Recently I was surprised, to learn that the start of Bayern Munich’s game with RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga, was delayed when their goalkeeper tried to patch a hole in his goal net with his towel.
The referee didn’t judge this was good enough and wouldn’t start until a member of the ground staff made a more permanent repair.
I was surprised because a referee’s duty is usually to check that the pitch and its accoutrements are up to standard and safe.
Goal posts in particular can be problem. I remember arriving at a local village ground where at one end, a goal post was eight foot six (instead of eight foot) and one only seven foot six at the other.
It was rectified but I would have played on, providing both teams agreed. I always give the posts a good shake to ensure they are secure, as goal posts falling on players have caused 10 deaths in the UK.
Nets sometimes have holes or are not pegged down well enough. I always carry some string and spare tent pegs in case they are needed. When professional clubs used to have A teams, I remember refereeing Swindon A team, where the nets were the worst I have ever seen.
They took most of my ball of string to repair. Height of corner flags and pitch markings have to be checked; it’s surprising what green keepers can sometimes forget. Any rubbish has to be cleared off the pitch, the most unusual I found was a dead fox.
I was once prepared to call off a game in Wokingham, as the goalmouth was thick mud. The home coach asked me to wait and jumped in a car, coming back with bags of sand and we played the game.
This duty is seldom seen as it happens about an hour before kick-off but I remember refereeing at Oxford City when some early spectators watched me carry out the checks.
As I walked back to the changing room, one shouted out loudly. ‘Hope he is half as keen when the match starts’. As a referee you can never win.
By Dick Sawdon Smith
