Football: Five-match ban for social media outburst

Keith, a former U21 Muratti player, has been served with a five-match suspension for a Facebook posting about the Jersey Football Association, the sport’s governing body in the Island.

He was also fined £50, with his ban coming into force last weekend.

‘The talking has got to stop; we’ve got to take more action and the biggest problem we have is that under FA rules we can only do what all other counties in the FA are doing as well.

‘We have to adhere to that as well and I really wish we could have more power to do more, simply to have more of an impact in Jersey.

‘We are currently preparing a paper on last season’s disciplinary cases and we will be making them public.

‘We had another four players sent off in one game at the weekend and it’s just not acceptable.

‘As I say, the talking has got to stop and we must take more action so that everyone knows where they stand.’

Davidson confirmed that several others have received warnings about social media postings while the JFA are still investigating a number of cases.

JFA launch RespectLocalRefs campaign

MEANWHILE, as part of the Football Association’s Respect campaign, the JFA have launched a ‘RespectLocalRefs’ initiative this month.

The aim of the campaign is to make people aware of the benefits of refereeing in Jersey – particularly given the size of the Island – and with the JFA now at a ‘critical point’ in terms of numbers (just 20 senior referees are registered to take charge of over 2,000 players), there is hope that introducing some of the men with a whistle will encourage more Islanders to get involved.

‘A course recently took place but senior candidates did not turn up, resulting in just four youth referees coming through.

‘We are still in discussions about when we will run another course and hopefully it will be soon.’

This week we will be profiling some of the referees who give up their time to keep the game running in Jersey.

Mark Le Cornu

Occupation: Meteorologist

Supports: Barnsley

  • Your earliest experiences of football?

Watching the results on Grandstand and seeing Barnsley lose 7-4 at home to Bristol City (Sept 1958). Playing for St Saviour’s School.

  • Why you choose to referee?

Working shifts I knew I wouldn’t be able devote to the regular Tuesday/Thursday evening/Saturday afternoons required to be involved with coaching a team. Mick Blampied worked with me at the Airport and asked me to consider taking up the whistle, and I have never regretted it.

  • What has been your best moment as a referee?

Too many… all the big games like the Muratti, obviously. One incident was during an FA Vase game in Southampton. Eastleigh were defending, leading 1-0. The ball went over their defence but the opposition forward was offside. The assistant referee flagged but the ball was going through to the goalkeeper, so I held off blowing the whistle to allow the ‘keeper to pick it up rather than stop play. However the blustery wind suddenly held the ball up so he stepped a yard outside the penalty area and put his foot through the ball, which sailed down the field and over the head of the other team’s centre half. The Eastleigh forward latched on to it and slotted it in for 2-0. What an advantage.

  • What advice would you give to people thinking about becoming a referee?

Do it. Having finished playing 25 years ago as a very middle-of-the-road footballer, I would never have imagined then all that has come my way in football because of refereeing. For example, officiating in the Muratti might not be quite as good as playing in it, but as a footballer it’s something I would never have achieved.

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