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#Post#: 109605--------------------------------------------------
Best of luck!
DIR By: Lanyardhater
Date: July 23, 2026, 9:37 am
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With the maelstrom that is the Step 5/6 leagues resuming this
weekend (some of them anyway), here’s wishing all non-league
match officials the very best of luck for season 2026/27 - with
the hope that you don’t actually need that luck too often, and
that not many of your matches are too hurly-burlesque in
character. (I think I might have just made up the adjective
there, but it sounds good!). Or maelstromic. No, that one
doesn’t work so well!
Special good wishes to those who have recently been promoted
into a new level, and to those who hope by mid- or end-of-season
to be further promoted upwards. Your efforts, skills and
dedication will always be appreciated by this non-league watcher
- even when you have the occasional stinker!
And they ARE very occasional these days (despite what some
spectators /managers /players might say) - but please don’t
stop having them altogether because referee-watching would be
less fun if everything was perfect, wouldn’t it? I wrote a
little while ago in another post that I think the standard of
non-league refereeing is now the best it’s been in my lifetime,
I really do. And I ought to have said ‘officiating’ rather than
just refereeing, because the standard of lining is so much
better as well. (I have some rather embarrassing footage of
myself running the line - my flagging is all over the place!).
It’s so nice to be able to sit, occasionally in something even
approaching comfort, and watch other people running about and
doing better than I ever managed at that level (I knew deep down
my natural habitat was the Sunday parks and went back to it for
the second half of my four decades).
So thank you, non-league officials, for the pleasure your
contributions continue to give me in my dotage. Keep up the
good work.
PS: While I’m in appreciative mood, may I veer off on one of my
occasional (or maybe not so occasional) tangents , and give my
sincere thanks to the RTR admin team who keep everything on here
running so smoothly day after day and to all the contributors
who make it so enjoyable to read. It is a thread I would
describe as friendly, civilised and informative. It is also
‘moreish’ (better word than addictive!). When I first dipped a
toe in the water just this spring, I didn’t expect to have
racked up 156 toes (157 now) by late July.
I ❤️ ratetheref.. Hate lanyards but love
ratetheref!
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