study resources/ways to brush up before my in person session? I’ve done the online modules, but I really wanna put my best foot forward at the field clinic. Thanks!

How do you deal with players who block a free kick in a very bold and clear move to stand on the ball?

So it's a caution for those who deliberately delay the restart of a game. Typically I award a caution when a player stands on the ball, especially if it's less than a metre from the ball and play dumb. I will say "step back. Now." Before issuing the yellow.

Most times they'll just slowly and half arsely walk back a little. Most teams take advantage of this to do a quick kick because I don't call for the ceremonial restart unless we're in the defender one third of the field. In the chaos the attacking team usually clears the ball. I'm usually positioned to watch for that.

However from time to time, I have players who look at me with a dumb expression while literally blocking the ball. "Walk me ref". Often in a very rude and disrespectful tone.

And I just pull the caution out then inform them that it's now a restart on my whistle.

Most times this work and no one pulls that stunt again for the remainder of the game. However especially in youth (u13-15) they get upset and protest. One time I even carded the coach after he yelled at his kid to stand on it, then protested my caution to the player and argued. Only once has someone kept arguing and demanding I walk him while still standing next to the ball. So I tossed him.

I find that the smart players stand about two or three metres and pretend to be dumb but cooperative while delaying the restart.

I'm sorely tempted to take dramatic, exaggerated steps when they do that, or just should I stick to the caution for the clear delay of restart? Or do you have other suggestions?

Now that the new season has begun/is soon to begin for all of us, I figured I'd throw this one out there.

What was your weirdest moment from the season just gone? Any weird calls or situations?

Last season was my first as a referee. So i had lots of firsts. First Red Card, first hydration breaks, first abuse.

My weirdest moment by far was near the end of last season. U14 game. Competitive league, but a lower division. So its full pitch, full size goals etc, but the standard isn't fantastic by any means.

Now before this game I had never ever given an IFK inside the box. Couldn't really see it ever happening at this level. Well this game I had not one, but TWO IFK's inside the box. Both sides goalkeepers both picked up the ball from a back pass on separate occasions.

Really just showed me that you really never know what you're gonna get. Looking forward to seeing what the new season brings