Individual Answers

Jim Prunier, United States

How come some Premier League players are allowed to wear earrings in games? Are some players given special treatment in this area?

No special treatment is afforded to any player and certainly no jewellery is allowed to be worn in any match which is what the Law demands. You may be referring to a Stoke City player who appears to be wearing earrings. Well in fact, he is not but has white plastic covers over the hole to stop any infection. At present the Law does not say he cannot wear these providing it is not a danger to himself or another player.

Luke Ripley, England

Do you think the rules of abandoning a game should be reviewed? The recent game between Plymouth and Barnsley was abandoned on 58 minutes with the latter leading 4-1. The game will now be fully replayed with the scores at 0-0. Would it be fairer just to play the last 32 minutes with the same score line, like they do in some European countries such as Spain?

This situation is always very difficult for the football fan to accept especially if your team is leading when play is halted. However, we must consider whether the conditions make it safe to play – the priority for the referee is player’s safety not the score line. With excess water on the pitch often we find the ball getting stuck and players making unnecessary sliding challenges which often are out of control. Another reason why the game is replayed is that all the players who originally started the game may not be available for the second one – this maybe through injury or suspension so we cannot continue where we left off. Ideally, if we start a match we want to complete it but we cannot control these elements and must make difficult decisions in the best interest of the game.

Liam Kerr, England

I was just wondering whether you think it helps to have played a fair bit of competitive football in being a referee. Where you a keen a footballer when you were young or have you only ever refereed?

If playing in goal for a Sunday morning side is considered ‘competitive’ then yes, it probably was helpful. To be fair though, it wasn’t much fun in those muddy goalmouth’s and picking up broken fingers on a fairly regular basis. However, I’m sure you don’t need to have played the game at a high level to be able to referee. There have been some notable referees over the years who never reached the high levels playing as they did when they were refereeing.

lee kendrick, England

I'm currently a semi pro footballer looking to go into refereeing, I'm 25 and doing my first referees course in November this year. Am I too old to make it into at least league football refereeing providing I posses the appropriate knowledge? How long did it take you?

You are certainly not too old. I personally didn’t start refereeing until I was 23 – I managed to progress through the various leagues and was appointed to the Football League as a linesman by the age of 30. It took me a further three years to become a Football League Referee.