By Robert Stock
March 21 2005

The standard of refereeing in the Welsh Premier is often criticised, often unfairly so in the eyes of one of the league's most experienced and respected 'men in black', Ray Ellingham. Ray speaks to us about his career, 'ref-swaps' and various other aspects of the refereeing field.

Appointed to the the inaugral League of Wales Referee List in 1992, Ray Ellingham had already been officiating at at various levels in the non-league English pyramid since 1979. Having reffed at levels as high as the Vauxhall Conference, Ray is an ideal position to compare refereeing standards between the Welsh Premier and the English Non-League.

'Despite the criticism, I think the standard of refereeing in the Welsh Premier is good - especially if you compare it to the standard of the Conference and other feeder leagues of the UK" explains Ellingham.

Much of the criticism is often directed from managers and Ellingham is well aware of the abuse many of his colleagues sufer on a weekly basis, although he insists he is rarely on the receiving end of such abuse. "I know that some of my colleagues seem to get a fair bit of stick although I believe their are adequate procedures in place that protect the referee in the correct manner."

One of the manager's greatest pet hates is the often inconsistent role of assistant referees in the course of a game. As a neutral at most Welsh Premier games I attend there does appear to be varying degrees of powers given to the assistants so I asked Ray if he could clear up the matter. "As there title suggests they are there to assist and I always say to them beforehand bear in mind my position before you flag over decisions other than offside which are yours all the time."

Being the most experienced ref in the league it is perhaps no surprise that in our recent Members Database survey on the best Welsh Premier referees, Ray Ellingham came out top with most votes! We asked Ellingham how he would describe his refereeing style and what the most important aspects of being a referee were: "I always try to talk to players how I would like to be spoken to. If possible I try to talk to people rather than flashing a card and try to stay calm in the heat of the battle. As for the award that is certainly a nice honour!"

The Welsh Prem has recently engaged in an innovative 'ref-swap' scheme, firstly with the Scottish FA and more recently the Northern Irish FA. The move has been much applauded by managers, players and supporters and we asked Ray if the scheme was as popular with the refs and whether he could soon find himself reffing 'abroad'. "The ref swap is an excellent idea. I have refereed many times abroad when a FIFA referee and it was an enjoyable experience. However, as I am now
the oldest ref on the list at 44, I think it would be more beneficial to send the younger refs for future ref-swaps."

Moving on to how often referees are assessed in the Welsh Prem, Ellingham explained: "We are assessed on 90% of all games at WP level and we always go out expecting to be watched. I personally think 100% coverage is best as at least you have one neutral in the stand. At the end of the season it is these marks that determine promotion or removal off the lists."

Many supporters have asked how Welsh Premier refs are appointed, so we put it to Ray to clear it up for us: "We receive appointments on a monthly basis, and we do have to live a certain distance from one of the two teams, so I am lucky that no WP clubs are based in Cardiff."

One of Ray's greatest characteristics is that he has the ability to admit when he has made a mistake. Take for example this season's FAW Premier Cup game between Caernarfon and Newport, Ellingham wrongly turned down a Newport penalty and booked the player for diving. After watching the match video Ray not only contacted the FAW immediately to cancel the card he also issued an apology on the Welsh Premier yahoo mailing list.

The FAW recently developed a new offside law which they proposed to UEFA and were rumoured to be considering implementing in the Welsh Premier for a trial period. For those who missed it, the new law would mean a player could only be offside if he were within the opponents penalty area, with the ideology being that it would make the assistant referee's job easier having to just concentrate on the 18 yard box. We asked Ray if it would make his task any easier and whether the law should be changed and he believed that it would be better to keep the law as it currently stands.

Ellingham describes the high point of his successful career as reffing the 2000 Welsh Cup Final between Bangor City and Barry Town at Park Avenue and the low point as suffering many serious injuries which have interrupted his progression. Asked who he believes to be the best referee at the moment Ellingham declared: "Outside of the Welsh Premier, Steve Bennett always seems to get the big shouts correct."

Finally we asked Ray how important he viewed communicating with managers, players and supporters. "I am more than happy to enter into conversations with managers, players and supporters alike, however if we are talking about laws of the game there is not much we can do."

It is this genuine approachability and honesty coupled with decades of experience which make's Ray Ellingham undoubtedly the King of Welsh Premier referees. Many thanks to Ray for agreeing to this interview and for clearing up several contentious issues and we wish you all the best for the future.