Welcome - Season 2008/9

Welcome to Tales from the Ref Online! Many of you may be aware that I've been posting notes on facebook for sometime, so its time to take it online, ready for the start of the new football season.

As always, the curtain raiser will be the Community Shield on Sunday, although the Football League season kicks off tomorrow. Mark Clattenburg was originally appointed to the Community Shield back at the beginning of July, but has now been replaced. Clattenburg has been suspended, as he has run up significant personal debts. This will be investigated, and hopefully he'll be back refereeing before too long. It is difficult to comment on what has actually happened, as it would be mere speculation. Meanwhile, Peter Walton has been chosen as his replacement, and he will have Ian Gosling and Dave Richardson assisting him, with Andre Marriner as fourth official.

Although a virtually meaningless game for the two clubs, the Community Shield does have some importance from the point of view of the officials. It sets the standard for the season - giving an impression of how things might go when the Premier League kicks off next weekend. Walton has the responsibility to get things off to a sound start, and following a good season last time out I'm sure he will.

Walton actually reached the retirement age of 48 at the end of last season, along with Uriah Rennie. However, both appealed and have subsequently been retained in the Select Group of Premier League referees. Walton did have a very good season last year, his best on the Premier League yet, but Rennie has been troubled by injury of late. Hopefully he can settle down and get back into the groove.

There are also two new arrivals onto the Select Group. The two individuals could not have more contrasting levels of experience. Mike Jones has been on the National list of Football League referees for some 15 years, and has been one of the most consistent performers, with regular appointments to the Championship and to the Play-offs, including the League Two final in 2007. He is still under 40, so while he probably won't be able to referee internationally he can hopefully have a long and successful time at the top. In contrast, Stuart Attwell secured promotion to the Select Group after only one year refereeing in the Football League. It was, by all accounts, a successful year, culminating in the League Two play-off final at Wembley, which he handled very well. His promotion to the Football League came on the back of further successive promotions, so he can clearly adapt to rises up the ladder, but whether he can adapt as quickly to life in the biggest league of all remains to be seen. My personal opinion is that he should have perhaps had one more year on the Football League; it will be very interesting to see how he does. At only 25 years old, he is the youngest ever Premier League referee, and the international list will surely beckon for him within a couple of years.

So, thats whats changed in terms of personnel. "Respect" is clearly the buzz word of the moment, and the FA's Respect Campaign hopes to combat unacceptable behaviour at all levels of the game. The example needs to be set from the top level downwards; we'll see how that works too.

Meanwhile, I'll be off to watch Dagenham & Redbridge's League Two opener with Chester City tomorrow, before catching the Community Shield highlights on Sunday. I'll return then with some comments on the weekend's action.