Big battles lie ahead as the season draws in
With the light evenings and the daffodils blooming, we are all aware that summer is just around the corner.
For people involved in football that means just one thing, the season is coming to a close.
For clubs this time of year is all about winning the league, being promoted or avoiding the dangers of relegation.
For officials it means being appointed to a cup final as recognition for a good season or better still being promoted up the ladder.
The Premier League has 19 full-time referees, with the Football League having a further 50 part-time referees.
Promotion between the two lists are based on performance and there will be a number of Football League referees having an anxious wait to see if they have broken into the full- time ranks.
Referees who operate on the Conference League and have had a good year are interviewed for promotion onto the Football League list and those interviews are a nerve-racking experience even for experienced persons as the reward for being included in the list for next season are so great.
This promotion scenario is played throughout the entire pyramid structure of the refereeing world and there will be a number of local lads hoping to take a further step up that ladder and perhaps operate on the UCL or the Ryman leagues next season.
For those who perhaps don't seek promotion or have reached an age where they are happy to perform at a certain level, then there is always the possibility of being appointed to officiate in a cup final.
This year’s FA Cup Final will be refereed by Mike Dean, who has consistently performed at the top of his trade for a number of years and it is an appointment that is richly deserved.
Mind you he'd better not be too focused on his big day yet as he is in my golf team playing in the Staverton Hotel Golf day today (Thursday).
For me this season has been one of my best.
Why? Well I have managed to avoid any real controversy and have got the big decisions right when it mattered.
To be successful you need to remain focused at all times and for me this season has seen me do just that, although it still has not finished.
I’ve a month to go and it’s Arsenal v Reading this Saturday so I’d better not start counting my chickens just yet!
