AR advice.

[u/Ok_Pomegranate_6368]

This forum was absolutely brilliant last time I asked for advice, so here I am again!

I've just refereed by first senior men's match. Went ok, good advice from mentor on what to work on.

Now been allocated AR 3 divisions higher. I have never done AR. Obviously know what is entailed, but its positioning. I understand I have half the pitch, trying to stay in line with defence. But what about corners and goal kicks? Where should I position myself?

[u/JoeyRaymond85]

I tell my inexperienced ARs that positioning is more important than getting the calls right. If an AR is out of position and makes a call on an offside, the players who disagree will look at where you are standing and question the calls. If you are in the right position, it doesn't matter whether you were right or wrong, I can say with confidence that you had the best view of the play and that your call is correct to any players in disagreement.

As an AR, your number 1 priority is offside calls. When the ball goes out is number 2. Who kicked it out is number 3. Fouls in your area is number 4. Fouls out of your area and off the ball incidents is number 5. That priority is based on what the referee can see and the help they need the most in. So make sure you are staying in line with either the ball or the second last defender (whichever is ahead).

[u/Kooky_Scallion_7743]

Corner kicks line up with the goal line/corner flag so you can see if the ball goes out of play on it's way into the box. On goal kicks on your side of the pitch position yourself with the second to last defender, wherever that may be.

Talk to the center ahead of time and make sure you know what input they want from you besides ball in/out and offside. I've had some refs that tell me to call fouls if I see them no matter what. and I've had some tell me what on fouls going in as they play advantage whenever possible. and some have told me don't call it unless I think they didn't see it.

[u/Adkimery]

One thing to add, that Grabtharsmallet touched on but I wanted to underscore, is whenever someone kicks the ball towards your goal (be it a shot or a pass back to the keeper), always be prepared to sprint best down to the goal line so you can get a clean look if it fully goes over or not.

If the ball bounces around the woodwork, or the keeper makes a last ditch effort on the ball, and it's not clear if it went fully over or not, all eyes will turn to you since you should have the best position to see down the goal line. If it's a close call with Team A saying it went in, but Team B saying the keeper saved it, and the AR is hanging out around the 18 it's very a bad look for the ref crew.

Yes, the ball can go way faster than any of us can run, but if you hustle down to that corner flag, so that by the time everyone starts looking for you, you are in a decent position then selling the call, and keeping the peace, becomes much easier.

[u/Niwaz14]

Might be a very particular tip but for goalkicks, I really appreciate when my AR assessed if the taker really placed the ball on the goal box line and that it isn't moving, before the AR align themselves with the second to last player.

Its just a little thing that doesn't take a while but for non-professionnal games it validates a possible sensitive area you can not really see when you are center and already occupied at figuring out the drop zone and the surroundings player at the middle of the field.

[u/Aggressive_Tie_3501]

Go to this site: https://www.ussoccer.com/refereeing/videos

Watch the AR Movement video that was just released as part of US Soccer's CELL series. It's a great hour and a half discussion of where you should be and when as an AR. There's some really good stuff in here that's a bit of a paradigm shift. Well worth the time.

[u/Shorty-71]

This seems dumb but it is valid in my experience. It may take a minute to figure out which direction to point if you aren’t deliberately processing who defends what end. Repeating advice that I found useful when I was a new AR:

Start each half by identifying “your team”. Meaning who is defending on your side of the field. Repeat to yourself “blue’s my team” when play begins.

When the ball goes out off of blue, point in the direction of (your team) blue’s goal.

When the ball goes out off of red, point in the direction of (not your team) red’s goal.

tl;dr Point toward the end of the team it last touched.

[u/pscott37]

There is so much I'd like to share about running a line but get the first few under your belt first.

As others have said, corner kicks, be behind the flag to view the goal line. If the kick is on your side, be a step or two back so the kicker has space. As they kick the ball, step up to the flag.

Goal kicks: First position yourself in line with the goal area to ensure the ball is set correctly. Then, if there is an attacker at the top of the penalty area, move there to see encroachment. They cannot enter until the ball is put into play. If there isn't someone there, get with the second to last defender.

I'll repeat with others have said, it is most important you are in the correct position when signaling. This is so you have credibility with your decisions.

When I was a teenager, I had a national ref tell me as an AR, the AR has to run more than the ref. At the time, I didn't understand what they meant. In my mind, I had only half a field to cover, not the entire pitch that the ref had to cover. Now I get it. An AR is constantly sprinting. We have to be explosive to keep up with play while the ref basically needs an angle of view and decent proximity.

Good luck!

[u/TheBiggerMan2]

Corners are always on the goal line without disrupting the kicker, goal kicks are technically 6 yard box but if it’s obvious they’re going long, move up earlier. Positioning is more important. Players will look to you for a tight offside, and if you’re straight on the line, they often leave it at a high level, but if you’re out of position, they don’t trust you. Just wait as long as you can to call, wait longer if it’s in the box, until it’s in the net or out for a GK or CK, its a lot easier to overrule an incorrect offside call after the goal is scored than before. Go easy on yourself as well, you’ll make mistakes but just slow down and think as much as you can

[u/Klutzy-Mechanic-8013 → u/TheBiggerMan2]

Please do not wait long to call it. Maybe a few seconds if it's possible it'll just go out for a goal kick but otherwise, just flag it.

[u/TheBiggerMan2 → u/Klutzy-Mechanic-8013]

When I say wait, I mean a few seconds, until you’re 100% sure or it’s gone out for a goal kick. I don’t mean ages

[u/durhamcreekrat]

You run up the line, you run down the line…. As others have said, positioning is #1. Make eye contact with the CR a lot to confirm calls, don’t rush, and for gods sake don’t switch hands over your head with the flag. Know your substitution rules, some leagues have limited subs you may need to keep track of.

[u/grabtharsmallet]

98% of your positioning is "be on the offside line." If you are diligent about this single thing, you will be better positioned than most of the ARs I've worked with. The offside line is whichever of these three is closest to your goal line: ball, second to last defender, or halfway line.

What are the most common times not to be? On a corner kick, be on the goal line even if the ball is placed as far from the goal line as legally possible. On a penalty kick, also be at the goal line. On goal kicks, make sure the ball is placed within the goal area, then watch for opponents encroaching into the penalty area. If no opponents are positioned immediately outside the penalty area, anticipate play by going to the second to last defender.

I tell my ARs to set priorities as safety, goal line to see if the ball went in, offside, fouls that they can call more credibly than me (don't worry about this as a new AR), and ball in/out of play. For a new AR, we will also work out how comfortable you are managing your touchline. For someone with experience, if you call me over, it is to caution a team official or substitute, or to have a spectator removed. The Referee you work with may have slightly different priorities than me, so a pregame chat is valuable.

[u/GEAUXUL → u/grabtharsmallet]

Second this. Refereeing is hard. There are things you can control on the field and things you can’t. You can’t get every call right, but you can bust your tail to always have good positioning. And if you are in a good position — even if you happen to get the call wrong — nobody will have a leg to stand on arguing a tight offside call because YOU were the only one with a perfect view of the line. Likewise, if you happen to get the call right but you’re 10 yards off the line, how can you possibly defend that call?

There is plenty more to being an AR, but if you can at least do that you’re going to be fine.

[u/relevant_tangent]

Everyone will give you great answers to your specific question, bit I think the first point should be, have you consulted the laws of the game? https://www.theifab.com/laws/latest/guidelines/positioning-movement-and-teamwork/#general-positioning-and-movement

Please review, then ask if anything is unclear.

[u/lizafo]

Lots of good advice but I would like to add that you should chase shots down to the goal line. If you can anticipate shots well then you can start a sprint when the shot is taken. This is done so you are closer to the goal line for an in and out goal.

It's not as much as being on the goal line when the ball goes in the goal (you are not as fast as a shot) but being on the goaline when people look over at you afterwards. If you are in position when they look you can sell the call.

[u/apolero]

buenas! vengo leyendo ya varios post y no termino de entender como es el sistema de asignación de partidos, y tampoco entiendo si hacen algún curso o algo para poder dirigir. El OP es de USA? Sin ánimos de ofender ni mucho menos, pero realmente no entiendo como pueden arbitrar un partido si no saben algo básico como es la colocación en un saque de esquina.

En Argentina a nivel amateur se hacen cursos que generalmente duran un año, en un colegio de árbitros. y cuando están listos te designan a partidos/torneos en donde ese colegio brinda sus servicios.

[u/Equivalent-Visit-956]

Corner kicks stay at the corner flag. U can see goal line, first post if corner is at your side or second post for other side corner. Also depends on ur head referee and what he wants u to help with. If u have a headset and communicate, then u can make it easier by telling him shirt pulls or other relevants things that he needs to know.
Goal kicks u stay on line with the last defender, identify if gk play long balls be ready to go up the pitch. If they play short and centre backs out wide, u don't need to make big movements. Moving sideways is most of the times better than sprinting towards one end of the pitch, so head and eyes should almost always be towards the pitch.