THE ART OF WHISTLEBLOWING

This article is from John Cooke – Former Society Chair, former AFA Referee Development Officer and current Society President. A former Level 4 referee with a wealth of experience across football, John brings a depth of knowledge and insight that makes him a fantastic person to learn from and someone who continues to support and develop referees within the game.

(A Basic Guide for New Referees – and  Reminder for Others)

Purpose of the Whistle

Interesting Fact 1: The whistle is not mentioned in the Laws Of The Game. But without it no game can take place.  

Interesting Fact 2: There are three ways of starting or restarting the game – hand signal, voice, or whistle. But there is only one way of stopping a game. Try waving your arms or shouting – it doesn’t work, believe me!

The whistle gives you authority. Use it wisely. Crucially, it is your voice when on the field of play, so make it talk. Blow it longer and louder than you think is necessary. A weak whistle will give the impression of a weak referee.

Technical Stuff – The Hardware

Types of Whistle

Those available include plastic or metal, pea or pea-less, cheap or expensive.  Don’t buy a cheap toy or novelty whistle, but one suited to the job.

Where to Buy

Buy from an approved sports shop, on-line from a refereeing website e.g. The Referees’ Association (the RA), or through your Society. Be guided by the Tutor on your training course.

Practical Considerations

Plastic can be less durable in your kitbag, but metal can stick to your lips in cold weather. Pea whistles use a small cork ball in the chamber which causes the whistle to make a trill as you blow it, giving it a distinctive sound. Because you can spit into a whistle to give it a more immediate impact, you may need to wash it under a tap to avoid it clogging up the cork ball but make sure you dry it thoroughly.

A basic whistle is a good starting point, e.g. a plastic Acme Thunderer. Plastic whistles come in a variety of colours, but my advice is to stick to black to avoid drawing attention to yourself. Counter-intuitively, the bigger the whistle the lower the sound. Often a smaller whistle will sound louder, shriller, and cut through more than a bigger one. This enables you to have a presence, even when remote from play, which happens to all of us at some time.

The Fox 40 is a popular alternative. It started life as a Canadian basketball whistle and comes in a variety of models. It is pea-less and has multiple chambers. The two-chamber model is the Pearl, but it has a low note. I prefer the Fox 40 Classic which has three-chambers, is a good choice, and works well not only in a stadium environment but also on the parks. A tip from World Cup Referee Graham Poll is to blow it upside down – it sounds louder!

More recent whistles include the Molten Valkeen, an expensive two-tone Japanese model, probably not recommended when starting out. Avoid the “loudest whistle in the world” the HyperWhistle, (emergency whistle) which is more for mountaineers and hiking in wild terrain, is ridiculously expensive, but no doubt worth every penny if stranded on Mount Everest.

Get a whistle suited to the job, and try it out before you buy, if possible, to find out what suits you.

Carrying your Whistle

Best not to carry it in your mouth: -

1.      If the ball hits you in your face, you could lose your teeth

2.      Metal can stick to your lips in cold weather

3.      Stops you blowing inadvertently or too quickly

4.      Most importantly, raising the whistle to your lips buys you thinking time - have I got this decision right, could I play the advantage?

Don’t put it around your neck – that’s for school teachers. Carry it on a wrist lanyard which enables you to drop it when writing but swings back up into your hand instantly at the flick of a wrist, ready for blowing.

Take two whistles out with you in case you drop one in the mud, or it gets damaged. Try to carry whistles of two differing tones to avoid confusion in case the referee on an adjacent pitch has a similar tone/pitch to their whistle.

How to Blow!

Making your whistle “talk” is an art which needs to be practised. You have the tool, now use it to communicate your message to the players, plus the coaching staff, and any spectators. Consider the sound, loud or soft, long or short blasts. Vary the tone and pitch to avoid being monotonous.

Whistling techniques

Quick and short for minor restarts. Long and loud for initial whistle to summon skippers for the toss-up (first impressions), to regain control, denying a goal, or for more serious offences, e.g. penalty kick, sending off offences like serious foul play.

Do use it for every ceremonial free kick (within striking distance of the goal) including quick ones, to let everyone know that the ball may now be put into play, and so no-one can say “But you didn’t blow your whistle ref – I wasn’t ready”.

Use it to manoeuvre players or ball into position, like where to take a throw in from, or a fee kick.  You can use multiple blasts to draw attention or to avoid confusion with your signal to restart play.

When not to use whistle

Avoid overuse which makes it sound monotonous, use voice or arm signals instead if appropriate to vary signalling restarts. Not needed for throw-ins or most corner kicks, or defensive free kicks.

Final Thought

Lastly, enjoy your refereeing and happy whistleblowing!