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Hi, hope you're in for a longer read, as Jan Vorstenbosch, a Dutch philosopher who happens to be crazy about football, extends his views on the introduction of goal-line technology in football. The original article is from 2013, which is why, at my request, he recently added a postscriptum. Jan is working on a book that will include a chapter on referees, so your views will be most welcome: http://refereeingbooks.eu/ill-have-a-ref-thank-you-by-jan-vorstenbosch/

How the national squad of Eritrea ended up in a small Dutch town. Read their story: Eritrea. The article (which is about nine months old) has even sparked a documentary, which can be viewed here. Please note that it is in Dutch.

http://jackprescott97.wordpress.com I've decided that I'm going to keep my blog posts quite short over summer and hopefully include some more once the football season starts again. Any feedback is welcome and hope you enjoy.

Could try harder ... Not really something that could have been said about my efforts last night on the field as I really put in a hard shift. It seems unfortunately that it was a little too much for my frail (ha ha) 113Kg frame and I've strained my Achilles. It means it's painful to walk and it seems likely that tomorrow's training will have to consist of me watching other people train. It has improved as the day has progressed so may loosen up enough for me to be able to do some light jogging but it seems that high impact work is out for a few days.

I have added a new feature to the blog to make it easy to comment. I find that while posts get decent hits, that the comments left are non existent. One reason maybe that it was a bit of a pain to use the system. I have though added Disqus comments. Basicaly they allow you to comment using your social network type accounts as well as just using the standard comment system. So if this has worked if you click on comments, you should see a new box below. Continue reading...

Uefa have confirmed the officials for Saturdays Champion League Final between Barcelona and Manchester United. The match will be Officiated by a Hungarian set of officials. The Referee is Viktor Kassai who made his international debut in 2001. He has officiated more than 60 UEFA matches in his refereeing career, including, among others, the round of 16 first leg between FC Internazionale Milano and FC Bayern Munich, as well as the group-stage match between Valencia CF and Manchester United FC. He will be assisted by Gabor Eros and György Ring. The 4th official will be Istvan Vad and the two additional assistant referees are Mihaly Fabian and Tamas Bognar. A reserve assistant referee – Robert Kispal – completes the line-up of the...

Check this video out, its a bit of a different approach to taking a free kick. Technically there is nothing wrong with it. However you could argue its a distraction tactic and maybe if you were that way inclined make them retake it. What's your thoughts on it? Add them to the comments below. Seen via Soccerblog Continue reading...

In The Netherlands the Week of the Referee has just started and many people paid attention to it on Twitter with the hashtag #ScheidsBedankt – meaning Ref, thanks. A website called De Aanvoerders asked players to take a selfie with … Continue reading → Continue reading...

A 1 hour referee training session, again at The Hague’s referee association. Check out the other 1 hour training session there. Do a warm-up for 10 to 15 minutes. Make sure to jog yourselves war first and then do exercises to Check out tips for a proper warm-up for referees. Or check the video with […] Continue reading...

The 10 best read stories on Dutch Referee Blog for 2017. Enjoy them and please let me know on jan@dutchreferee.com what you want to learn next year and I’ll try to write some interesting stories about that topic. In the next few days I’ll come up with a series on goal-setting and giving your referee […] Continue reading...

Found the picture below on Twitter about 10 rules of football as a kid. I have good memories about playing football when I was young. I played a lot. There was always some time left to play football. On the … Continue reading → Continue reading...

In this blog post you’ll find 10 ways to be a better referee mentor. Because I like them so much, I asked AYSO to use their list on my blog. When mentoring new referees, keep this in mind. Be sure to get the person’s approval to be mentored. Nobody likes unsolicited advice! Help the person […] Continue reading...

A Dutch court has convicted a football player to 100 hours of community service after a tackle on the football pitch. The victim, who broke two legs, also receives 9.000 euro’s financial compensation for this physical abuse. The judge realises the player is challenging an opponent for the ball. And although his intentions were good, […] Continue reading...

Another headline that triggered me in a negative way: 12 players sent off in Argentinian 3rd league match. That’s not how football should be. Deportivo Roca’s played Cipolletti and a player was fouled. The referee gave a yellow card for … Continue reading → Continue reading...

Referees, always make sure have the number of the FA office in your cellphone, just in case you forgot the latest changes in the football rules. The Dutch women’s match between Odysseus’91 and Wartburgia on second amateur level was stopped for at least fifteen minutes, because referee Nielen was not sure he made the right decision. He awarded a penalty kick for the away team. The taker shot the ball on the post and after that she kicked the ball into the net. Nielen’s decision: no goal, because a player can’t touch the ball twice after a free kick or penalty kick. But the Wartburgia assistant referee (Dutch system only has refereeing trio’s from the FA at highest levels) said the rules had been changed, so the goal should count. Nielen...

The 2012-2013 final referees are announced by Uefa and they are all really looking forward to their appointments in European finals. Referee Uefa Women’s Champions League Romanian referee Teodora Albon is appointed as the UEFA Women’s Champions League final between … Continue reading → The post 2012-2013 final referees ready for their top matches appeared first on Football: Dutch Referee Blog for match officials. Continue reading...

2018 Europa League final 2018 referee is Björn Kuipers. He will officiate the game between Marseille and Atlético Madrid. The game starts at 20.45h (CET). But Kuipers’ day starts much earlier. During the day he does the match preparation with his assistant referees and two hours before the game he moves to the stadium. But […] Continue reading...

It’s my 2019 birthday. And that’s a reason for me to give a nice referee whistle away. RefsWorld UK has sent me lots of gifts and I’ll give a whistle away to one of my readers. All you have to do is share your goal for 2019 as a referee. Check out the video below […] Continue reading...

2020 UEFA Champions League final referee is Daniele Orsato. He will officiate the game between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich. The final will be held in the Benfica stadium in Lisbon at 9pm CET on Sunday August 23rd. From Uefa.com: The 44-year-old Italian, an international referee since 2010, will be taking charge of his first major […] Continue reading...

The 2020 UEFA Europa League final referee is Danny Makkelie. Uefa appointed him and his Dutch team for the game between Sevilla and Internazionale. “This is a dream come true”, says Danny Makkelie on the KNVB website. “Being on the field during a European final is one of the highest achievements.” “I see the Europa […] Continue reading...