Question Number: 27798

Mechanics 9/23/2013

RE: rec Under 11

Rich of Clayton, ca usa asks...

In what way, if any, should a referee adjust his game mechanics when working without assistant referees, especially in regards to judging players offside?

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

My approach is that when there are no assistant referees, close is off.

The reason is that when close is on, the players will continue to test the referee beyond a solo referee's ability to manage the game. When close is offside, the forwards will adjust their runs.

The referee needs to be aware of what the closest attacker to the goal is doing. Are they always slow to return to an onside position? Do they run horizontally to try to time their runs. What they have they been doing is often a clue as to what they just did.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Rich,

This is a difficult position to be in - though when you're using club ARs you need to be constantly monitoring offside yourself anyway.

First off, your positioning will change. It's not just offside, but ball in/out that you'll be judging yourself. For the latter, get wider (and consider standing along the touch line at some of the throw-ins, if you don't already). For offside, you may want to be a bit further upfield when an attack is going. When I don't have an official AR, I also stand just off the goal line (at the end of the Goal Area) when there's a corner kick. It does mean I'm out of position if there's a fast counterattack (or if the ball heads to the far side of the PA), but it means I'm in the perfect position for close ball-over-the-line situations.

Positioning is always a trade-off. At a ceremonial free kick, I'll also stand in line with the 2nd last line of defence as opposed to a more front-on position. I'm more likely to face an offside decision here than another type of foul that I won't be in a position to spot. Again, it's a trade-off, but an offside here is likely to be a close decision and difficult to spot from elsewhere due to the number of players in close proximity.

Positioning is the easy aspect. The harder part is constantly being aware of where the attackers and defenders are. You need to know where everybody is standing BEFORE a long ball is kicked upfield - if you don't look until just after it's kicked, then you can't judge it accurately as positions can change a lot, even in less than a second. So constantly glance upfield, particularly when you can see there's an attack imminent. This constant awareness is the hardest part to adjust to, but you need to always be thinking about it.

Try drawing an imaginary line across the field with your eyes. It kind of works. Also, use field markings - are the players close to the PA? Are there dark/light lines in the grass across the field? Use all those to help judge position.

Some people find it easier to judge from a wide angle, others from a narrow. If I'm directly side-on (close to what the AR's position would be) I personally find it easier from a relatively central position, but being wide is better for judging ball in/out.

Finally, I don't change my approach on 'what' I'm going to call. Whether I'm on the line as an AR, or in the middle without an AR - if I'm sure it's offside, it's offside. If I'm not sure, it's not offside.

You will get offside decisions wrong, I guarantee it. These are just impossible to always be accurate by yourself - but you can get most of them correct. Incorrect decisions will sometimes favour the defence, sometimes the offence.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

When this has happened to me in the past I went to both teams and coaches and told them I'd do my best to judge offside but would most likely be getting it wrong at times but equally.
As the referee you have more serious things to watch for. If you pay too much attention to offside and consequently miss Violent Conduct for example, how important was it to get the offside call correct?
Player safety is still your primary obligation with or without ARs.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Rich
My experience is that there has to be a trade off between positioning for offside and for the main part of the game which is foul recognition and match control.
When alone getting offside 100% correct is nigh impossible and the referee must focus on the key part of the game which is where the ball is.
One just has to make the best possible call based on the referee's position at that time.
What does cause problems is that look away from the ball for offside positions anticipating the next play. Experience has allowed me to know when to make that quick glance and when not to.
When the attackers protest I simply say, 'Hey I'm here on my own doing my best and it looked offside to me'. Players recognise that and most times accept that it was a genuine call. Sometimes even players get it wrong and protest 110% correct offside decisions even with neutral assistants.
Many times at free kicks I might chose to ignore infringements in the defensive wall in favour of a better view of offside as that is the more likely call. Being in a good deep position helps sell the call / no call.
The most difficlut offside call is the deep defender that is behind the referee, out of view and trying to ascertain if the attacker is ahead of that player maybe 40 yards apart. Those are the ones that I have got wrong and one just has to accept those as part of the game.