REFEREE assessors think they have the devine right to use the clubs they are visiting.

No ties, dirty shoes. Most of these people were poor referees when they were in the middle and so the poor standard of whistle blowers today doesn't surprise me.

I am sorry to keep going on but I could write a couple of books about the whistle blowers!

When I was manager here at Accrington Stanley we played a game at Eastwood Town.

The referee that day was a fellow called Mr Lyman who came from Gainsborough.

Unfortunately I got in bother with the ref and was sent to the stand.

After the final whistle I told the referee what a good game he'd had and he reported me to the Football Association.

I was called in front of the FA at the Lancashire FA office in Blackburn and never for one minute did I expect the referee to travel all the way up from Gainsborough but sure enough when I got there Mr Lyman was sat in the foyer.

Anyway, after he had given his account of the incident I was found guilty as charged , fined £200 and banned from the dugout for four matches.

On another occasion, when I was manager of Clitheroe, I never used to sit in the dugout, I used to stand on the opposite side of the pitch.

One match I was asked by the referee if I was the manager to which I replied "Yes sir", and then I was asked to sit in the dugout!

This must have been a first for I have never heard of a manager being sent back to the bench!

I once asked another well known local referee if he had been away in December as he was well suntanned.

I knew for a fact he had been on the sunbed but he did not let the merry whistle blowers down and said he had been on holiday.

I could carry on with stories about the man in the middle but I am sure you have heard enough about them for the time being.

With the New Year approaching I would like to wish all the local non-League clubs a Happy New Year and a very successful last four months of the season be it in promotion or relegation battles or in the cups, I wish everyone the best of luck.

Remember without luck you won't win anything.

To all the merry whistle blowers, best wishes for the New Year and I hope you get the marks you deserve from the assessors and clubs, and maybe eventually we'll just have the better referees left.

18 games left!