There was a frightful feel to the October 2017 ‘Social Evening’ as Liverpool Association of
Match Officials were treated to a session on ‘Spooky Decision’ making.
It was a warm welcome back to our ‘Guest Speaker’, James Mainwaring who has visited
several times before and always delivers enjoyable evening. James is a Select Group 2
Assistant Referee, regularly officiating in the Championship and other Football
League Competitions. He is also an FA Referee Tutor and former Referee Development Officer
at Lancashire FA.
James presentation as the title suggests was focused round decision making which may have
an erroneous element or led to another than expected outcome. Those present were divided
into groups who viewed several clips of incidents that had happened in games in the
2017-18 season so far. They discussed what they had seen on screen before feeding back to
the whole group. Matters debated included:
- Whether the Referee had made the correct decision (s) in line with the Laws of the Game in the Incident shown.
- If not, what action should they have taken.
- What the match officials in the clip did well.
- Areas the match officials could do better if they were to face a similar incident again.
- What factors you would need to consider as a match official if faced with a similar incident.
- How to effectively man-manage a situation to ensure you maintain match control and credibility.
The clips covered a wide-range of situations from Serious Foul Play to goal celebrations.
After the conclusion of discussion on each, James then reviewed the IFAB/PGMO interpretations
of the incidents and offered practical guidance on how to deal with situations that may
arise in matches.
James emphasised the importance of a good-knowledge of the Laws of the Game in assisting
you to reach the correct outcome but also the importance of other factors such as
teamwork between match officials, positioning and how best to keep control of the game.
Such considerations were likely to mean you would not be haunted by a decision!
Our Vice-President, Jim Smith and his wife Doreen were also present with this year’s Royal
British Legion Poppy Appeal. Each year Jim and Doreen work relentlessly to earn funds for
this very worthy cause, always having the support of L.A.M.O members. This year was
no different, with Jim and Doreen bringing a long a range of Poppies and related
memorabilia from the Royal British Legion which Society members purchased to donate
to the appeal. Jim thanked all those present for their contribution and stressed they were eager
to exceed last year’s target, when the raised over £8000. Jim also passed on his thanks for
the best wishes of Society member following a recent operation, Those present expressed
their commendation for the work Jim and Doreen do each year and wished them well with
this year’s campaign.
Once again James delivered a truly memorable and engageable session which was greatly
enjoyed by all those present. Our Chairman, Steve Stewart summed up how beneficial
James presentation would be in assisting us as match officials in our own matches and
thanked him on behalf of those present before Dan McIver presented him with flowers
and a bottle of wine from the Society to mark our appreciation.
A number of photos were taken during the evening and can be viewed in our
‘Image Gallery’ below, a big thank you to our Training Officer, Carl Rooney for assistance with
this!