BARRIE Stimpson has played for both Morecambe and Lancaster City - there's nothing strange about that - but the fact that he actually lives in the area is a novelty.

We think that makes him the perfect man to discuss local football which is why we've signed him up for our Sports team. Here's the second in his series of monthly columns Well, the FA Cup is out of the way after three highly entertaining local derbys which generated good revenue for both clubs with 8,000 people watching the ties.

I only hope a few of the people cheering for Lancaster (about 1,000 fans each game) will continue to support the city's club. They can only have been impressed by the quality of football and their continued support would be a massive bonus.

Back to league action now and the Shrimps must be looking to consolidate their position. If they can win one or two of their games in hand, they will be (dare I say it) among the championship contenders. I was talking to Burnsie (Paul Burns) and Justin (Jackson) the other day and you can certainly sense the air of confidence within their camp.

Meanwhile, at the Axe we realise we need to start accumulating some league points. It is not enough to be constantly told by the opposition "you are the best football team we've played this season" when we haven't picked up all three points.

However, we are confident with all the games in hand we have, that we will turn the corner and secure a top ten league position.

Finally, I was having a pint in the Plough the other week with my good friend and Football League referee Dave Allison. I was pointing out to Dave that the standard of refereeing from Premiership to Unibond was rubbish, Dave defended the individuals and opted to blame FIFA directives for not allowing refs to 'man manage' anymore.

When he went to powder his nose, I found some of these much-talked about directives in his bag. They included:

if in doubt - give any decision in favour of the home team

be deaf to all constructive comments and questions but regain your hearing when an opportunity arises to caution an individual

remember people have not paid to watch the 22 players so make sure you are the centre of attention at all times.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.