What Should the LDMC be Doing for Clubs ?

**3 Heroes** · 09/12/2006, 12:01 AM

Hopefully I can make my comeback, then no doubt Jock would get to know me

**see's it** · 09/12/2006, 8:17 AM

Originally Posted by holycrossjock

bit harsh there mate

no need for it. he is a good ref, so what if he knows there names.

the ref ye are talking about did games last year in a division where his club were going for the title im not saying he'd any affect on the outcome but alot of the other title chasing teams dropped some stupid points.

**Jock MIB** · 09/12/2006, 8:54 AM

Originally Posted by 3 Heroes

Hopefully I can make my comeback, then no doubt Jock would get to know me

why will you be an assistant referee at the sideline

**3 Heroes** · 09/12/2006, 12:57 PM

Originally Posted by holycrossjock

why will you be an assistant referee at the sideline

FFS you sound like Sepp or Lennart, they're linesmen, always have been always will be

**see's it** · 09/12/2006, 1:25 PM

are you Mike Newell?

**3 Heroes** · 09/12/2006, 5:00 PM

Originally Posted by see's it

are you Mike Newell?

Unfortunately I never scored the fastest hat-trick in Champions League history

**northsiderkid** · 09/12/2006, 10:39 PM

I posted the original message and I was not talking about one ref in particular three referees from herbertstown trinity hospital charleville side, this also happens with refs in shannon. Im not paranoid and I am not stupid enough to say it doesnt happen in the city either the point I am making is city refs should be covering country games and vice-versa and certainly not in divisions where their club is involved. I dont get personal about individual referees because the game needs them (believe me I could write a book about them at this stage and I dont have much time for most of them in the LDMC) my problem is with the fact that the guy asked what could the LDMC do better for clubs and I think that this is something that should be addressed.

**Old keeper** · 09/12/2006, 11:09 PM

Originally Posted by northsiderkid

I posted the original message and I was not talking about one ref in particular three referees from herbertstown trinity hospital charleville side, this also happens with refs in shannon. Im not paranoid and I am not stupid enough to say it doesnt happen in the city either the point I am making is city refs should be covering country games and vice-versa and certainly not in divisions where their club is involved. I dont get personal about individual referees because the game needs them (believe me I could write a book about them at this stage and I dont have much time for most of them in the LDMC) my problem is with the fact that the guy asked what could the LDMC do better for clubs and I think that this is something that should be addressed.

Hi Northsiderkid

It's unfortunate that we can't have refs from totally different areas at every game but having said that I am sure that it is the exception rather than the rule that any ref would be partial to a particular team and in the case of local refs I have found the complete reverse as the local ref is usually harder on the locals (not deliberatly but it's human nature). I am sure you will agree that most referees are who are out each sunday will get to know the players names of a number of teams and may refer to them by name during the game, many is the booking I have got form a ref who would be smiling and saying " Ger you should know better by now" but I still get the yellow card! I for one have the utmost confidence in 99% of the refs out there and while there will always be the game where refs have a bad day im afraid thats life!.
Your point about refs from the city going to the county and vice versa, is not really workable as referees are usually asked to do two games and with that in mind one can only allocate the refs that are available in different areas. In relation to the refs being from a village or town and not reffereeing for that team would mean a referee living in Mulgrave street could possibly be ruled out of any one of 4 clubs.

I think overall we need to trust in the integrity of the refs and support them as much as possible

(I can already hear the roars of Laughter from refs who read this coming from me, But I am usually just loud not abusive)

By the way I hope you will keep an open mind on the LDMC as there is a lot of work being done on your clubs behalf.

**northsiderkid** · 10/12/2006, 11:53 PM

Not sure that is a good enough explanation although I do appreciate you taking the time to respond referees at that level should not have to do two games a day as most of them are not fit enough for it or are just in it for the money. A big push is required for referees in the league is required it is very hard to attract players to lower league clubs two players have left our club in the recent past due to the standard of refereeing at that level. Also I just read the ldmc website where it stated that only 4 Junior games 1 youth and 1 U17 went ahead considering the weather we have had that means 6 pitches in the league are ruined and if we get a long period of frost will be umplayable for a long time. I watched a game today that was a complete farce the ref should never have let it go ahead but I dont blame him someone in the ldmc should make a decision when it is that bad and call them all off and stop ruining peoples weekends especially when some people are attending christmas parties the night before and taking it easy, getting up early in the morning only to be told by a ref that its off. Why oh why do they insist on playing these games when come march or april the league is finished and people end up with 5 months of good weather with no football to play can you see any logic in this??

**MitreSize5** · 11/12/2006, 7:11 AM

Originally Posted by northsiderkid

Not sure that is a good enough explanation although I do appreciate you taking the time to respond referees at that level should not have to do two games a day as most of them are not fit enough for it or are just in it for the money. A big push is required for referees in the league is required it is very hard to attract players to lower league clubs two players have left our club in the recent past due to the standard of refereeing at that level. Also I just read the ldmc website where it stated that only 4 Junior games 1 youth and 1 U17 went ahead considering the weather we have had that means 6 pitches in the league are ruined and if we get a long period of frost will be umplayable for a long time. I watched a game today that was a complete farce the ref should never have let it go ahead but I dont blame him someone in the ldmc should make a decision when it is that bad and call them all off and stop ruining peoples weekends especially when some people are attending christmas parties the night before and taking it easy, getting up early in the morning only to be told by a ref that its off. Why oh why do they insist on playing these games when come march or april the league is finished and people end up with 5 months of good weather with no football to play can you see any logic in this??

why should all games be called off for a weekend when you have clubs investing hundreds of thousands of euros in pitches so they can be playable in all weather

**Old keeper** · 11/12/2006, 8:21 AM

Originally Posted by northsiderkid

Not sure that is a good enough explanation although I do appreciate you taking the time to respond referees at that level should not have to do two games a day as most of them are not fit enough for it or are just in it for the money. A big push is required for referees in the league is required it is very hard to attract players to lower league clubs two players have left our club in the recent past due to the standard of refereeing at that level. Also I just read the ldmc website where it stated that only 4 Junior games 1 youth and 1 U17 went ahead considering the weather we have had that means 6 pitches in the league are ruined and if we get a long period of frost will be umplayable for a long time. I watched a game today that was a complete farce the ref should never have let it go ahead but I dont blame him someone in the ldmc should make a decision when it is that bad and call them all off and stop ruining peoples weekends especially when some people are attending christmas parties the night before and taking it easy, getting up early in the morning only to be told by a ref that its off. Why oh why do they insist on playing these games when come march or april the league is finished and people end up with 5 months of good weather with no football to play can you see any logic in this??

Hi

If referees did not do two games a day we would not be able to sustain the league in its current format
The LDL has a system in place for home teams to inspect their pitch on the Saturday and notify the FS if they think it is unplayable, So the clubs who opted to play HAD the opp to have their games called off but decided for THEIR own reasons to play.
The MFA and FAI games are out of our control and are down to the REF on the day.
Your comment re "especially when some people are attending christmas parties the night before and taking it easy, getting up early in the morning only to be told by a ref that its off" as I said the club had the option of inspecting their pitch on the Sat but did not avail of this, so I would take it up with the club.
Referees have a system for assesment and this is applied to all refs so your comments re fitness are mute (not that all refs are as fit as they could be but nor are players)
As for being in it for the money! Refs are paid a set amount to cover expenses and to my mind it's worth it to keep playing.

On previous occasions when blanket decisions were made to call off games, a lot of clubs were angry as their pitches were playable and would not have sustained damage. So it looks like a no win situation for the LDL on this one

**northsiderkid** · 11/12/2006, 10:46 PM

Many thanks for your reply although I think we will agree to disagree regarding referees. It is good to hear some of your comments and I think credit must be given to you for the time and effort that you put in to it. I hope im not annoying you too much regarding referees but if you get a chance could you let me know how often they are assesed ive never been involved in a game when an assesor was there.

To mitresize5 not many teams in the lower leagues have the luxury of been able to pay thousands of pounds on their pitch and the standard is bad enough without having to put up with the kind of the conditions we do at this time of year. Then in march or april we are twiddling our thumbs as our league is over and the sun is shining and we cast our minds back to weekends like the one just past when it was impossible to pass the ball 10 yards without it getting stuck in the puddles and mud and ask ourselves why.

**MitreSize5** · 12/12/2006, 7:22 AM

Originally Posted by northsiderkid

To mitresize5 not many teams in the lower leagues have the luxury of been able to pay thousands of pounds on their pitch and the standard is bad enough without having to put up with the kind of the conditions we do at this time of year. Then in march or april we are twiddling our thumbs as our league is over and the sun is shining and we cast our minds back to weekends like the one just past when it was impossible to pass the ball 10 yards without it getting stuck in the puddles and mud and ask ourselves why.

im not saying anything about teams in lower leagues havin to call off games because of bad weather, it happens. what i was saying is why should there be a blanket call off of all matches when some clubs can play matches on pitchs they have invested heavily in

**larrywhite** · 12/12/2006, 9:11 AM

And how many teams travelled to pitches on Sunday last only for the ref to call the game off? It was obvious on Saturday that most pitches would be unplayable and yet our A team still had to travel only for the ref to call it off.

It would be nice if the home clubs were more helpful towards towards visitors. Three times in the last 3 years we have travelled out to county venues only for the pitch to be in a horrendous state and the ref calling it off. Nothing worse than wasting 3 hours of 15/16 peoples time for absolutely no reason.

**Jock MIB** · 12/12/2006, 9:37 AM

Old Keeper have the ldmc ever thought about summer soccer and have winter breaks before at meetings or will this be a non starter..? just curious

**ShelsLimerick** · 12/12/2006, 9:52 AM

Originally Posted by holycrossjock

Old Keeper have the ldmc ever thought about summer soccer and have winter breaks before at meetings or will this be a non starter..? just curious

We're in the middle of our winter break. Haven't played since Autumn and won't have another game until Spring.

**ffffff** · 12/12/2006, 10:22 AM

the way things are at the moment , we are better off havng an indoor league....!!! maybe renting an aul hall and playing a few matches!!!!

with the weather this morning- I can't see any matches this week end either

**Old keeper** · 12/12/2006, 11:13 AM

Originally Posted by holycrossjock

Old Keeper have the ldmc ever thought about summer soccer and have winter breaks before at meetings or will this be a non starter..? just curious

HI jOCK

Summer soccer is a disaster in the leagues that have adopted it and will prove difficult to sustain the numbers over the summer with interfirm and other events.

The winter break is a good Idea and has been mooted but as I always say have your club suggest it to the committee, this will allow the issue to gain momentum otherwise it will not be entertained.

**Limeref** · 12/12/2006, 8:12 PM

Originally Posted by northsiderkid

Not sure that is a good enough explanation although I do appreciate you taking the time to respond referees at that level should not have to do two games a day as most of them are not fit enough for it or are just in it for the money. A big push is required for referees in the league is required it is very hard to attract players to lower league clubs two players have left our club in the recent past due to the standard of refereeing at that level.

Northsiderkid

The reason referees do two games a day is because, unfortunately, there are not enough referees.

You think its hard to attract players, its even harder to attract referees, especially when you discover the fee involved, �37.50 for over 90 minutes of abuse

not to mention the other preperation that goes into matchdays including travel (my closest game this season has taken me 30 minutes to get to the venue)!

I have travelled extensively over the last 3 years and have seen over 100 different referees and I can honestly say the standard in Limerick is probably the highest in the country and I include Dublin referees in that assessment.

At the rate we�re going, in five years time there will be no Division 3A/B or 4A/B due to the lack of referees and maybe even 2A/B may suffer. Limerick has lost a number of referees in the last five years, Kevin O'Driscoll, Tony Markam, Neol Dunphy, Declan Earls, Joe Hannon, Derek Olseen, Dave Brosnan and Imelda O�Hannlon off the top of my head and no new blood has come in to replace them.

I can honestly say it is not for money that I referee, and I would consider myself reasonably fit, the reason I got involved was to give something back to the game after an enjoyable but un-remarkable career

Originally Posted by northsiderkid

Many thanks for your reply although I think we will agree to disagree regarding referees. It is good to hear some of your comments and I think credit must be given to you for the time and effort that you put in to it. I hope im not annoying you too much regarding referees but if you get a chance could you let me know how often they are assesed ive never been involved in a game when an assesor was there.

Over the last 2 seasons I have been assessed five times, on two occasions I was unaware that an assessor was present and only discovered the fact when an assessment sheet came through the door, nearly all the time the player don't know that the assessors are present, so maybe you were involved in a game where an assessor was there?

Limeref

**larrywhite** · 13/12/2006, 8:50 AM

Derek Olsson...thats a laugh. He didnt leave the game...he left the country...allegedly.

As for assessors...havent seen any this season but last season I saw one at probably 4 games involving one of our two teams and have seen them plenty of times over the years so they are definitely around. As Mr.G.Adams once said "They havent gone away you know".