Report Writing

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The aim of this page is to cover all aspects of Discipline Report Writing, i.e. how to write a Caution and a Sending-off report. Includes report examples.

Powers and Duties of a Referee
1. General Considerations.
2. Completing the Form.
3. Details of the Incident.
4 Dispatching the Report.
5 Sample Report showing statutory details.
6. Example of a Caution incident and it’s report.
7. Example of a Sending-off incident and it’s report.
8. Example of an 'Other Misconduct' and it’s report.
9. Test scenario for use by trainers when training new Referees.
10. Sample incidents.

Click here for the FA booklet (pdf downloadable file) entitled 'A Guide to Misconduct Report Writing'.

Powers and Duties of a Referee Go back to the top of this page

1. Law 5 stipulates that:

"The Referee provides the appropriate authorities with a match report which includes information on any disciplinary action taken against players, and/or team officials and any other incidents which occurred before, during or after the match."

1. General Considerations: Go back to the top of this page

Completing and sending in disciplinary reports are mandatory.

It Takes time & practice, to write good discipline reports.

There is a Standard to be maintained.

It takes time and practice to write discipline reports properly. The more you do, the more it becomes easier. Aim to be accurate, concise and to the point. Your report could be the basis for any investigation that is made by a Disciplinary Committee - which will depend to a great extent on the clarity of your report.

Always try to complete your report on the same day as the match. It’s very easy to forget, or muddle up details when you have numerous reports to complete. If you do not have enough time, at least aim to produce a draft copy of each report. It is not unusual for a weekend's football to produce 10 or so reports for writing - and sometimes more.

It is MANDATORY to send in a report, once you have disciplined a player during a game. Ignore approaches by players after the game, such as:

" Come on ref, he will miss our Cup Final next month if you send your report in, do us a favour !"

If you are caught - NOT sending in reports, this will curtail your Refereeing career. You will also invite players to disregard the Law, and believe me - give them an inch and players will take a yard.

Some Football Associations require the Assistant Referees’ to also submit a Sending-Off report, when a Referee sends a player off during a match. Details of each incident should be discussed between officials after the match has finished. The Assistant Referees must only report what THEY saw. If the incident was at the other end of the field of play, they can only normally report the time, number of the player, and the fact that the Referee disciplined the player, but that you (the Assistant Referee) did not actually see (or hear) the incident clearly.
The Referee must not ‘plant’ his version on his Assistant Referees.
Assistant Referees are not normally required to complete additional caution reports.

If an Assistant Referee spots an incident that was not seen by the Referee, and the Referee consequently cautions or 'red cards' the player concerned - the Assistant Referee will be required to complete a report. His report then becomes the main report, backed up by a secondary report also sent in by the Referee.

QUESTION: " Who can you ask to help you, when writing a report?".

ANSWER: " A Referee colleague".

2. Completing the Form: Go back to the top of this page

Ensure that the statutory detail is correct. This includes:

Full names of the opposing teams.
Full name of the competition, and Division. Avoid any abbreviations.
The venue and date of the match.
The full name of the player or individual concerned, along with the name of their club.
The ‘Key’ depicting the type of offence committed. e.g. C2 = Dissent. Keys on rear of report.
The date on which the report was written.
The name, address, telephone number and signature of the Referee.
In addition - delete either ‘caution’ or ‘sent off ’ to show level off offence.

The same blank discipline report form can also be used to report:

misconduct by players after the match has ended
misconduct by Club Official
misconduct by Spectators
any other misconduct

In the four cases above, delete reference to Law 12 in the report, and replace with Law 5 ‘The Authority of the Referee’.

3. Details of the Incident: Go back to the top of this page

The written incident must include sufficient detail to support your case.

Do not include irrelevant detail, such as: weather, condition of pitch, whether or not the linesman agreed with your decision or remarks by other players etc.

All hearsay and ‘red herrings’ must be omitted.

Include the following details in your report:-

Time of incident.
Position of Incident.
Referee’s position and distance from incident.
The incident itself, e.g. Player shouted " Are you blind or what?".
The type of offence in relation to the incident, e.g. ‘Violent Conduct’ or ‘ Dissent’ etc.
Make sure what you write in your note book during the match is legible for you to read after the match.

4. Dispatching the Report: Go back to the top of this page

Check the appropriate Handbook for the address of the respective Discipline Secretary. e.g. the Wilts. F.A. County Handbook contains the address of the Discipline Secretary. (Malcolm Baldwin for Wiltshire). Address details for your area may already be printed on the top of your blank discipline reports.

You must compile and post your report within two days (Sundays excluded). The Discipline Secretary will return the tear-off receipt slip at the bottom of each report and send you replacement blank report forms. Some Counties now use the triple paged report which enables you to write on the top copy, which then produces a carbon copy on the following two pages. This enables you to send the Discipline Secretary his two copies, and retain one for yourself - without having to resort to photocopying.

Software report templates are also beginning to be used by some Football Associations.

Send two copies of the report to the Discipline Secretary and retain a copy for yourself This is particularly important when submitting a ‘Sending-Off’ report which would be used as evidence for any appeal made by the player.

Players cannot appeal against a ‘caution’ except if it is for mistaken identity.

If you are Sending-Off’ a player for a second cautionable offence, then you only need to complete one report. if you have already cautioned a player, and then have to ask him to leave the field of play for a separate ‘Sending-Off’ offence, then you need to complete one ‘Caution’ + one ‘Sending-Off’ report.

Ensure that report is legible, and check spelling. The quality of your reports are sometimes measured for assessing your promotion prospects!

5. Sample Report showing statutory details: Go back to the top of this page

Sample Report showing statutory details.

6. Example of a Caution incident and it’s report: Go back to the top of this page

Scenario: 1st minute of the match.

Two players running in the same direction. Leading attacking player has the ball but is not in a goal scoring situation.

Defending player who is running behind the attacking player with the ball, grabs and pulls the attackers shirt. This results in the attacking player losing balance and possession of the ball.

Below is a copy of what the final report should look like:

Example of a Caution report.

7. Example of a Sending-off incident and it’s report: Go back to the top of this page

Trainer 1 is the guilty Defending player:

Trainer 2 is the innocent Attacking Opponent:

Scenario: 1st minute of the match.

Two players challenging for possession of a 50/50 ball. After a brief fair tussle, the attacker fairly gains possession of the ball an begins running away with the ball at his feet. As he does so, the defending player loses his temper and purposely and violently kicks the back of the attacker’s leg as he is running away with the ball.

8. Example of an 'Other Misconduct' and it’s report.

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Reports can also be written about:
Incidents with managers/officials/spectators/club linesmen during, before or after the match. Or players before or after the game.

The following is an example of what may be expected !

Scenario: Last minute of the match.

The swear words must be filled in completely on your report. They have been asterisked here for decorum's sake.

Immediately following the scoring of a last minute winning goal against his side, the Ducks FC manager who was sitting quietly in the dug-out (technical area), suddenly leapt to his feet and ran 25 yards onto the field of play towards the Referee and shouted,

" He was off-side, what about the off-side, are you blind. You must be the worse f****** ref. in the country. You’re not only blind, you’re f****** deaf as well. You useless b******."

Example of an 'Other Misconduct' report.

9. Test scenario for use when training new Referees: Go back to the top of this page

Referees' trainers should act out the scenario depicted below - in front of candidates and then ask them to write a discipline report on the incident acted out. This will test their ability to remember and record details on the Discipline Report, which can then be marked by the Trainers.

Trainer 1 should act as the innocent Defending player:

Trainer 2 should act as the guilty Attacking Opponent, named Donald Duck:

Test scenario for use when training new Referees.

The test report should look something like this shown below.............

The test report should look something like this.

10. Sample incidents. Go back to the top of this page

OFFENCE (C1) IS GUILTY OF UNSPORTING BEHAVIOUR

Tony Bruiser, recklessly challenged on opponent.
Tony Bruiser purposefully impeded the path of an opponent.
Tony Bruiser pushed an opponent, thus causing the opponent to lose balance.

OFFENCE (C2) SHOWS DISSENT BY WORD OR ACTION

Immediately following an attack by Melksham Referees, Tony Bruiser, loudly and angrily shouted the following words toward me: "What about the push then, are you blind or what?". Inferring that I should have awarded him a free kick for a challenge against him by an opponent.

Try and note down the exact words of verbal dissent when cautioning a player, but if you cannot remember the exact words to put into your caution report, just put down something like:

"When I gave decision against his team, this player showed dissent by looking towards me and shouting loudly.

"When I gave decision against this player's team, the player showed dissent by shouting loudly at me. "

OFFENCE (C3) PERSISTENTLY INFRINGED THE LAWS OF THE GAME

Tony Bruiser deliberately handled the ball, this was a culmination of a number of offences previously made by this player.

OFFENCE (C4) DELAYS THE RESTART OF PLAY Go back to the top of this page

Tony Bruiser, the Melksham Referees goalkeeper, deliberately delayed the taking of his goal kick.

OFFENCE (C5) FAILS TO RESPECT THE REQUIRED DISTANCE WHEN PLAY IS RESTARTED WITH A CORNER OR FREE KICK

Immediately following the award of a free kick, Tony Bruiser purposely stood in front of the ball to prevent the opposition taking a quick free kick, even after I had asked him twice to move away.

OFFENCE (C6) ENTERS OR RE-ENTERS THE FIELD OF PLAY WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE REFEREE Go back to the top of this page

Tony Bruiser, who had arrived late, and after the game had ‘kicked off’, entered the Field of Play without my permission.

Tony Bruiser, deliberately re-entered the Field of Play without my permission, after being asked to leave the Field of Play by myself, to remove a dangerous sharp finger ring.

OFFENCE (C7) DELIBERATELY LEAVES THE FIELD OF PLAY WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE REFEREE

Tony Bruiser, deliberately left the Field of Play and walked 20 yards to take a drink of water without my permission.

OFFENCE (S1) IS GUILTY OF SERIOUS FOUL PLAY Go back to the top of this page

Immediately after losing possession of the ball in a 50/50 challenge with an opponent, Tony Bruiser ran after the opponent, and recklessly tackled him from behind, racking his studs, which were uppermost, down the back of the opponents leg. There was no attempt to play the ball which was well beyond the reach of Tony Bruiser. The opponent received a large open wound to his leg and was unable to continue playing.

OFFENCE (S2) IS GUILTY OF VIOLENT CONDUCT Go back to the top of this page

Immediately following a challenge for the ball between Tony Bruiser and an opponent, which resulted in the ball going out for a throw-in, Tony Bruiser purposely and violently kicked the opponent on the shin. The opponent required treatment prior to resuming the game.

OFFENCE (S3) SPITS AT AN OPPONENT OR ANY OTHER PERSON Go back to the top of this page

Following the award of a penalty against him, Tony Bruiser, deliberately spat at an opponent.

OFFENCE (S4) DENIES AN OPPONENT A GOAL OR AN OBVIOUS GOAL-SCORING OPPORTUNITY, BY DELIBERATELY HANDLING THE BALL

During a corner kick, Tony Bruiser, the Melksham Referee defender, deliberately handled the ball on his goal-line, thus preventing an opponent from scoring a goal.

OFFENCE (S5) DENIES AN OBVIOUS GOAL-SCORING OPPORTUNITY TO AN OPPONENT, MOVING TOWARDS THE PLAYERS GOAL BY AN OFFENCE PUNISHABLE BY A FREE KICK OR A PENALTY

Tony Bruiser, the last Melksham Referee defender (apart from the Melksham Referees goalkeeper), deliberately tripped an attacking opponent, thus preventing the opponent from a clear goal scoring opportunity.

OFFENCE (S6) USES OFFENSIVE, INSULTING OR ABUSIVE LANGUAGE AND/OR GESTURES

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Immediately following my decision to overrule an off-side decision by the Club Assistant Linesman, Tony Bruiser looked towards me and angrily shouted the following words, "Come on ref, you must be a twat, what’s the bloody point of having a f*****g linesman.
(Write swear words in full in your report).

Following a penalty given against him, Tony Bruiser looked towards me and gesticulated in a masturbating fashion.

OFFENCE (S7) (DISSENT) RECEIVES A SECOND CAUTION ION THE SAME MATCH

First Offence: Immediately following an offside decision against him, Tony Bruiser turned towards me and angrily shouted out the following words; " When are you going to open your eyes ref."
FIRST OFFENCE SHOWS DISSENT BY WORD.

Second Offence: Immediately after cautioning Tony Bruiser, and whilst I was asking him to calm down, he turned his back before I had finished speaking to him, walked away, and angrily shouted out the following words; " I'm frustrated with your refereeing". This was accompanied with a dismissive, angry flailing of his arm. Whilst leaving the field of play, he also turned towards me and said; " I'll be sending in a report about you."
SECOND OFFENCE SHOWS DISSENT BY WORD AND ACTION.

This is the end of this Report Writing Page

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