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Kent FA referee development officer Nick Dunn on the challenge of recruiting more match officials

Football's transfer window has opened for the summer but it's not just players who are being snapped up; referees are in demand too.

There are just under 1,500 match officials in the county but with scores hanging up their whistle every year, the Kent FA are working hard to recruit their replacaments.

Nick Dunn has been the association's referee development officer for five years and he's overseen a rise to 95.42% of matches in Kent covered by a qualified referee.

Match officials lead the teams out for a cup final at the Gallagher Stadium
Match officials lead the teams out for a cup final at the Gallagher Stadium

But he wants to push that figure even higher and with the men and women in black often given a bad press, Dunn is also keen to change perceptions about life in the middle.

As well as working for the Kent FA, Dunn also officiates regularly in the National League.

He said: "You can’t really explain to somebody the buzz you get out of going to some decent grounds, experiencing good quality football and being in charge of a fixture where people are looking at you to make decisions.

"It’s not just the managers and players who love the game, it’s us as well.

"We’d all like to see ourselves as decent players but that didn’t work for me so this is the next best thing."

Respect is the word which has dominated recent debates about match officials and Dunn admits it's a two-way street as far as that's concerned.

He said: "Sometimes we are guilty of putting up a barrier and not creating relationships with players but equally, if we do get something wrong, don’t jump on our backs straight away.

"What people see at the top level being almost endorsed is naturally going to filter down because people see it as being acceptable.

"When it does happen at a lower level and we encourage referees to deal with it in a completely different way, it’s very hard to encourage what good practice looks like in comparison to the reality.

"Dealing with that aspect of abuse or verbal interaction with players and spectators is really difficult for match officials to manage but it comes down to how we interact with people and show we are human.

Kirsty Dowle waves play on
Kirsty Dowle waves play on

"We’re going to make mistakes, we’re not going to get everything right but we try our hardest to make sure we do get those decisions right and make it as enjoyable for everybody."

The Kent FA are running a series of 'Get into Refereeing' workshops over the next few months, the next of which takes place at Ebbsfleet United on Monday, June 11.

Participants of all ages and background are welcome with the next step being a two-day course and then refereeing a match for the first time.

Dunn, who took his first steps towards officiating when he was still at primary school, has quickly climbed several rungs on the referee ladder and is passionate about helping others find their level.

He said: "My role is threefold; to recruit referees, retain and develop them. We start from the grassroots level, supporting people in the local leagues and then moving them through the promotion scheme into semi-professional level, the Southern Counties East League.

"Of course there are challenges; getting more people into an area where there’s some negative light on it.

"Why would you want to become a referee when all they do is get shouted at? You put yourself in a position where 22 people aren’t really going to like you to start with and you’ve got to build trust and a working relationship with players.

"People go out to local levels of football and see and hear really negative interactions. They see and hear abuse first-hand so it becomes quite negative to start with and it’s tarnished.

"Another challenge we have is encouraging the vast amount of young people we train every year into adult football. People think they can’t make the jump, it’s daunting for a 16-year-old to make, but in actual fact it’s probably easier.

"It’s very hard, from a grassroots perspective, if you’re on your own. There’s no protection. We’ve had some physical assaults on referees this year so it’s hard for people to get the support at local level.

Kent referee Aji Ajibola
Kent referee Aji Ajibola

"We will support match officials to the high hilt but it does get hard when people constantly berate match officials and you’re trying to entice people into doing the job.

"Unfortunately those aspects of physical assaults and negative decisions at a high level always get talked about in the press.

"Also, there is an attitude thing whereby the use of yellow and red cards at local level is frowned upon but actually they’re a management tool. I’m not endorsing people to go out and flash six or seven yellow cards but if it that first yellow card helps prevent somebody else giving you dissent or verbally abusing you, why not use that a little bit more?

"Some people are very comfortable man-managers and some people will refer back to law and the black-and-white aspect of cards.

"Sometimes officiating is quite a subjective beast in the sense that you’ll have people who over-manage games and do it for the benefit of the spectator.

"Ultimately, you get to a certain level and they end up having to protect themselves and making sure they fall back onto some of the cards."

Dunn and the Kent FA may be doing well but there is a real determination to raise standards even higher for the benefit of all who love the game.

"There’s a steady number of around 1,450 match officials in the county," he said. "We peaked last year at just over 1,500 but we’re always relatively comfortable.

"One thing we’re looking at is to ensure every game in the county is covered with a match official. We’re operating at approximately 96%.

"The FA set us a key performance indicator of 90% but I think that’s a bit too low. We want to make sure every game’s covered, not just nine out of 10.

"Age doesn’t matter. We’d just like to see more people get into refereeing from a more diverse background representing the culture and population of our county as a whole."

Contact Nick Dunn or 01622 792140 or nick.dunn@kentfa.com.

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