Whistle Blower: Sam Govier’s Experiences as a Referee
By James Eggleton
Hampton School has an illustrious history of producing superb footballers, its history filled with cup success and professional alumni. Across the world, footballers are admired as heroes, icons, and legends. On the other hand, referees are often viewed as villains in the footballing world with players, pundits, and managers criticising and doubting officials. But ultimately, they play an essential and noble role in our beloved game. To discover more about referees and their experiences in the footballing industry, I interviewed Lower Sixth referee Sam Govier.
Sam’s footballing inspiration had always differed from others even at a young age.
‘It sounds a bit cliché’ says Sam, ‘but refereeing was something I always wanted to do, whilst everybody else was getting the Spurs shirt, the Arsenal shirt or the Liverpool shirt, I was asking for the referee kit’.
His eyes were opened to the refereeing pathway as a young player.
‘I remember when I was seven or eight we bumped into a referee in the car park, and my Mum said to the him ‘how old do you have to be to start?’ When he replied, ‘14’, in my mind it was always ‘right when I turn 14, I am going to qualify to be a referee. It always appealed to me to be the one that enabled the game to take place, and I absolutely love it.’
Having seen the game from both perspectives – as a player and as a referee – Sam was able to provide me with some useful insight into just how different the experience of a game could be when officiating:
‘It differs massively. You see the game from a completely different perspective, because you are looking at it from a completely impartial standpoint, you can look at the game much more objectively. As a player you are analysing what you can do, but as a referee you need to know exactly where the ball will go and what you expect to happen.’
These are called ‘drop-zones’ and Sam’s description of this analysis helps one appreciate the difficulty of their task and the focus they must maintain throughout the 90-minutes.
‘Refereeing has also taught me a lot about teamwork and leadership,’ he adds. ‘I now often go out in teams of three or four with assistants and 4th Officials, so I have to balance how I work with my team. With a team of officials, the ‘pre-match’ – when the instructions for the game are shared among the officials – is crucial. These are all really transferrable skills that I have learnt, and I am still learning more with every game, which is why I would recommend getting into refereeing to anyone who is interested.’
With refereeing being one of the most scrutinised professions in the sporting world, Sam must cope with lots of pressure and stress.
‘For me, when I am out in the middle, I can deal with the pressure well, in the moment I detach from everything else and wholly focus on the game before me, that release from the other stresses in life is brilliant.’
However, despite Sam’s thorough enjoyment of refereeing, abuse is an unfortunate reality. Last year, the FA published a study warning of the decline of grassroots referees, which was mostly a result of the abuse suffered by officials.
‘I don’t think that it would be fair to say that abuse towards officials has started in the last few years, but certainly as it gets worse, the idea of sportsmanship is being very much lost. On a practical level, it is also very much a threat, younger referees are not going to carry on refereeing and new referees are not going to sign up.’
‘As older referees give up, either they retire or lessen the commitment, you will be looking for a new generation of referees who just are not going to be there, if the abuse carries on at the current rate, we will be in a very difficult situation.’
Although Sam does often get abuse, he finds that he handles it well.
‘I will always come back and referee because I do not want to let these people put me off; but this certainly is not the case for everyone, some referees will get abuse, go away, and never come back, and that is not because they are not strong enough but because the level of abuse directed towards them is damaging and hurtful.’
Sam, like many others in the footballing industry, is not satisfied with allowing this level of abuse to carry on.
‘I am part of a committee that looks to see how we can implement new things to combat this, there are always trials taking place regarding this: blue cards, armbands that say ‘I am under 18’, body-cams. Yet, for a true solution, I think there will have to be a huge culture shift in football and given the ingrained nature of ‘dissent’ I struggle to see a big change coming’.
Sam also had some insightful comments about the incredibly controversial VAR system widely implemented across the top leagues around the globe.
‘I think it is an incredibly difficult topic, I think it does undermine referees’ authority, which is not the intended effect, but I believe it is the reception to VAR which has that effect. Fundamentally, the goal of VAR is to try and get as many decisions as we can correct and that does not undermine referees. Whilst I believe that given time VAR will be a force for good, people will have to be patient, it has got lots of problems,’ he stated.
Despite the plethora of problems in football with the treatment of referees, Sam was keen to encourage others to give it a go.
‘I would 100% recommend refereeing to others, if you like football – definitely, especially if playing is not necessarily your thing, but you have a passion for the game, contact your local FA or football club and give it a go. Sign up for a course, if it is not for you then there is no commitment to do it, but, like I found, it may be something you love!’
For those who have taken refereeing up, Sam’s final advice is simple:
‘Use your whistle and use your voice, those are your best weapons and use them both’.
From his own experiences, Sam would encourage any aspiring referees to give it a go; the rewarding nature of being able to conduct the ‘beautiful game’, the challenges it poses and the confidence it can create are among a long list of reasons for Sam’s intense passion for the profession.
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