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Hi, Earlier this week saw the publication of a biography of Dutch elite referee Björn Kuipers. My compatriot Jan, of DutchReferee.com fame, was even present at the launch. The thing is, I'd like to sound you all out to see whether there is any interest among you for an English translation of...

Hi, Just noticed on Amazon.co.uk that Howard Webb's autobiography "The Man in the Middle" (not a particularly original title, seeing as David Elleray and before him Merv Griffiths (for the latter, see my review here) also used it) will be published in October of this year. The blurb on Amazon...

Hi all, Finally had time to post another entry, this one on the 1954 memoirs of former top amateur football player and subsequent sports writer/journalist Ivan Sharpe. Not the most modern of reads, but Sharpe had some very good ideas about football, some of which didn't get picked up on until...

Heard the other day that Robert (Bob) Evans, co-author with Edward Bellion of "The Art of Refereeing" and "For the Good of the Game", two of the better books about officiating, passed away earlier this week: Bob Evans. Thoroughly recommend these books. Sad that after Stanley Lover another...

A review of a totally different book this time. It deals with the earliest history of the FA and the LotG. Not much in it for active referees, but a must-read for historians of the game. Click here to read the review.

About 10 years ago, just after quitting refereeing, Jeff Winter published his memoirs. Hate him or like him, he does have something to say. Read more here. Don't be shy to comment ;)

The referee of the first ever World Cup final, in 1930, happened to be a Belgian: John Langenus. As fortune has it, he spoke Dutch. In fact, he even wrote in Dutch: memoirs of his refereeing career and the travels he made. Good for me, as I'm Dutch. And good for you, as I can tell you about it...

I just posted a review of a book by former Dutch top referee Leo Horn (who officiated the watershed England-Hungary match in 1953) about the 1974 World Cup: click here

Hi - finally posted another review, this time of Welsh referee Mervyn 'Merv' Griffiths: click here

Hi, I'm not certain this is the right forum, but I found this on FIFA's website: Busacca. Interesting thoughts and development.

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.

In addition to memoirs (Jack Taylor: World Soccer Referee), 1974 WC final referee Jack Taylor also wrote a short book in an attempt to encourage young people to take up refereeing. There's a brief review of this book on my website Refereeingbooks. Enjoy!

Hi, I posted another review this weekend, about 1970s favourite whipping boy referee Clive Thomas. Did you know he co-authored a book on fitness, training and nutrition that was actually quite good and in some ways ahead of his time? Yeah, it took me by surprise too. Read more here: Soccer...

Nobody here thinking Newcastle's fifth goal had a distinct offside odour? When Janmaat crosses the ball, Sissoko is in offside position, jumps for the ball, which he misses, whereupon Wijnaldum heads it in. My guess is that under the new interpretation the goal should have been disallowed. The...

Hello, Another rare book I've been trying to get my hands on for ages, unsuccessfully, is the autobiography of Dermot Gallagher, titled "Well Done! Dermot Gallagher!". It was published by Pennant Books in 2007 and has the following ISBN number: 9780955039430. If anyone on this forum has a copy...

Hi, I posted another book review last week, this one about It's a Knockout! favourite ump Arthur Ellis. Hope you like it! Here's the link: Refereeing round the World

Hi, being a collector of books about referees and refereeing, I'm constantly looking to expand my collection. For some time now I've been looking for this self-published book by former Welsh FIFA referee Gerrard Lewis titled "Between the Lines". It was published in 2007. I've been unable to...

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...

I guess you're all more used to Hello, but since I'm Dutch I thought a Dutch greeting would be nice :) Anyway, I'm Ben van Maaren, a translator from Gouda, Holland, and a ref of 27 years. Impossible to say what level, as football and therefore refereeing is organised way differently over here...