Esteemed rugby official Mr RE Ferry is joining us at HarpinOnRugby this season to give an idea of how things look from his side of the whistle.
Do you know the ads that are running at the moment for the Lotto? Something along the lines of, “What would I do for a million euros? I’d…” and it goes on to describe something excruciatingly difficult but usually something I’d actually do if I was given a cheque for that amount. However, here’s my proposal for a new ad in that campaign and one that would cause me to think twice – “For a million euros, I’d put on the kit of a GAA or soccer referee and officiate at grassroots or youth level.” Tough ask, Mr. Lotto…
I’ve driven to the four corners of the province and, indeed, the country officiating at all levels, including interpro stuff. Yes, I’ve got some abuse and yes, things can get heated on the sideline in the tight, important matches. No matter how thick-skinned you are, it all still stings a bit. I once refereed an AIL game where the club that lost by 60-odd points still blamed me! However, one of my accusers was an ex-Munster player who I admired. Stuck with me for days.
In all this though, I never feared for my safety or had reams of verbal abuse screamed in my face. It wouldn’t happen. Players know the limits and, in most case, so does the decent rugby supporter. Where someone oversteps the mark on the pitch, they either get a soft word in the ear from their captain or they end up in the sin-bin.
Worst case scenario, the red card is shown and the miscreant can expect a lengthy suspension, depending on the severity of the offence. Assault a referee and you are on your hols for a long time and a likely pariah among the rugby fraternity. That’s also the other security that rugby ref’s have – the back-up of the clubs and the disciplinary panels. It’s a huge comfort and an ever present deterrent.
No one likes losing and referees in rugby can influence a game with their “interpretations” of certain laws. But there’s nearly always respect… I’ve always been served in the club bar afterwards, almost always had my hand shook by players and alikadoos alike after the game.
I shake my head looking at the GAA referees’ jerseys – “Give Respect, Get Respect.” They may as well have Aretha Franklin’s lyrics splashed across the front and sleeves: “R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Find out what it means to me.”
Rugby referees don’t require this unwritten rule to be printed across the front of their jersey. As a rugby referee, I don’t need a player to give me respect before I reciprocate. I think all refs should walk onto the pitch respecting the players. We’re there to help the players play. That’s it.
Here’s my opinion - GAA and Soccer referees have no one to blame but themselves (& their masters). Strong statement, I know, and I shouldn’t generalise but I’ve been watching games in these sports for the last decade with my “rugby referee hat” on. I cannot understand how they can officiate at a game while getting dog’s abuse from all parts of the pitch. It’s not in every match but in the majority of cases, abusive stuff can be heard shouted at them by players, coaches or spectators and sometimes a combination of all three!
Loads of examples are stuck in my head: A soccer ref being loudly called a w##ker by an U-12 coach for giving the throw to the opposition in the opening few minutes of a game (probably the ref’s first decision!); a 13-year old kid telling a GAA ref up close that he was going to “burst his f##king head;” a soccer goalkeeper (youth) running the length of the pitch, screaming foul language, thinking that his team should have got a penalty (there was an under-7 match on the adjoining pitch listening to this); spectators jostling a GAA referee after a game so that he had to run to the safety of his car. I’m talking about some of the personal experiences I’ve had & leaving aside the assaults on referees of both codes we see and read about in the media.
What is common among the examples I cited above is that the official in question did nothing. No cards, no abandoning the match, not even a ticking off. As for the ref who ran for his life, maybe something happened later but I don’t know.
Based on my conversations with my whistling brethren of these other sports, there seems to be an acceptance that some of the above is part of the game and, therefore, there is hesitancy about doing anything. It’s not helped by a lack of support at the higher levels, their equivalents of the disciplinary panels. In GAA, the CCCCCCCC (repeat ad finitum) seems to have an appeal process for an appeal process for an appeal process. Think Miwadi Orange drink; the more you dilute, the worse it tastes. Toothless tiger.
Young soccer players, more worryingly, are influenced by watching their “heroes” on SKY shouting what they like to whoever they like. You don’t need sound to know that if a player has an angry face and tucks their lower lip under their front teeth, the next words out of his mouth aren’t “flip off.” Again, the Premiership refs seem to turn a deaf ear to this.
To finish, this isn’t a class thing. It’s not the whole “thug’s game played by gentleman” rubbish. Ask any rugby player who plays GAA during the summer with his local club. Different attitudes. It’s about what is tolerated by the referee on the pitch and, more importantly, what back-up he or she has from the governing body.
My favourite anecdote from my time as a rugby ref happened in Young Munster. As I was running on to the pitch, an elderly Limerick gentleman from the home club called me over and said, “Just so you know, young man, during the game there’ll be 200 referees in the ground and one bollocks in the middle. I’ll see you after for a pint.” Sure enough there was a warm welcome in the clubhouse after what was a testing but spirited game. And no one called me “a bollocks,” either.
