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Hi all, I've started a new blog. It is the first I've ever written so I'm still getting the hang of things! Here are my first couple of offerings: http://thefacebehindtheref.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/hello-im-james-and-ill-be-your-referee.html http://thefacebehindtheref.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/last-nights-game.html Enjoy. Comments welcome! :)

Referee’s got a lot to endure during a soccer match. Fans, coaches and players are the biggest critics, even if they’re most of the time not good informed of what actually happened. Dick Jol's twitter photo That’s why the referee organisation of West-Friesland initiated a exhibition match on the 8th of November where former professional referee Dick Jol explains all his crucial decisions publicly via the stadium sound system. “It also forces a referee to declare his decisions in clear and concise terms and, if necessary, give some extra explanation”, says initiator Rodric Leerling in a statement. The referee came up with the idea due to his life in the New York area, where he saw the so-called referee-signal-system in American...

This part is almost exclusively for the weekend’s activities. Saturday I had a very interesting game on the Saturday. I had never officiated at this level before and it was a promising prospect. I had been fretting a bit about getting some business wear together because pre-game attire was a suit! I hadn’t worn one for years including a shirt. I’m so used to wearing t-shirts including at work because it just worked that way in my field of work. The closest I had got to was business casual for certain games. I ensured I had everything ready the night before so I could find it easily the next day and just in case I needed to borrow something last minute from someone. This photo isn’t great considering it’s on my wrinkly bed...

So if you have practiced Law questions before, you may have come across areferee.com. I did dozens and dozens of these quizzes late last year so much so that I’ve exhausted the question bank of 772 questions which were repeated many times across the various quizzes. I highly recommend it to any referee looking to improve their knowledge of the LOTG and to be open-minded on various scenarios that could develop off some half-described scenarios. I did have a mission to achieve 50/50 on a 50-question quiz over the past off-season but had no luck. I recommend trying the same but I’m sure you’ll find the mutual feeling below on some questions that mark your answer wrong. It’s addicting yet extremely annoying at times because of the...

Netherlands has a good chance to beat Germany at tonight’s Euro 2012 clash in group B. At least, if we base our conclusions on referee’s hair stats of previous matches between the two teams. Dutch graphic design student Bart Corré analysed all previous 38 matches between the two teams for his graduation thesis (pdf). Germany scored 56 points in them, Holland 44. The Netherlands will also not win based on the nationality of the referee: both teams scored totally 7 points each with a Swedish referee. Tonight’s referee is Jonas Eriksson and this important clash in group B is his first match of the tournament. It’s also not the colour of the referee’s shirt which makes Holland win. Actually, the Germans have won more games (out of 35) with...

At times during Pre season games there's a bit more of a relaxed attitude. Situations are managed a bit more and if a players gets a bit out hand he is subbed. However there has to still be an element of credibility and if your going to go in like this during a game pre season or not you should still expect punishment! All the blog posts I had seen on this and the video didn't show a red card. So I went looking for a match report. There didn't seem to be one on the Newport County site. However on the WalesOnline site there is a match report. I quote But as Lee then worked his way across the field, Miller brought his run to a stop with a lunging tackle and the game was delayed for 10 minutes as medics attended him. Miller, who...

It’s time for Week 3 Laws of the Game Quiz 2019-2020. A quick correction from last week’s quiz. The question last week should have mentioned whether it was a careless or reckless challenge. I’ve been in touch with IFAB about the question where the sanction is administered at the next stoppage, because you let the […] 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...

I heard about this the other day but have only just seen the video. Last week Uruguay played Holland in a end of season "friendly". 30 minutes in Lugano "challenged" Van Persie. Amazingly this didn't result in a card. Continue reading...

The FA have today confirmed the officials for this years FA Cup Final between Wigan and Man CIty Referee Andre Marriner‘s Assistant Referees Stephen Child (London FA)‬ and Simon Long (Cornwall FA)‬ Fourth Official. Anthony Taylor (Cheshire FA)‬ Reserve Assistant Referee. Gary Beswick (Durham FA) Related Articles Andre Marriner to referee FA Cup final between Man City and Wigan (thesun.co.uk) Marriner to referee FA Cup final (bbc.co.uk) Marriner named as FA Cup final referee (espnfc.com) Whistle for it! Andre Marriner to referee FA Cup Final between Wigan and Man City (mirror.co.uk) Marriner to take charge of FA Cup final (manchestereveningnews.co.uk) Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Andre Marriner, Anthony Taylor, Assistant...

Tuesday I got a very nice game as an assistant referee during a match of the Dutch u15 National Team against Sparta Rotterdam. A friend of mine was referee during this friendly and he asked me to be one of … Continue reading → Continue reading...

It's been a torrid time this term for the son of current Cheltenham Town boss Gary. Having played for Watford and Arsenal The post Lee Johnson: ‘Let’s find the funds to turn more refs pro’ appeared first on You Are The Ref. Continue reading...

The Dutch Danny Makkelie took charge of the UEL final between Sevilla and Internazionale. The game had all the ingredients a final needs, with a very high-tempo first half and 4 goals scored within the first 35 minutes of the match. The Officials Referee: Danny Makkelie, 🇳🇱 Assistants: Mario Diks, Hessel Steegstra 🇳🇱 Fourth official: Anastasios Sidiropolous 🇬🇷 VAR: Jochem Kamphuis 🇳🇱 VAR assistants: Kevin Blom 🇳🇱, Pawel Gil 🇵🇱 Offside VAR: Pawel Sokolnicki 🇵🇱 FIRST HALF Not even the time to settle into the match that the official had their first big decision to make. In the 3rd minute, Lukaku took flight on a counter attack and was taken down but Diego Carlos in the Sevilla penalty area. Makkelie was not too close to play...

Referees in the media will be published at the beginning of the week on the Dutch Referee Blog and provides remarkable or interesting quotes and links to articles worth reading. “Only Stindl had paid attention to it and counted correctly. He mentioned the mistake to his coach Mirko Slomka and the club reported it to the DFL (German Footbal League, jth) and they observed the failure too. Consequence: The midfield player is missing the match on Tuesday against Greuther Fürth.” It’s not a quote by a referee, but a translation from German newspaper Bild. Referee Christian Dingert has shown Lars Stindl form Hannover’96 a yellow card during the match against Frankfurt, but it was not shown in the Bundesliga statistics nor on the referee...

After straining my Achilles last Monday I took Wednesday and Friday's sessions off to give it time to recover. I had another reason for that as I was working on the first of the 2011-12 season's Basic Courses for New Referees over Saturday and Sunday. 18 candidates turned up, most under the age of 16 and that brought some challenges but we overcame them. The outdoor sessions worked well, even though we had reduced the number of tutors from 4 to 3. Indoors, matters were even more straight forward. The only problem was the heat. It was the hottest and sunniest day of the year. I've suffered from sunstroke and heatstroke before but combining symptoms with a bad reaction to what I ate on Saturday evening (spicy platter from ASDA...

Today, the second edition of SummerRefs has something special: the referee comes from southern hemispere, so this actually is a WinterRefs. In this section refs from all over the world and all with different experiences will tell about their refereeing career and how they prepare for next season during this summer break. Each Saturday a new profile will be posted online, and the second person who answers the five questions (5W’s) is Mike Cowie from New Zealand. Name: Mike Cowie Age: 20 Hometown: Christchurch, New Zealand Started refereeing: in 2007 Grade: Level 4 (Level 1 being the lowest) Mike Cowie Who do you think you are (as referee)? “I would hate to have to say “I am a referee similar to x,” but there are certainly a few...

‘Referees in the media’ will be published each Monday on the Dutch Referee Blog and provides remarkable or interesting quotes and links to articles worth reading. “When the referee understood Czech, he got one more non-native language than I got.” Says goalie Dennis Eilhoff from Dynamo Dresden ironically. He took the stand for his Czech colleague Pavel Fort who got send off. According to Eilhoff referee Tobias Stieler misunderstood the words of the Czech player. I should have given PSV Eindhoven that penalty. Eric Braamhaar regrets he didn’t see the offence on Georginio Wijnaldum from PSV. He came back to his decision after the match and admitted he was wrong. I spoke many times with the referee about it, I didn’t understand. By Thiago...

Adrian Skeete has officiated his last match for 2011 already. The season final was this week. “And it went well”, says the referee from Barbados. This is the second part of an interview by Dutch Referee Blog with him. You can read part one here. How do Concacaf and Fifa support you in becoming a top referee? “I’m in the Refereee’s Assistance Programme, which is a project put together by FIFA to assist in the growth and development and all referees. Making sure we interpret, and implement the LOTG the game, providing fit, healthy, consistent quality referees in the region.” Logo Concacaf “To date there are no full-time or professional Referees in the Caribbean Football Union. This, however, is not because of lack of talent, fitness, or...

School boy football lesson 1, DO NOT TAKE YOUR EYES OFF THE BALL! Seen via the Offside.com Continue reading...

“I’ll come down when I can. I’d love to be involved in the first game, a pre-season friendly. That would be magnificent for me te be involved in that”, says referee Howard Webb about Rotherham United, his favourite football club, which is building a new stadium at the moment. Watch the rest of the interview here. Continue reading...