Referees perform a vital role in the game, and with the growth in the popularity of football, particularly for women and children, the demand for match officials is increasing

The Football Association estimates that in some areas of the country, 20 per cent of games are played without a qualified match official.

The first stage involved in becoming a referee is to register with Sussex County Football Association.

You could also check out where your nearest Referee Association meets by exploring the links on the left. Anyone interested in becoming a referee would be made very welcome at a local association meeting.

Barber Zia recently attended one of the FA courses and we spoke to him about his experience.

Barber recently moved from his home in Lancashire to Crawley where he works
as a pharmaceutical technician for GlaxoSmithkline. Here Barber takes up his own story........

"I met a friend at work who told me he was a referee and, to cut a long story short, he invited to come along to one of his games. One game led to another and I found myself really enjoying the experience. So I thought this could be something for me!

I've always enjoyed doing new things and thought this would be a great challenge, so I contacted the refereeing department at Sussex FA.

They booked me on a course which was about to run on two consecutive Sundays. The cost was £82 which included the registration for the forthcoming season, however when I complete six 11 v 11 games I will be refunded £30.

The course took place at Sussex FA headquarters, Lancing, and was headed by Tim Lawrence (Sussex FA training officer) and Keith Brisley; two highly experienced referees. There was a good mix of around 15 potential referees of various ages.
The course was divided into learning the laws of the game in a classroom environment (I now along with other referees refer to them as LOAF) and practical help on refereeing, which was carried out on the football pitch. This helped give me a better insight into match control, positioning etc.

On the Tuesday following the course I was due to sit a multiple choice examination on the LOAF. I was working that evening, so wouldn’t have been able to take the test, but Tim very kindly arranged for me to take the exam on the Wednesday morning in Horsham instead. That was really helpful. Fortunately I passed but I still have much to learn.

My first active refereeing will take place this weekend. In order to gain some practical experience I will be officiating at the Newick 6 a side competition.

I can't wait to get started."

Note from Editor, Barber did officiate in the Newick 6’s and thoroughly enjoyed it. Experienced Crawley referee Malcolm Kane (who is currently injured) will “buddy” Barber and will be there to support him in his first district league game.

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