"Mark, thank you."

On September 7, 1997, Jack finally became a referee. Although he did not qualify as the referee of the football league, he was finally qualified to enforce the Anglo-African Union.

Anglo-African United, which is the fifth tier of the English league. It's a very special league. It is a league between a professional league and an amateur league, so to speak, a semi-professional and semi-amateur league. Many of the clubs here are trying to get promoted to the professional league.

In the Northern and Southern Leagues, professional players are very scarce. Those clubs also can't afford to keep a full-time professional player, and most of them are amateur players on short-term contracts. But the Anglo-African Union is different. In order to be promoted to League C, almost half of the players in the strong teams of the Anglo-African United are professional players. Even some ambitious Anglo-African teams, the main players are professional players.

Those veteran assistant referees in the Football League, as well as those with little experience but who have already obtained the qualification of the head referee of the Football League, have all gained experience in the Anglo-African Union. As long as they perform well here, they will have a chance to play in League C, League Two, League One.

Now Jack is here. Jack is young and has not yet qualified to be the referee of the football league, so he arranges for Jack to be an old referee who is old and respectful. They don't have much chance of getting to the Premier League, but they have a lot of experience in the industry. It's a pity that Jack is too old to control. Good thing there's Clattenburg.

Clattenburg was Jack's first assistant referee for the game. Of course, Clattenburg is also currently officiating in the United League as a referee, and it stands to reason that there is no reason to be an assistant referee for a young referee like Jack. However, because of the friendship between the two parties, they will come out to appear in friendship.

"No, we cooperate with each other."

Clattenberg is also young. However, Clattenburg is also a young referee that the FA focuses on developing, and will have the opportunity to officiate some important games like Webber in the future. Clattenburg hopes that Jack will be able to come over as an assistant referee to help out then.

"Jack, here's the starting list for both sides."

With half an hour to go, Bobby Hill, the fourth referee of the game, handed Jack the starting line-up for both sides. Bobby Hill, a 39-year-old referee. It is a referee who has the qualification to referee the football league.

But the level is average. Therefore, it is usually the English League C that enforces the law, and the League Two does not have many opportunities to enforce the law. Because Jack was too young and was administering for the first time, the referees committee would appoint an old referee like Bobby Hill.

Bobby Hill was very unhappy with Jack. When he was twenty-one years old, he was still officiating in England's eighth regional league. I was already 30 years old when I became an assistant referee in the football league, and I had been an assistant referee for four or five years before I had the opportunity to become the head referee of the football league.

Bobby Hill was 34 years old when he was in charge of the UK-Africa Union. People are more popular than people, and looking at young Jack, Bobby Hill is unbalanced.

"I see."

Jack took over the starting line-ups of both sides and responded lightly to Bobby Hill. Jack wasn't stupid, Bobby Hill's contempt for Jack could feel it.

Jack didn't want a hot face to a cold ass either. Bobby Hill, a 39-year-old referee who is still officiating in the English League C, has been like this for the rest of his life. Although there are no clear regulations, many old referees are still working as referees at the age of 50. But under normal circumstances, the referee will retire at the age of forty-five. In other words, Bobby Hill is unlikely to even be a referee in League One in his life.

Therefore, Jack did not want to be intimate with him. But Jack's attitude made Bobby Hill even more dissatisfied. Young people don't know how to be humble, and they are rampant when they get ambitious.

As a referee for the first time, Jack was still nervous. Jack is definitely an offbeat in the world of refereeing. Those who can come to the football league as assistant referees, whether they are young referees or veteran referees, they have experience as referees.

Most of them have experience as referees in the Northern and Southern Leagues, while others have experience in the regional leagues. Only Jack, who became an assistant referee in the Northern League because he first arrived. Then, with the final of the Anglo-African League play-offs, he became an assistant referee in the football league, so he did not have any experience as a referee.

"Jack, it's time."

Compared to Jack, although he is the same age, Clattenberg is more experienced. So he patted Jack, who was standing there. Jack looked back at Clattenberg and nodded.

"Let's go."

Jack walked out first, and the referee behind him followed. When Jack walked out, players from both sides began to appear in the tunnel as well. Most of these players are older than Jack.

The players also looked up at Jack. For the head coach of the team, in addition to studying the situation of the opponent, it is also necessary to study the situation of the referee. Facing different referees, the team's strategy must also be different. In the face of some referees with a strict style of enforcement, even teams with fierce style of play will warn players to be calm before the game.

They had already heard from the manager in the dressing room. Today's referee is a young referee, a first-time referee. That's why the manager told them that if there is any unfavourable decision, they have to complain. Panic the young referee and put pressure on him.

Of course, Jack didn't know this, Jack was just nervous right now.

…………

"Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven......"

Today is Anglo-African United's Gyndamistt FC against Welling FC. The home stadium of the club is the Agborov Stadium, which has a capacity of more than 6,000 people.

The capacity of the stadium is relatively small, but it is precisely because of the small size of the stadium and the fact that the fans of nearly 3,000 people put more pressure on Jack that make Jack even more nervous. The pressure on the referee and the assistant referee is completely different.

The assistant referee is standing outside and the referee is in the middle of the pitch. Front, back, left, right, right are all players. When I look up, there are fans up and down. In order to calm himself down, Jack could only look at his watch.

To outsiders, it looks like Jack is waiting for the start time, but in fact, Jack is really nervous, so he keeps an eye on the time on his watch. At the end, Jack couldn't help but count the time there.

"Three, two, one."

"Doodoo-"

Jack finally blew the whistle for the start of the game. Unlike the assistant referee who follows the last defender except the goalkeeper, the referee follows the ball.

Although there are no specific rules, the referee generally needs to keep a distance of 10 to 15 meters from the ball. And Jack learned in class that the referee should be behind the left side of the ball. Of course, this is not a hard and fast rule, but an empirical one.

Why ten to fifteen meters, because that's the best viewing distance. If this distance is exceeded, the referee will not be able to observe it in many cases. But if you want to follow the ball like this, the referee really needs physical strength. It's not ordinary physical strength, and if you want to run all over the field with the ball, it's impossible not to run about 11,000 kilometers.

The referee has a lot of work, which is completely different from the assistant referee. Jack has to ensure the smooth running of the game, but also to ensure the accuracy of the penalty. And with the ball flying in the air in the Anglo-African League, Jack couldn't figure out how he should run for a while.

Neither Kingamiste nor Welling FC are first-class teams in the Anglo-African League, but in terms of the strength of the two teams, Kingamistt is more powerful. In the game, he took the initiative on the field by virtue of the home advantage.

Because it is an Anglo-African United game, there are the most high-altitude balls. Gundamist's goalkeeper Daniel Lewis kicked the ball off with a big kick and the midfielder grabbed it in the middle. Welling's midfielder jumped with his arms outstretched, and one of his arms pressed down on the Gundamist's player. However, because of interference, he did not get the ball accurately.

"Toot-"

Jack kept following the ball, and it was clearly visible. Welling's midfielder was fouled. However, because it was his first time as a referee, Jack's whistle was a little slow. But as soon as Jack blew the whistle, he knew he had made a mistake.

Because the ball was not well overheaded, the ball fell and fell to the feet of Kondamist's midfielder David Bird. David Bird had just picked up the ball and was ready to attack when Jack's whistle blew. This made him very angry.

Don't say that you are slow in the whistle, this ball is obviously advantageous for attack, and you blow your head.

"Why? It is offensive advantageous. ”

David Bird came to Jack in an instant and roared loudly. A young referee at the age of 21, who is a referee for the first time, is a rookie in the eyes of these players. Didn't take Jack in his eyes at all.

Jack also knew he was wrong, and the referee was not an assistant referee. The assistant referee's decision is very intuitive, your corner is your corner, your sideline is your sideline, and if you are offside, it is offside. But the referee can't give such a hard decision, and the referee who is so dogmatic is an unsuccessful referee. In a situation like this one, it's completely okay not to blow. Because it was an offensive advantage.

But Jack was just staring at the ball and didn't look around.

"I'm sorry."

As soon as these words came out, Jack regretted it again.

What a fuck!

I am the referee, how can I say such a thing. Even if the penalty just now is really wrong, you can't admit it on the field. At this time, it should be said that it is a foul, and then ignore the offense.

"Huh?"

David Bird was stunned when he heard Jack's words. Then shrugged and left directly. looked at the teammates who came over, and said with a smile: "That rookie referee actually said sorry." Hehehe. ”

"Hahaha."

"Really?"

"Is there no referee in English football, send such a rookie."

When several people heard David Bird's words, they couldn't help but look at Jack and laugh loudly. Jack really wanted to find a rat hole to get into by himself.

It's so embarrassing, it's really embarrassing the referee's face. For a moment, Jack was at a loss. As an assistant referee, Jack was always confident in his decisions because he knew he never made a mistake.

But just now it was indeed my own mistake. So when David Bird roared, Jack naturally said "I'm sorry." It's a pity that's not what a referee should say.

Shame, shame.