| 1. |
Have a look at the weather forecast
beforehand |
| 2. |
The majority of council pitches
have a general update telephone line informing people that the pitch is
playable or not. Make sure you know the number. |
| 3. |
Contact the home club beforehand
and seek advice regarding the state of the pitch |
| 4. |
On match day, turn up in plenty of
time to do a thorough pitch inspection |
| 5. |
With boots and track suit on,
inspect the playing area making sure you look at the whole of the field of
play but particularly the penalty areas, the centre of the field of play as
well as the touchlines. |
| 6. |
If the pitch slopes in a certain
direction is there an area where water collects? |
| 7. |
Have a ball with you and run the
ball on the surface. If there is a lot of water and the ball stops in
puddles then you might have a problem. |
| 8. |
If it is frosty, does the ball
bounce too high? Is there a case of the surface just being too hard? |
| 9. |
Again thinking about frost, are
there ruts or divots that will cause a problem for players’
control and cause potential danger? |
| 10. |
Stand in each goal, what does it
look like from your position? Can you physically see lots of surface water
or are their just patches of water? |
| 11. |
Is there more rain forecasted and
if so how heavy is it going to be? |
| 12. |
In the case of frost, is the
temperature due to rise? If not is there any chance of the pitch thawing
out? |
| 13. |
In the case of frost, are parts of
the ground sheltered and covered from sunlight leaving sections of the pitch
hard and unplayable? |
| 14. |
Once you have made your decision
it’s important to communicate it with the home and the away team. |
| 15. |
At some point it is important to
also tell the competition, league or County depending on the game you are
refereeing |
|
|
