It’s a predicament Gunnedah Soccer referee’s coordinator Michael Tailby has found himself in this year. Gunnedah Soccer has five senior referees, who can usually cover the scheduled matches, but other commitments pop up from time to time which sees match officials unavailable.

Tailby wants to fix that problem and is calling on people to help fill the void.

“We’re looking for anyone 13 years and up, they can be players, ex-players, coaches, parents, grandparents,” Tailby said.

“The refereeing will be mainly with the juniors, the referee ranks are not great and we just need people to step forward and help us out.”

The 2017 referee situation is very different to where it was a decade ago.

“Probably 10 years ago, we might have had a dozen to 15,” Tailby said.

“With kids leaving town we lost a few and parents that used to referee but their kids have grown up and they've gone on to other things.”

Tailby does it for the love of the game but he said there are other incentives.

Referees get paid and also if a match official was looking to become a top-flight referee, Tailby said there are pathways set up so people can pursue that.

For more information, people can head down to the Geoff Morgan Soccer Fields this Saturday and pop into the canteen to have a chat to Tailby or leave their name.

Anyone looking to get the ball rolling beforehand can head to http://www.myfootballclub.com.au/, click on the referees tab and follow the prompts.