South of Scotland Referees Association

⚽️ GAME DAY! ⚽️

It’s game day! 🙌 Hopefully everyone has a great game today and enjoys their football.

📍 Senior Officials
Here’s where our Senior Officials are in action today 👇

🟢 Grassroots Referees
And a big shout-out to all our Grassroots Referees taking charge of games across the area this weekend! Your commitment and hard work are hugely appreciated! 👏

Good luck to everyone out there today — have a great game! ⚽️

🟥🟨 THINK YOU’VE GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A REFEREE? ⚽️

Fancy trying something different and getting involved in football from a whole new perspective? 👀

Our next National Referee Introductory Course begins shortly!

📅 6 consecutive Mondays
💻 Online via Microsoft Teams
⏰ 7pm–9pm
💷 £50
📖 Learn and understand the Laws of the Game
👨‍⚖️ Sessions delivered by experienced match officials

Whether you’re completely new to refereeing, looking for a new challenge, or simply want to stay involved in the game — this course is your first step towards becoming a qualified referee. ⚽️

Sign up here : https://www.scottishfacomet.co.uk/mycomet/private/seminars/46652640

At the most recent members meeting the Carnochan and McWhan Trophies for Season 2025/6 were presented.

The Carnochan Trophy is voted for by the members of the association and is awarded to the referee for Outstanding Achievement on the field of play. This years trophy was presented to Ben Campbell by Association President Cameron Telfer. Ben was promoted to Category 4 Development during the season as a result of his hard work up to this point.

The McWhan Trophy is awarded to the Trainee Referee of the Year, which is a referee in their first year after passing their initial Laws of the Game exam. This years Trophy was awarded to Callum Luescher, and he is pictured receving the trophy from Association President Cameron Telfer.

Congratulations to both referees!

With the South Of Scotland Football League starting the weekend and preseason games in the area well underway, here’s a handy reminder of some of the changes to the Laws of The Game for season 2026/27.

Full changes can be found on the IFAB website - https://www.theifab.com/law-changes/latest/

🚨Important 🚨

In addition to the Law changes communicated via The IFAB Circular No. 32 on 31 March 2026, the below Law changes were approved at a Special Meeting of The IFAB held in Vancouver, Canada, on 28 April 2026.

The two additional changes are:

- Players covering their mouth when communicating with an opponent.

- Players leaving the field of play in protest at a referee's decision.

These changes are optional for competitions and it should be noted that neither of these options will be applied in any of our competitions for the season ahead.

In addition, after consulting SPFL clubs, we won’t be adopting the optional VAR check/overturning a clearly incorrect corner kick.

Tonight we’ll have Ricky Irving, Stuart Burns, Callum Luescher and Jack Marshall representing the association at the CLYFA 13s League Cup Final.

Congratulations to all 4!

Good turnout tonight at Pre Season training led by Donald McGuffie.

Association fitness training is held every Wednesday at 6.30 PM at the David Keswick Centre in Dumfries.

Think refereeing won’t fit around your busy lifestyle? Think again.

Across the game, our officials combine refereeing with everyday life — whether that’s being a parent, protecting communities, caring for patients, studying, working full-time, or staying involved in football.

Whether you’re:
⚽ A former player
📋 A coach
🏃 Passionate about fitness
📚 Keen to develop your knowledge of the Laws of the Game
…there’s a place for you in refereeing.

Refereeing offers:
✅ Fitness and personal development
✅ Confidence and communication skills
✅ Opportunities across all levels of the game
✅ Friendships and unforgettable experiences

Sign up now and start your journey.
🔗https://www.scottishfacomet.co.uk/mycomet/private/seminars/46652640

Be part of the game. Be a Referee.

The Laws of the Game 2026/27 are now available on all IFAB platforms in English, French, German, and Spanish!

➡ App: bit.ly/Laws_App_
➡ Website: theifab.com
➡ Law changes section: bit.ly/Changes26_27
➡ PDF: bit.ly/Laws_PDF_26_27
➡ Printed book: bit.ly/Laws2026_27

The new Laws will all be used at the FIFA World Cup.

The Laws of the Game 2026/27 officially take effect from 1 July 2026. Competitions starting before that date may implement the changes earlier or delay their implementation until no later than the start of the next competition.

On Saturday evening Nithsdale Amateurs held a speakers evening to mark the 50th anniversary of them winning the West of Scotland Amateur Cup.

Guest speaker for the evening was John Rowbotham, former category 1 and FIFA referee.

The evening was attended by members Ewan Macfaralane, whose father played for the team, and Sandy McNay along with Association Manager, Graeme Alison, and former member Willie Young.

At a luncheon on Saturday before the Scotland v Curaçao international our longest standing member, Sandy McNay, was presented an award by the SFA for his contribution to refereeing in Scotland.

Sandy is pictured receiving his award from William Collum, Head of Referee Operations and Willie Young, Chair of the Referee Committee.

Sandy joined the referee movement in the 1973-74 season and his active involvement on the field of play has only recently ended.

After serving his apprenticeship in the local leagues he was promoted to the senior list of referees as a category 3A linesman, as was in those days, in season 1981-82 where he stayed until season 1986-87.

The highlight of Sandy's senior career came in 1984 when he had to replace the match referee at half time in a match between St Mirren and Rangers at the old Love Street.

His neighbour, who had gone with him to the match remarked, on the journey home, how he had gone to the match with the linesman and returned with the referee.

The highlight of his amateur career was when he refereed the South of Scotland Amateur Cup Final in season 2003-04 at Innerleithen that was won by Monteith.

Overall he has officiated at around 1200 matches during his career.

In the local Association Sandy served on the Committee for a number of years and was President from 1981-1983.