Thoughts of Mike Blackledge on that first game.
Well, where do we start? From the moment that
you pass your course you start to think, yea I could do that whilst watching
the game on TV, doesn’t seem so hard. But when that letter comes through from
I never thought that I would have the chance to
officiate on the Football League, so when the letter came offering me a place
in April this year, I was completing stunned. In fact I know that a lot of
other colleagues were also stunned by the news, words couldn’t really explain
what this meant to me, although I knew that I had a large amount of colleagues
to thank for getting me in the position of having a place offered to me. Those
that had been training over the last 13 years especially, in fact if it wasn’t
for Paul Barnes, then I don’t think that I would have progressed as far as I have
and my thanks must go to Paul for all of the help and support over the last 13
years.
Anyway, getting on, the fitness test came and
was passed, again this was only done with the help and support of colleagues
and I soon realised that the bond that we have as mates really does matter when
you have to dig for that extra bit of energy.
So waiting for the dates for August after the
pre season games, as you would expect the forthcoming season is one that I am
and still looking forward to and really don’t want to end. My mind set has
changed in terms of the professionalism that is now required, no longer will
something just do, it has to be right.
So I got my dates, and then you look at where
you might go, where would it be, would I have any kit, and if I do have any kit
would it fit. Well I got the kit 2 days before the game, which was to be at
I had completed the pre game duties, responding
to the correspondence, organising my route, and just getting myself ready.
The day before the game came and the kit bag
had been checked at least 10 times, well you never know, I received lots of
messages of luck from colleagues including those that themselves had received
promotion to the line and in fact middle of the Football League. Anyway, I got a
fairly good night sleep, although I did get up early to check the kit bag.
With a 3pm kick off I left home to drive to
I got there at about midday, and it was even
hotter, the Referee was already there, and the other two officials were there 5
minutes later, Mike and Gloria arrived shortly after.
For those that know me you may have thought
that I had a bad case of wind by the stupid smile on my face, but no, I just
couldn’t stop smiling. Nothing was going to spoil this day.
After the usual formalities, tea, biscuit
working out the expenses, it was off to the changing rooms to decide what kit
we were to wear during the game. Green was the choice, so at least the honey
monster jokes couldn’t be used today. So it’s out for a warm up, and with the
crowd coming in things started to feel very real, especially when
So back in and its nearly 6 mins to 3 o’clock
and the bell has just gone and there we are checking for rings and such like,
studs shorts the usual stuff. At this moment, I remembered something that was
said at Conference,
“Just remember that feeling when you walk out
on your first game, its something very special”
It was, and yes I will always remember that
feeling, something that I can’t put into words but hope that those with the
same dreams have the chance to experience.
The game itself was played in a very good
spirit, and thankfully my first decision, a throw in came after about 2
minutes. This settled me down, and also allowed me to in my own way punch the
air and have an even bigger smile, to which the referee laughed.
So the game went well, the debrief was good,
and all that was left was to drive home, during which Paul called to see how it
went, which again showed the spirit that we have. After a couple of days the
assessment came through, and there wasn’t anything there that wasn’t included
in the debrief.
So overall, my first game was in my football
life the best to date, lets hope it can get better, if
not, I have the memories of that first game.