50 of the counties referees were invited to Oxford City FC on Thursday 25 February to attend the 2010 Cup Final where the appointment of match officials to the Counties 14 Cup finals was announced.
The evening started with a welcome from the County Training Officer, David Boyd-Lesley, and an outline of the evenings events from the seminar organiser Pete Barnard.
The introductions were followed by the news everyone had gathered to hear - the announcement of which official had been appointed to which game. Each game was announced in turn, with colleagues offering a round of applause to the grateful recipients. The Senior County Cup Final was the final announcement with the Referee being Paul Redmond and assistants Oli Dolton and Neal Templey along with fourth official Chris Kidd. As in previous years these officials will receive a complete kit courtesy of A&H International. A full list of the appointments can be found by clicking on the related document link.
One of the other appointments worthy of special announcement was that, for the first time in OFA history, there will be a sister and brother combination on one of the cup finals with Clare Marsh refereeing the U14 Girls Cup with her brother Chris joining Mike Wheeler as assistant referee on the same game (Tim Siret being fourth official). This is a great achievement by the Marsh family especially with father Les being appointed as an assistant referee on the under 18 cup (with referee Rob Partlett and Keith Godfrey being the other assistant and fourth official Benedict Davies).
Additionally Oxfordshire’s nomination for Assistant Referee at this years Varsity game was announced, with the Ben James receiving this prestigious nomination, this game will be played at Craven Cottage, the home of Fulham FC and will have a select group referee in charge of the game.
Following these announcements the newly appointed teams of officials spent time getting to know one and other and discuss their appointments. The officials were also offered the opportunity to officiate a league game together prior to their cup final.
The officials were then split into groups dependent on their appointments. Theses groups then received some hints and advice on their individual roles with Antony Coggins offering advice to the referees, John Busby giving some excellent advice on being an assistant referee whilst John Farries shared some pearls of wisdom with the fourth officials.
The groups were then brought back together to hear Alan Longford give advice, in his own inimitable style, on cup final protocols.
The evening was brought to a close with thanks given to Paul Faulkner and Hilary Holifield for all there hard work during the season in organising and administering the cup appointments. However the biggest congratulations was saved for the recipients of the appointments who were thanked for their hard work and commitment during the season which had resulted in them being appointed to these very prestigious games. These games are awarded and not just given and as such next season it could be your turn.