Quote Originally Posted by ExWhistleMan View Post
Apologies, it wasn't a shot at you or your club but at the comment you made. You make a comment on a public forum I am free to respond. The game has a culture problem when it comes to referee's comments like the one you posted exacerbate the problem. Until there is a change in the culture the referee numbers will never improve. And the smaller the pool, the poorer the overall quality.
I agree, There is a massive culture issue. How often have you seen someone give it to a referee? It happens all the time, Either from a player or from a coach or spectator.

How often do you see a duty officer, fellow player etc pull up their own players?, Hardly ever.

End of the day we need referees and obviously a lot more. I think short term if every zone league squad was to provide someone to do the course then we would have 34 new referees. I think that's a realistic goal. 34 new referees would nearly cover the majority of the zone league fixtures.

I don't think when Northern ran the short course last year that people took it seriously. Now that there is a mass shortage of referees, people might look at it more seriously.