This Is Guernsey

Jeff Pettitt refereeing a Jackson match at BPL. (Picture by Daniel Guerin, 0556077)

HE CALLS himself the ‘Renegade Ref’ but Jeff Pettitt could equally well be known as Mr Referee.

He took up the whistle because, he says, he wasn’t much of a player. ‘I’d say I was that bad that if we turned up two men short, I’d still be the substitute,’ he joked.

But when he first had a go at being the man in the middle, he really enjoyed it and moved through the ranks to officiating at the highest level. ‘If you like football, it’s the best place in the world to watch it.’ Eventually he gave up his job in a bank to run his own company supplying referees’ equipment.

Pettitt also travels the country talking about his job and his hobby, with his sports-psychology training put to good use too.

During his first ‘working’ visit to the island, when he spoke at a referees’ meeting, Pettitt also volunteered to officiate at a St Martin’s-Bels Jackson clash.

A far cry from handling the best in Britain – ‘I’ve given every top English striker offside, wrongly,’ he quipped – but still challenging and still enjoyable, he said.

‘They were two enthusiastic sides, not the most skilful, but it was enjoyable and they seemed to respond to what I was doing.

‘I was nervous before. You never know what’s going to happen, it’s not an ordinary game until it’s over.’

Pettitt refereed at Conference level and was an assistant referee for nine years in the Football League and four in the Premier League. He was there with all the top players, at all the top venues.

Eventually his decision to start A&H Refereeing curtailed his professional career.

‘Doing a Premier League game could mean 36 hours away from home and the business. Something had to give,’ he said.

Now he takes on a bigger role in referee development, assessing officials on their way to the big time and working at a dedicated young referee academy set up at Charlton Athletic. He is also working with former England international John Salako, who has taken up the whistle too.

He has strong views on the training of referees, which often raise eyebrows. ‘I think we train referees wrongly. I think you can ignore the laws to a degree – it’s more about managing situations.’

He speaks from experience. While attempting to impress to become a Football League ref, Pettitt was dropped by the FA for a while before battling his way back. ‘I started to referee for the assessor,’ he said. ‘It was counterintuitive. I had to say I’ve got to do what I do.’

His style is the kind that most players warm to, but it’s not often seen on local pitches, with a bit of banter and good humour with both sides.

‘One match recently a manager asked me about swearing. I said: “Well, there will be some”.’

But despite the slightly non-text book approach, Pettitt is also a strong supporter of the FA and supports the new ‘Respect the Ref’ campaign.

‘It is spot on. The FA are right to do what they are doing but they were wrong to start at grass-roots level.’

The ‘Renegade Ref’ tag was born as a sometimes-controversial marketing technique for the company, sent as a weekly email newsletter. Why renegade? ‘When you put renegade, you can say what you want,’ he smiled. ‘But in 18 months I have never criticised another referee.’

But it’s not all football. Pettitt also works as a coach with a handful of professional golfers.

‘I say that refereeing is like golf. If you make a foul-up in either, there’s only one person going to get you out of it.’