HERTFORDSHIRE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION
CONTACT DETAILS
County Referee Secretary ( Saturday Competitions)
Richard Dowden
e-mail: [email protected]
Tel: 01438 313929 (h), 01438 810936 (w)
Referee Appointments Officer (Sunday Competitions)
Derek French
e-mail: [email protected]
Tel: 01923 247091 (h), 07944 461476 (messages)
Referee Appointments Officer (Youth Competitions)
Norman Appleby
e-mail: [email protected]
Tel: 01727 812899 (h), 07703 331163 (m)
Referee Development Officer
Phil Sharp
e-mail: [email protected]
Tel: 01462 650220 (h)
Referee’s Committee Chairman
Fred Weaving
e-mail: [email protected]
Tel: 01442 408484 (h)
Hertfordshire Football Association, County Ground, Baldock Road,
Letchworth SG6 2EN
www.hertfordshirefa.com - @hertfordshirefa
REFEREE GUIDANCE BOOKLET
Dear Hertfordshire Referee,
This booklet is designed to help you become familiar and confident with important aspects of referee administration and procedure. It also advises you of the accepted practices that you should adopt before, during and after the game. The aim is to improve standards within the County, ensure uniformity and good practice and to comply with FA and
County FA policy and regulations.
Please take the time and ensure you read it thoroughly and don’t hesitate to contact a
listed Officer if you require further clarification or advice. If you have any further comments or suggestions then feel free to get in touch with me too.
Enjoy your refereeing
Fred Weaving
Chairman, Hertfordshire FA Referees’ Committee
Laws of the Game
Please ensure that you observe and enforce these both before and during the match,
otherwise you will not only let yourself down but also your referee colleagues who will
officiate either team next week. In terms of players’ equipment the Laws of the Game
state quite clearly what is acceptable and what is not and these aspects will have been
highlighted to you during any qualification or promotion workshops.
Misconduct Reports
These should be sent to the appropriate County Football Association within two days of
the game.
The report format is straightforward and can be submitted online for both cautions and
sendings-off.
Please note that Clubs are now checking with the Hertfordshire FA Office if they have
not received the paperwork for misconduct within seven days.
If you have completed the paperwork satisfactorily then that is fine. If you have not,
then you will be contacted by the Hertfordshire FA Office asking the question as to why
you have not sent the report in. The Referees’ Committee will also be informed of this
and if you are going for promotion this may be taken into account under poor administration when the decision to promote is taken.
Hertfordshire FA County Cup Appointments
What I should do as Referee/Assistant Referee if I get a County Cup appointment?
Accept the appointment by contacting the correct Appointments Officer within two
days .
The Appointments Officers are listed in this booklet.
What will happen if I am unable to fulfil the County Cup appointment?

You need to inform the correct Appointments Officer as soon as possible and
certainly do not leave it until the day before the game.

Please also remember that if you do not accept the County Appointment you are
not allowed to take any other game on that day, without the prior approval of the
County Appointments Officer.
Having accepted the County appointment you should then immediately notify your
League Referee Secretary that you are closing the date with him/her as you have a
County Cup game. They may not be aware that you have been given the game.
Order of Precedence
Listed below is the FA’s order of precedence of Competitions. As you can see, the County
Cup Competition is at number six, while League games come down the order at 18.
The order of precedence is:

The FA Challenge Cup Competition

The Premier League

The Football League

The FA Challenge Trophy Competition

The FA Challenge Vase Competition

Affiliated Associations Cup Competitions. i.e. Hertfordshire County Cups **

The Panel Leagues

The FA Youth, FA County Youth Challenge Cup Competitions FA Women’s Cup 4th
round and above

Contributory Leagues (recognised divisions only) National League system Cup and FA
Sunday Cup

FA Women’s Super League and Cup

Supply Leagues ( Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division)

FA Women’s Premier League and Cups

Senior County Leagues

Intermediate County Leagues

FA Women’s Cup Prior to the 4th round

Women’s Combination League and Cup
Women’s Regional Leagues

County Junior Leagues

County Women’s League and Cups

All other competitions, including Youth Competitions
** Affiliated Associations appointments only take precedence over Panel Leagues, The FA
Youth and FA County Youth Challenge Cup Competition, Contributory Leagues and Supply
Leagues appointments. If the appointment is in the Affiliated Associations nominated
Senior Cup Competition or in the Semi-Final and/or Final of any other Affiliated Association
Competition whether the appointment is as a Referee or Assistant Referee.
**** Fourth Officials where appointed do not form part of the Order of Precedence and
usually do not take precedence over an active appointment.
What happens next?
Confirmation of the game should come from the home club, with time of kick off and
location of the ground. Then start to plan your match day:

Know the appropriate Competition Rules.

What time do I need to leave home?

When do I need to be at the ground?

How long is it going to take me to travel?

Do I know where the ground is?

Check and pack your kit.

Arrive at the ground in good time to carry out a pitch inspection looking for any potholes or anything dangerous; whether the pitch is marked out correctly, etc.
Closing Dates
It is of paramount importance that you close dates with the County Football Association
or League that you are on when you cannot do football. This administration is all part of
being a good Referee, just as important as your performance on the field. Get to know
how the County or Referee Secretary of the League you are refereeing on wants you to do
it. Give as much notice as possible to help the appointments. In this age of e-mails and mobile phones there can be no excuse.
Breach of Rules
The Hertfordshire Football Association has the power to discipline a County Referee in the
same way that it does players, although thankfully this is a rare occurrence. You can find
details of the Referee Regulations in the County FA Handbook the link for which is given below.
If you carry out your duties as the Match Official thoroughly and do things correctly you
will have the full support of the Hertfordshire Football Association Referees’ Committee.
Referee Uniforms
All Match Officials in Competitions under the jurisdiction of the Hertfordshire Football Association MUST wear uniforms in accordance with FA Regulations:

A plain shirt which shall be almost entirely BLACK with a WHITE or BLACK collar

BLACK shorts

Socks will be BLACK; the sock top will be BLACK or WHITE.
If you wear or are offered any other colour to wear over your black uniform then you
should refuse the request and then report the matter to the Hertfordshire Football Association as soon as possible, as this is in breach of FA Referee Regulations.
The uniform of a referee MUST NOT carry any form of advertising.
Referees registered with the Hertfordshire Football Association should wear the
Hertfordshire FA badge on their uniform. The Referees’ Committee are very strongly in
favour of this as you should be proud to be a Hertfordshire FA Referee.
Sock Tape
If you observe a player is wearing the wrong colour tape on the socks then he or she must
remove or replace it, i.e. clear tape is permissible. See back cover image for further details.
Undergarments
If a player is visibly wearing the wrong colour undergarment under their shorts then they
are required to remove or change. Likewise, if the shirt they are wearing has short sleeves
and they have a long undergarment it must match the main colour of the shirt.
You will find a copy of the Laws of the Game at the following link:
http://www.thefa.com/my-football/referee/laws-of-the-game
Correspondence
You should always try to answer by return any correspondence you receive from the
Hertfordshire Football Association or your local League. This may come as an e-mail or
hard copy (letter) and you should respond within 24 hours.
The Referee for each County Cup match is expected to complete the on-line Match Report
Form within 48 hours of the date of the match.
This Match Report Form can be found on the Hertfordshire FA website under Cups. The
form needs to be completed in full, following all instructions line by line making sure you
list any Cautions and Sending Offs that may have been issued in the match. Please note at
the bottom of the form you will need to add your own personal Fan ID number, and also
the e-mail addresses of the two Club Secretaries of the teams involved in the match.
It is very important as the completed form will not only be received by the Hertfordshire
FA but also the Club Secretary of each of the two teams so they are notified of any misconduct that occurred in the match.
Advice
From time to time it is quite normal that you may need to ask for some advice on refereeing matters. The Referee Development Officer at the County Office or one of the Referee
Officers listed will always be pleased to discuss your concerns or queries and to give guidance rather than have you act incorrectly.
We suggest that each season you make yourself fully conversant with the Referee Regulations in the Hertfordshire FA Handbook and this booklet only serves to complement
those, not replace them.
You can access the County FA Handbook at the following link:
http://en.calameo.com/read/0012302351100ea06b0da?authid=GTAwlmxFWKoJ
It is intended that this booklet be updated periodically with any new guidance or advice, so any suggestions for improvements or the inclusion of helpful comments for your
referee colleagues would be appreciated.