To Umpire, or to Referee???

To Umpire, or to Referee???

Author
Discussion

Gandalf Beckwith

Original Poster:

205 posts

229 months

Saturday 9th January 2010
quotequote all
An appeal to the great and the good of PH - from Mrs GB.....

Yesterday my dearly beloved asked me a killer question.

"Why is it that some sports have a Referee, and some and Umpire?"

Whilst I was deep in thought trying to make something up that sounded credible, she said the me "This is a Pistonheads question, isn't it?"

So, over to you, the intellectual powerhouse that is PH. Satisfy Mrs GB's curiosity (steady you lot!!), and lets see what you've got.....

Dracoro

8,783 posts

251 months

Sunday 10th January 2010
quotequote all
In context of team sports, I always remembered it as follows:
1 main official/decision maker - referees.
2 decision makers (equal powers etc.) - umpires.

So football and rugby have referees (1 main official)
Hockey and Cricket have umpires (2 main officials)

Been discussed before and I can't remember if there's a "rule" about umpires/referees. Some sports have both (Tennis for example).