Referee (football)

A referee presides over a game of association football (soccer). The referee has "full authority to enforce the Laws of the Game in connection with the match to which he has been appointed" (Law 5), and the referee's decisions regarding facts connected with play are final, so far as the result of the game is concerned.

History

The term referee originated in association football. Originally the team captains would consult with each other in order to resolve any dispute on the pitch. Eventually this role was delegated to an umpire. Each team would bring their own partisan umpire allowing the team captains to concentrate on the game. Later, the referee, a third "neutral" official was added. The referee would be "referred to" if the umpires could not resolve a dispute. The referee did not take his place on the pitch until 1891. Then, umpires became linesmen (now officially called assistant referees). Today, in many amateur football matches, each side will still supply their own partisan linesman to assist the neutral referee (if any) appointed by the governing football association: this is usually due to there not being enough officials available to have three present at every match.

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Referees use a whistle to indicate the commencement of play, to stop play due to an infringment of other reason, to indicate half-time and full-time, and as an adjunct to verbal communication in other situations. Before the introducation of the whistle, refreees indicated their decisions by waving a hankerchief. The whistles that were first adopted by referees were made by Joseph Hudson of the ACME Whistle Company who first began to mass produce whistles in the 1870s for the Metropolitan Police Service. It is frequently stated the referee's whistle was first used in a game between Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Norfolk in 1878; however no such fixture is known to have taken place between the two clubs in that year.

Related Topics:
Whistle - Metropolitan Police Service - Nottingham Forest

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