Essential Equipment to Referee in Football. 
10th October 2011

Sometimes a parent or coach will be required to referee a youth football match, often without having the correct equipment or the appropriate training to officiate a game.

With the lack of referees available to youth football this is becoming more and more regular.

To referee a match there are a certain number of items the ref must have to be able to do the job affectively.

Here is a list of the minimum items required to be able to officiate a match with confidence, and be on the right side of the football laws.

Whistle
This one must be the most obvious. You need a way to start and stop play at the appropriate times, in which all the players can hear and respond to.

There is no alternative, shouting or whistling through you mouth is just not good enough, because the words or tone used will often change throughout the game.

It doesn't matter much what type of whistle is used, as long as it makes a distinctive sound that can be heard by the players.

Time Piece
The next most obvious piece of equipment is a watch or stopwatch. You must know when to stop the game, and you can only do that using a watch or a time piece.

You don't necessarily need a stopwatch, but one that you can stop and start would be best, though any watch would do. If pushed a mobile phone would suffice.

Pen/Pencil & Paper
The job of a referee in football is to record the events of the match, and that includes the score, who had kick-off and any cautions or dismissals. You cannot rely on your memory to record these details. You must write it down.

Imagine you are refereeing a game that ends 12-0. you have not written the score down, but made a mental note of it as the game goes along. At the end of the game the losing manager confirms with you that the score was only 10-0, because you have not written it down, how can you be sure.

You also need to make a note of the players name, time and the reason for cautioning or dismissing the player. Once again you cannot rely on memory.

Coin
You need a coin to complete the toss to decide which end the team kicks-off towards. This may not be the most essential item, because you can use common sense and agree with the managers who gets the choice of ends in the first half, more often than not the teams line up as they have entered the field of play.

Assistant's Flags
Once again these are not the most essential item for a referee, because you can use any item  that is distinctive for a referee to see. A brightly coloured bib or training vest is a good alternative.

Yellow/Red Cards
The law states if a caution or a dismissal is administered to a player, then a yellow or red card must be shown to the offending player. If you don't have a yellow or red card then you cannot show them to the player. There are no alternatives, however if you have to caution a player the best you can do is record the details on a piece of paper.

Additional Useful items
It's always useful to have a spare whistle in case yours breaks or you drop it in the mud and it fails to work.

Also a spare watch started at the same time as the first, in case yours fails.

A spare pencil or pen.

Further Reading:

• How to become a Referee?

• Who'd be a Football Ref?
  

• The Laws of Mini-Soccer

• What is Handball in Football?

• Laws of the game - Myths