As you will be aware, we are desperately short of qualified referees this season, the total registered with the Sussex County FA being over 200 down on last year. To date Richard has managed to cover almost all matches within the league through his hard work and contacts within the refereeing community. However, some of you will have found it necessary to source your own match official, something I am sure you have found difficult to achieve.

It is, therefore, very disappointing to hear of referees who have requested to officiate on our league withdrawing due to the poor conduct of players and club officials. To date we have potentially lost 3 match officials from our allocation since the start of the season. If this continues then it is the clubs and their players who will lose out with less and less matches being covered by a qualified official.

It has been suggested that the league should take teams “Sportsmanship Marks” into account (these are entered as part of the referees match return) when allocating referees. This is something we will consider if necessary, with the teams with the worse record being asked to provide their own official when we are short.

Please ensure that this message is passed onto your players and club officials as we are looking for a step improvement in conduct over the rest of the season.

Regards

Duncan Brooker
Chairman
Mid Sussex Football League