A few seasons ago, the referee shortage in the Huddersfield FA area was so acute that action was taken.

The Save the Ref campaign. launched by the Examiner with several bodies taking part, even included interviews on Sky Sports and BBC.

The result was an increase in referees over recent years with referees from other areas also wanting to officiate in our district.

It now means that of the 50 or so fixtures each Saturday, there are very few matches without a neutral referee.

But the Huddersfield FA are not content to sit back and rub their hands.

More work is needed to ensure that a steady flow of new referees is available as the ‘older end’ retire.

The recruiting and training of new referees was always a local FA responsibility, but the County FA have assumed control of training since it is now done in a different manner.

When the local FA was doing the training, it was a six-week classroom-based course of two nights per week with a written exam at the end.

In those days, the bulk of the budding referees were ex-players who wanted to ref locally.

Now the training is organised by the County FA which is a two-day practical course (Saturday and Sunday) over just one weekend.

After completing this course (which costs £110) the candidates have to referee six games and these games are then followed by an exam.

All being well, the candidate then becomes a Grade 7 referee. With the cost of a kit, the total outlay will be about £150 but with the match fee of £30, the outlay is recovered within quick time. The FA are considering helping in some form if a candidate is unable to meet the original cost.

The problem with the County FA training is that it is done at their headquarters at Woodlesford, but they are willing to hold courses in any local area providing sufficient trainees are willing to attend a course – about the 12 mark.

The recruitment side has gradually fallen between the two stools of county FA and District FA with the result that it has been left to prospective candidates to surf the web for any information, and those that do tend to be the younger ‘career type’ applicant.

There is nothing wrong in encouraging young referees to make a career out of their love for the game of football, but the Huddersfield FA are aware that to ensure local matches are fully staffed they have to attract the pool of ex-players who have historically been the backbone of local referees.

To help, the Huddersfield FA are trying to attract enough candidates so that the course can be run in Huddersfield.

But this is easier said than done and efforts are to made to use social media in getting the message to as many candidates as possible.

Other initiatives may also be used but information on these have still to be finalised. It is also incumbent on the teams themselves as they are closer contact with the likely recruits and it is the clubs that are the real beneficiaries.

The first step for anyone interested is to contact the Acting Secretary of the Huddersfield FA, Roger Furniss, on 01484 661324 or 07951 123289 or email at rogerfoot1@sky.com

This season is the fourth occasion of the running of the Huddersfield FA Respect Trophy in which referees award marks to teams based on the respect shown on a Saturday afternoon.

Two of the previous three winners have come from the Kirklees Sunday League with Field Head winning the trophy last season.

The improvement in the number of referees has to be the result of this effort and the improvement can be monitored by the fact that 82 out of the 113 teams (that’s 73%) have an average of over eight out of 10.

The current leaders are Reserve Division Four team Shelley A. Not only have they an average of over nine, it also shows that you can be top of a division based on the results of your games but maintain respect to the officials.

Shelley A are closely followed by Flockton, Scholes A, Hade Edge A and Scisssett, but the season is still young, so there is plenty of time for teams to move up or down the Respect Table.