Regardless the standard at which the referee officiates they will undertake both voluntary and compulsory procedures on the day of the match. Many of these duties are conducted out of the view of or go unnoticed by the teams as they complete their own pre-match rituals and regimes. Therefore this section looks at some of the different match day behaviour that referees voluntarily undertake and the ones that the have to undertake as part of their position.

Pre Match : The referee does not just turn up and then begin the match. There are certain duties they must undertake before kick off can occur. Obviously the number of obligations they have will depend on the level which they officiate, but this time line will help in understanding their pre-match role. View Timeline*

Half Time : Depending on the standard the game is being played at will determine the exact nature of teh referees half time prodcedures. However, this is one time of the match that very few teams pay attention to the referee until they signal the restart, therefore it is worth highlighting what the referee may be doing. View Timeline*

Post Match : The final whistle is often the last time that the player's will see the referee. However this does not mean that their day ends there. The referee still has a number of duties to carry out before they can relax. This timeline seeks to educate player's and coaches as to what happens following the final whistle. View Timeline*

It is worth noting that it is recognised amongst the refereeing fraternity that the level of importance attached to a game is relative to the players taking part. So whether the game is played in the Emirates Stadium or on Hackney Marshes the referee will still be preparing in a similar fashion.

* the link from here has been disabled, as this is as the user has limited access in this version

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