LEAGUE REFEREES ARE NOT POPULAR

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 103, 22 July 1927, Page 10

LEAGUE REFEREES ARE NOT POPULAR

BARRACKERS SAY—“WE WANT THE BEST MAN FOR BEST GAME” That the refereeing in the majority of senior League games staged at Carlaw Park is irritating, exasperating and agonising to the majority of the fans of the 13-a----side code is “as plain as the nose on your face,” according to the man in the street. His contention may be worth looking into. Saturday after Saturday and match after match, the manner in which certain games have been controlled, is the subject of stinging and fiery comment as it is gossiped among crowds, irresponsible and otherwise. The League Gazette says “No referee will claim to be infallible, but we at least should give credit to the self- sacrificing men who give their services voluntarily to control the games for our pleasure. They make mistakes —and so do we— but the public should at least give the referee credit for honesty of purpose. “TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING” The writer is certainly correct in his opinions regarding the referees, but that is not the point. Most spectators will give and take to a certain extent, and many are prepared to overlook small mistakes made by the man with the whistle. But, it is possible to have to much of a good thing, and fans who pay to see the best match of the day on the best ground naturally expect to see the best referee in control. But when the man in control is inexperienced, unable to control the game correctly, unable to interpret the rules, and suffers stage fright, then the crowd rises to its feet and lifts its collective voice to the heavens. And can it be blamed? If this sort of thing continues at Carlaw Park much longer, it is prophesied by one who watches closely that the unfortunate referee will be mobbed by the crowd and he draws a graphic picture of the unfortunate referee, and Mr. Hammill sprinting for the gate. No one is desirous of seeing this, not even the man in blue. A SEEDY ARGUMENT The old argument that the only way to prepare referees for the big matches is to put them on No 1, ground is “played out.” No. 2 ground is the place for this, and the best ground should have the best referee, at all times. However, it appears that the officials of the Auckland League are awake to

the fact that all is not well with the controlling of the games at the park. During the last two meetings of the Management Committee, although it has not gone as far as moving a motion in one direction or another, there has been a fair amodnt of comment about the various referees taking games on the main area.

The exhibitions of refereeing on NY>l and No. 2 grounds of the park last week could not be tabled as being brilliant and with this is there really any wonder that old and experienced players who know the rules from A to Z are ordered off the field for allegedly questioning the decision of the referee? In Auckland League has bigger gate takings than any other code, but by making a rod for its own backs in the way in which it has been doing so recently, many of their fans will be trooping over to follow the opposing code, Rugby. There is no question as to the fairplay or otherwise of the referee, but merely that the wrong men are chosen for the wrong games. OTHER CODES, TOO But League is not all alone, for quite recently Rugby and Soccer have had trouble which arose indirectly over the question of refereeing. What was the origin of the dispute in soccer circles when the Thistle club trod on the corns of its controlling body? Nothing more or less than that, the referee had ordered a player off the field, and in the opinion of the club. Rugby has also had its turn. In the Ranfurly Shield match between Wairarapa and Hav/ke’s Bay, two men were ordered off the field, and when their cases came before their respective unions, they were beautifully whitewashed. • Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow” . . . Some of Auckland’s League players are wishing they were as lucky. But “The King can do no wrong”— except in Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa and that holds good of referees in all codes under the rules. There is. therefore, all the more reason for the utmost care and discrimination in the selection of the man who is to all intents and purposes the dictator of the football field. —G.K.P.

English Hockey Girls Continuing their victorious career in Australia, the English girls’ hockey tram defeated New South Wales in Sydney last Saturday week by nine goals to nil. “The visitors showed remarkable control and stickwork after settling down.’’ says a Sydney writer, and their combination excels anything jm*. ***? in Sydney since the visit of the Indian hockey team.