The disciplinary commission was chaired by Brian Brackpool and assisted by Bryan Cole and Dermott Hennessey. Fiona Cheesman, SCFA Discipline Manager, was also in attendance and acted as usher.
Les Pharo gave a short presentation on what happens at a commission and the dos and don’ts for referees. A commission then took place with Tim Lawrence as the Referee, Colin White as the player, Mark Wood and Colin Barnett as the player’s witnesses.
The commission then went through the case and before their deliberations were made those present were asked to form their opinion of whether the player was guilty or not. It was a unanimous decision of guilty from the floor.
The commission then deliberated and gave their verdict – guilty. The commission looked at the player’s record and then gave their reason why they gave the punishment. There are guidelines that are laid down by the FA and depending upon the players record the commission can give a harsher or more lenient level of punishment. Les Pharo then took questions from the floor and this was followed by a buffet.
A second commission took place with the same personnel except this time Mark Wood took the part of a Club Representative. We went through the same procedure and this time there was only a majority verdict from the floor of not guilty. The commission deliberated and the player was found not guilty.
Les Pharo then took more questions from the floor. We were reminded that we must attend the hearing as we are the County FA’s witness. There is a greater chance that the player will be found not guilty if we do not attend. We must accept the decision as we will have been seen to do our job on the day. All those who attended were given the FA Booklet on Misconduct Report Writing and were reminded how important it is to get the report correct and readable. Les thanked all those present and also Leatherhead FC for hosting the event.
As this event proved such a success we intend to repeat this at different venues next season, so keep looking at the County FA website for more details.
Tim Lawrence
Referee Development Officer
26th March 2009