SOCCER REFEREES.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 177, 28 July 1926, Page 11

SOCCER REFEREES.

DBVELOFMEHTS X.AST NIGHT. CANDID EXCHANGE OF VTBWS. There Were further developments last night in connection with the strike of Soccer referees which arose last Thursday, though any movement does not appear to be towards a settlement between the Referees' Association and the Management Committee of the A.F.A. The matter was first mentioned last night by the chairman, Mr. A. Menzies, in the presence of the club delegates. The chairman reported in detail on the position between tbe A.F.A. and the Referees' Association, and stated that the secretary had received many offers of assistance to carry on with the game. On the motion of Mr. Kennedy, the delegates carried unanimously a resolution of thanks, appreciation and confidence in the Management Committee in the action they had taken regarding the referees' dispute. Mr. McGarry, a former member of the Referees' Association and a New Zealand badge holder, endorsed the opinion expressed by the chairman that the trouble was due to the action of a few members of the Referees' Association. Later in the evening an emissary from the referees' meeting asked the Management Committee if it would be prepared to receive a deputation, and this was ultimately agreed to. , A delegation of seven members attended on the Management Committee, headed by Mr. T. G. Wilkes. Mr. Menzies informed the delegation that the Management Committee had unanimously endorsed the remarks he made last Tuesday, and which were taken exception to by the referees regarding members of the Referees' Association* being present on Blandford Park when fixtures in lower grades were not being fulfilled. The Management Committee, he stated, was quite prepared to discuss any matters with the referees provided the programme for Saturday next was carried out by them. A meeting could be arranged for Monday, ana the whole question could then be thrashed out. Mr. Wilkes said the referees were rather anxious to have the matter discussed fully and done with. He did not know if the members would agree to the suggestion made. The referees were quite prepared to carry out the games on Saturday, but before doing so would like their differences settled beforehand. Mr. Menzies: We will discuss nothing with the referees until they perform their duties. We have our duty to the code, the players and the public, and the referees did not seem to realise that when they decided not to carry theirs out. We consider that the threat that was held at our heads last week like a pistol after the offer we made freely to a deputation was anything but sportsmanship. We were very much surprised atf the threat made last week that unless we attended your meeting on Thursday no matches would be taken on Saturday. "We have considered the matter fully, and decided that, until such time as the referees realise their duty to the public and to the code, and take the games on Saturday, we cannot discuss any business with them at all." The deputation then withdrew, and, as it was then after 10 p.m., the management meeting closed. At the meeting of the Junior Management Committee, Mr. F. M. Ritchie, the chairman, asked members of the committee to refrain from taking part in the dispute between the Referees' Association and the A.F__. The committee was in its first season, and he hoped that all games would proceed as arranged. He had received the assurance that the referees regretted the trouble that had arim in co far aa it affected the junior - wd **V _