Copyright© 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 The AFA and London Society of Association Referees established 2006  

Welcome

On 14th September 2006 the AFA Referees' Society and LONSAR merged to form The AFA and London Society of Association Referees and on 14 December 2006, the 40 anniversary of the founding of AFA and Lonsar, it was announced that the Society will henceforth be known by the new name for all purposes.  This draws a line under 40 years of the AFA Society and Lonsar and turns the page to a new chapter in the Society's annals wherein we shall henceforth be known as

The AFA and London Society of Association Referees

The Society Executive Committee welcomes membership from any AFA or London referee or officials from other county FAs.

We have in place an exciting programme of meetings for the whole of season 2008- 09, full details of which can be found on the Dates for your Diary and Society Meetings pages.

Our REFEREEING ACADEMY - a regular and comprehensive training programme including members' match incidents, video analysis and topical items, will be offered at every meeting by Training Officer and FA Licensed Instructor John Cooke.

There is also our top quality monthly magazine ARGUS and of course this website, which is always improved by your welcome thoughts and comments. It will include full details of all Society events and be updated at regular intervals to keep you posted.

The AFA and Lonsar exists to support referees at all levels of the game and all referees - active or otherwise - are encouraged to join the Society and take part in its activities.

Meetings take place throughout the season and, with only one or two exceptions, these meetings are held at the Civil Service Recreation Centre in central London.

Agendas are deliberately kept concise so as to allow as much interaction time between members as possible. Food is available from the excellent cafeteria/bar in the Centre and orders are taken up and till 7.00pm. Each meeting deals with society business and usually includes a speaker and an opportunity to discuss developments in the game and match incidents with our very own expert and society training officer, Mr John Cooke.

The opportunity to enhance what can be lonely time "in the middle" with the companionship of your fellow officials will do much to cement your involvement with the sport, help to boost your morale on those occasions of self- doubt we all have and keep you in touch with what others are doing and experiencing as they carry out their appointments throughout the myriad leagues and competitions society members get involved with.

The Society is an active participant in refereeing administration at the national level providing senior officers and committee members to the Referees' Association and other bodies.

We have an active and successful quiz team which has won honours every year from 1998 to 2004 - including winning the RA national quiz in 2003 - and which is always on the look out for fresh talent.

If you would like to join the society please either click on the blue box in the left hand margin to complete our on- line Membership Application form (it takes about 30 seconds to fill- in and commits you to nothing at this stage) or contact Bart O’Toole our Recruitment and Retention officer (or any of the officers listed on the Who's Who page) directly who will be pleased to introduce you to the Society and help you quickly find your feet amongst the membership.