The Referees

The RCUK Charity Sevens are delighted that the London Society of Referees have agreed to provide all the officials for the Tournament.

The Society has a very long and distinguished history. Formed in 1897/98. membership remained fairly static for the first decade of the Society’s existence but by 1910/11 had reached 107 referees and the appointments in the season exceeded 1000. By Season 1922/23 membership had reached over 2000 in 1922/23 and 3000 by 1925/26 when, for the first time, over 100 referees were supplied on a single Saturday.

Rugby activities once again came to a halt with the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939. A considerable number of London clubs carried on somehow and the Society managed to provide them with officials, even though only about 80 members were available..

When peace returned, rugby, both for the clubs and the Society, gradually returned to normal, although it was a slow process. In the first post war season, only eight active referees were available, but great efforts were made in recruitment and by the end of 1946/47 the number had grown to 130. Much reorganisation was necessary but a year later 66 new referees had been recruited and the number of appointments during the season had risen to 3036.

The format of the Society handbook was revised and updated and in 1948/49 a Handbook was published containing, for the first time, a list of all the member clubs and full travelling directions to their grounds.

The work of the Society doubled over the next 20 years: appointments in 1947/48 were around 3000, the next season 4,334, over 5000 in 1959/60 and five years later the 7000 mark was achieved. Increased work loads, numbers of clubs and RFU demands have necessitated administrative restructuring of the Society’s management from time to time and perhaps two of the more recent reorganisations should be noted.

In the 1980s, a great deal of attention was given to the grading and assessing of referees and three Society members were among the first group of national assessors appointed by the RFU in 1982. The Society organised an Assessors Conference for Societies in the South and South-east of England in 1983 which paved the way for a national conference in 1984.

The Society continues to be at the forefront of promoting the game of Rugby Football in its ever increasing move to a more professional guise and with that the standards of refereeing of its members.