I started refereeing back in 1995; a long time ago now. I had seen in the local papers about the constant shortage of referees in the juveniles and thought, “I can do that”. I passed the exam and took my first game in the juveniles in Banchory; an under 15’s game. I sent 3 off and cautioned 5. I got home and screamed but it did not put me off. The highlight of my first season had to be the referees conference in St Andrews. I travelled down there with Roddy Cobb and John Gover, with Sandy Roy as driver – and what a weekend that was! St Andrews was a chance to meet the top officials in Scotland and get their advice. (Also, quite an amount of alcohol was consumed by all.)
Most of the time was spent refereeing in the juveniles which I thoroughly enjoyed. The highlight of my juvenile refereeing career was to referee the Under 15’s President’s cup final at Pittodrie stadium in 1996. I acted as assistant referee in the juniors many times and also as assistant in the Highland League a couple of times at Huntly and Keith. I acted as assistant at the AIFF several times and this was great experience for me. Sadly, the AIFF is no more.
Refereeing then took a back seat due to work commitments and also due to a couple of back injuries, but it was never in my mind to let my membership of Aberdeen and District Referees slip and leave the association, as one day soon I will be back in the juveniles again.
I must give thanks to Sandy Roy for his advice on several occasions, and I must also give thanks to my mentor when I started refereeing. Mr Eddie Norrie, I thank you.
To achieve life membership of the association makes me feel proud and gives me a great sense of achievement. The association is a great thing to help all in refereeing in the Aberdeen and District (including Orkney and Shetland) area and I feel it is more of a refereeing family than a district association.
I hope the association goes from strength to strength and achieves great things for its members.
Craig Grant