It’s always interesting to listen to the Referees World podcast in the car driving home from work. In January’s edition they interview Martin Underhay. This former football goes for refereeing at the moment. He has been playing football for years and felt he was not finished yet in this sport. He easily found out being […]
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You might think you’re ready for all your games. You are a physically fit referee, but you still don’t earn your promotion or some negatives thoughts are keeping you behind the others. That’s because you find it difficult to deal with negative feelings or you don’t know how to deal with setbacks. “Now is the […]
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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
What if you’re not focused as assistant referee? You’ll give multiple different signals to a referee. A video of that plus more in this week’s referee news. But first the biggest referee news: UEFA approves goalline technology for use at Euro 2016. There will still be extra officials behind the goal line. Good idea? Read […]
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I got the chance to meet online with Seth Galia, a young referee from Gibraltar. I asked him to answer a few questions for my blog on how it is to officiate in a small country like Gibraltar and how he stays focused during the games. Here is his story: “My name is Seth Galia. […]
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This scenario is not all that common in a football match. It was a while before I truly appreciated the mechanics behind it and it requires a closer look to understand what was really going on. Picture this. Scenario Ball kicked high into the air. Two players jostling for position where it’s about to land. […]
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Hi - finally posted another review, this time of Welsh referee Mervyn 'Merv' Griffiths: click here
Concentration is so important for referees. You can train your brain to focus on the right things. There are some things you can do during the game, but there’s another useful thing: concentration training as match preparation. There are lots of things you can do at home. As PGMOL’s sports psychologist Liam Slack says: the […]
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As a referee it’s quite difficult to stay focused for 90 minutes. Just as you are watching a player being challenged, a coach yells, the crowd sings and you’ll hear another player shouting he got punched. Too much information all at once. But you still need to make the right call. Earlier on I explained the […]
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2016 could be your year as a referee. But you won’t improve your skills without putting much effort in it. Refereeing is hard work – especcially when you want to get better. That’s my goal as well. I want to help you getting better by publishing useful information on my blog. I’ll do that by […]
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It looks like it can’t go wrong any more for those who want to start the tests with video referee in football. IFAB, the international organisation who decides on changes of the football rules, gave a strong recommendation for experiments with this new technique. The final decision will be made during the 130th Annual General […]
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Reflection and goal-setting is how the ambitious achieve what seems impossible to the ordinary. As a result, I’ll be keeping in check with this habit and giving me more accountability in developing as a referee and a blogger. Common Sense Easier said than done. I approached 2014 believing this wasn’t difficult and that I needed to […]
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It’s a quiet week having returned from a long haul flight but things are about to return to normal with the refereeing routine. Almost a month off since the last game. What is tomorrow? The first assessment in almost a year and a half and I’m looking forward to the game. Referee bags prepped but […]
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Have a look at the best referee stories of 2015. The Fifa fitness test for referees and assistants. By far the most popular story on my referee blog. A useful test for who wants to check how they physically perform and if they can keep up with the top refs. Offside exercises for assistant referees. […]
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A round-up of weekly referee news from around the world. Cuneyt Cakir referee of the year 2015, say the experts of The 3rd team. And more news and interesting links below. The news of last week was the announcement of the headline on the blog the 3rd team. Their experts say: Cuneyt Cakir referee of […]
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Do we need video referees in football and how will they be used? The Football Association in England has send the professional clubs a survey about the use of it. “Video referee in Premier League step closer”, writes the Daily Mail. The use of goal-line technology started in 2013 in the Premier League. First time […]
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Day 4 I came into Day 4 with three goals: Aiming for the highest appointments Selling referee equipment to at least one referee Learning the names of as many referees on the roster as I could This was a nerve-wracking day. They would announce who would be appointed to what game and the appointments would […]
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Bjorn Kuipers is on one of the referees for Euro 2016. He is picked along with 17 other referees. Two referees from England are selected. That means that both Martin Atkinson and Mark Clattenburg will join Kuipers in France for the European Championships. Full list of referees for Euro 2016 Martin Atkinson (England) Felix Brych […]
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Want to have a laugh? Watch Teofilo Gutierrez in the Europa League this week. He got booked for stealing referee spray from German referee Manuel Grafe. What would you do in this situation?
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Uefa has come up with the new lists of referee promotions and demotions. The Uefa referee categories for winter 2015-2016 are already published in the blog The 3rd Team. Last summer Uefa promoted refs to the Elite group. This time the biggest changes are the new referees in the First Group. Promotions To Elite group: […]
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