bigcatdiary 3,165 Posted September 11, 2016 You do realise that referees are paid? They don't give up their spare time and their holidays from work. They get paid for it. Plenty of volunteers in this sport do give up their spare time and holidays. But referees are paid. Are you serious, paid, I used to get more an hour than they get for a match, the pay is ridiculous. A referee friend of mine says he just about covers his petrol money with his fee and expenses, never mind he can spend a whole day travelling to and from a match. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pinny 2,536 Posted September 11, 2016 Are you serious, paid, I used to get more an hour than they get for a match, the pay is ridiculous. A referee friend of mine says he just about covers his petrol money with his fee and expenses, never mind he can spend a whole day travelling to and from a match. So why the hell does he do it then?! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shale Searcher 1,264 Posted September 12, 2016 Perhaps they ought to firstly, to give themselves a bit of breathing space, increase the age of compulsory retirement by 2-3 yrs, voluntary of course. Then they need to advertise for some trainees from the speedway fraternity.. you know, clerks of courses, time keepers, pit marshals, machine examiners, track staff first, then open it up to fans themselves if still in a quandary... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Starman2006 2,354 Posted September 12, 2016 Perhaps they ought to firstly, to give themselves a bit of breathing space, increase the age of compulsory retirement by 2-3 yrs, voluntary of course. Then they need to advertise for some trainees from the speedway fraternity.. you know, clerks of courses, time keepers, pit marshals, machine examiners, track staff first, then open it up to fans themselves if still in a quandary... Fans are all talk mate. But i agree with the rest. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daytripper 1,123 Posted September 12, 2016 (edited) So why the hell does he do it then?!Believe it or not some people actually love the sport and enjoy being involved. The Incident Recorder, Clerk of the Course, Pit Marshall, Machine Examiners, Pit Crew , Start Marshall, and Track Marshalls are almost always volunteers . You get the best and the worst of people in Speedwáy. Unfortunately the worst are a small minority that cause a lot of trouble for the rest. Edited September 12, 2016 by Daytripper Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Ore 204 Posted September 13, 2016 If refs want more respect from the riders and fans they shouldnt be so bloody stupid at times. Some of the decisions theyve made down the years have been bonkers and makes me wonder if they were in the toilet whilst the incidents took place..I am certainly no fan of referees, having been sent off for blatant honesty during my footballing career for telling one what he actually was, but in speedway the fans can more often than not be the problem, with their designer label blinkers. Seemingly you have a Newport bent, where, on numerous ocasions I have witnessed correct decisons go against them, only to see the "fans" have a go at the ref. On one occasion an opposition rider was so blatantly put into the fence on the second bend that even the most biased of fans would have accepted the inevitable decision. No. When tne home exclusion light was put on a large percentage of the crowd jeered and one obese arsehole was cheered as he made his way round from the back straight, to stick two fingers up at the ref's box. How very adult. Couldn't accuse that fan of being in the toilet though, with the size of his gut I doubt he had ever used one, yet the ref was weakly insulted for getting it right. Referees do get it wrong but in the opinions of most fans any decision is wrong which goes against their team. Check the guy with the spreading arms at the tapes at Rye, the swaggering old biddy at The Abbey or the "formerly the guy with the horn" at Lakeside and I don't even mean marginal decisons where they go off on one. We can all recall "unjust" decisions against our own team but unjust and incorrect are quite different. It is also very noticeable that when a female referee makes a call against their team many on here resort to sexist crap rather than admit the ref got it right. Just to say not all was bad at Newport I recall one match where they had a brilliant young Aussie announcer and a female referee, where his patter with anti female ref commentary was brilliant and I would suggest recognition of the bias from the terraces rather than a dig at the official. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
robert72 845 Posted September 18, 2016 Are refs allowed to ref their fave team ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
allthegearbutnaeidea 1,734 Posted September 18, 2016 Are refs allowed to ref their fave team ?Jim McGregor get's to do it most weeks 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blackadder 280 Posted October 13, 2016 In last week's SS:- Interviews for new Referees to take place on Friday March 3rd 2017 at the Marriott Hotel, Liverpool, during the Referees' annual meeting weekend. Anyone interested should send their CV to info@scbgb.co.uk. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
edmon 166 Posted October 14, 2016 (edited) Now that Messrs Reeve and Steele have been elovated surely they cannot retain referee status. Edited October 14, 2016 by edmon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MrBeanti 25 Posted December 4, 2016 It does make me wonder why people choose to become speedway referees.. as well as not being appreciated by a number of fans its like the SCB don't appreciate them either if they are barely covering their costs. I'm guessing theres not a queue of people waiting to step into the box? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
martinmauger 584 Posted December 4, 2016 (edited) Thought about becoming a speedway ref once but can't guarrantee sparing the time and defo couldn't cope with the mountain of paperwork, not to mention the potential hassle. No ref is perfect though all are just 'ordinary human beings'. Well most are . I'd easily describe the role as 'a thankless task', the best I imagine a ref could feel would be satisfaction for doing their job to the best of their ability.... Edited December 4, 2016 by Martin Mauger 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gambo 1,340 Posted December 5, 2016 Eleven applicants for Referee training being interviewed this week by Neil Vatcher. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ghosty 500 Posted December 5, 2016 Something for all refs to look forward to in 2017: Sit in their box overseeing a Redcar Bears meeting featuring: Garrity, Hall, Wright & Barker! It will be fireworks every meeting. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
barncooseboy 237 Posted December 22, 2016 Have to defend Frank Ebdon, he was always consistent, move at the tapes and you were out. I remember warning Matej Zagar of this the first time they met, after Matej was excluded he came back to the pits with a big ear to ear grin, I should have listened no tantrums no complaints Frank was one of the nicest people I met in speedway. I believe he might still hold the record for a rain threatened meeting 52 minutes Bryn makes a good point, Refs aare considered by 'The Authorities' to have full responsibility for the conduct of a meeting and can be called before the court system to justify their actions, its a difficult job, without them there couldn't be any speedway 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
