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No games during the week. No training either. I decided that it would be good to have a full 5 days with no intense physical activity involving the legs other than generally walking. It was also a major transition in schedule as I moved from work to classes so it was useful to slow things down. I’ve had plenty of reflection on match control and how it has affected certain games throughout my career that have been memorable. It will be interesting to try out some new techniques when I next have the chance. All the action was the weekend. Saturday was a return to action and I was raring to go and get a good run in. I got ready in everything but the suit jacket. The referee picked me up and it was another game in close proximity. It...

It’s a special year for Darren Cann. First of all the big news of his long-term partner Howard Webb who announced his retirement this summer. Secondly, Darren Cann officiated his last international tournament during the World Cup in Brazil, because … Continue reading → Continue reading...

A fellow referee and I, went to play some FIFA. Needless to say he was destroyed the first game since he wasn’t used to the console. He improved over the last few games but I was the overall winner! After the games, it was time to officiate some real games. I was doing some recreational womens games over the long weekend. It was a fairly quiet game overall. It was one of those games where I needed to maintain a high level of focus and concentration to ensure I didn’t miss anything because a minute switched off is all it takes. I also worked with a personable crew. Tuesday and Wednesday were break days so I used Wednesday evening for some light jogging. On a side note, my running loop was meant to drop off gamesheets in the...

Can you be in offside position from a corner kick? This referee tends to give a throw-in, but then takes over his AR’s signal for offside, which is not possible from a corner kick (plus goalk kick or throw-in). Would … Continue reading → Continue reading...

Monday off because I was moving. Do you know how stressful moving is? This was part one of the first move I was making. Second part was the next day and the second move on Friday. A fellow referee helped me out and I was able to move half my belongings to a temporary spot. Tuesday I had another exhibition game with the same home team exactly one week after the previous. The moving the two hours before was heavy-lifting and I was relieved I had everything done before my game. I certainly didn’t need a warm-up after it. I was fully moved out by then. All these shelves had my ref stuff on them. I found the dressing room and got changed quickly before the rest of my crew arrived and we went out to the field awaiting the field...

I’ll try to show you more stories of young talented referees on my blog. That’s why I asked some questions to Mitchell Terry, 17 years old and living in Wootton Bassett, Swindon. He is a level 7 referee currently affiliated … Continue reading → Continue reading...

On the Facebook page of Interessengemeinschaft Schiedsrichter, a German referee website, are the new Adidas Champions League 2014-2015 kits released. The moderator allowed me to show you those pictures as well. What do you think of the new Adidas Champions … Continue reading → Continue reading...

A new badge for my referee badge collection: the Uefa Fair Play badge. Check out my full referee badge collection. Want to swap? Send me an e-mail on dutchreferee@gmail.com. Also interested in this Uefa Fair Play badge? Someone’s even selling … Continue reading → Continue reading...

A day’s rest that was well-used. Soon off for my next game on Saturday. I met to carpool with a senior and highly experienced referee in my area. He was also one of my favourite assessors since he breaks down the cause and effect relationship very well. It’s clear to see what I need to work on to resolve issues I have in the game. It goes a little beyond the identification process and more into analysis. It was also a longer than usual amount of time to chat with someone since we were travelling together which was a nice experience. I reflected on my season with him briefly in addition to two games (one he had assessed me on and another that he had worked with me on) that were both in pivotal moments of the season. With pre-game...

If you haven’t already tried these, you are missing out. Card skins are plastic see-through stickers that can be stuck onto a regular card and easily removed as well. What’s the difference between this and a write-on card you ask? Reasons why I love the card skins: No damage to cards when stuck on and peeled off Writing comes off easily Can be used with whichever set of cards I prefer to use Don’t need to use unless there is a shower (I’m old-fashioned enough to use paper match cards as long as I can) I prefer using large discipline yellow and red cards which is similar to the b&d (Germany) card sizing. I haven’t heard a single person say anything bad about this product yet. Why? Because it’s fantastic! Here’s a look at me...

I talked with George Postma, a Fifa instructor, about a course he gave about Beachsoccer refereeing in Tanzania. He went there in 2013, but story is still interesting to give an insight in what referees can do to develop refereeing … Continue reading → Continue reading...

Young match officials can become better by going to the Young Referee Development Programme. Thomas Whay was one of the guys who could go there and learn from it. Daniel Meeson, The FA’s National Referee Development Manager responsible for Volunteers, … Continue reading → Continue reading...

Referees are humans too right? They also take part in the social hype: check out video’s of the Referee Ice Bucket Challenge. For who doesn’t know what this challenge is, Wikpedia helps out: It is an “activity involving dumping a … Continue reading → Continue reading...

No games on the first day of the week but I was phoned by a younger referee nervous about getting his first official assessment. He was in the middle for a mid-competitive youth age group. Instead of lecturing him, I asked him how he had prepared and how he intended to go about doing certain aspects of the game. He seemed to be in the right frame of mind but just missing the confidence. After chatting for a few hours with him when he came over to my place, he calmed down and gave me a surprise hug and thanked me for settling him down. I think this is absolutely crucial to mention because it varies how the football season is and the intensity of games during the week. Foot care and fatigue. It’s absolutely crucial to take care of both...

This did not start off as a fun week. I was at work late on Monday. I mean quite late. I was at the bus stop waiting for the bus when the Assessment report e-mail had arrived. My heart was in my mouth. I knew it wouldn’t be good but the question is how bad. What feedback would I get? Start of week There wasn’t much which was rather disappointing and it wasn’t positive whatsoever either… I called a few friends to discuss. It was a bit of a numbing feeling. All I could then remember was the abuse I received during the game. I didn’t sleep very well that night. It was a huge blow to my self-confidence and made me question whether I was cut out for this. I went through four of the first five stages of grief for the rest of the week...

A Colombian lawyer sued Fifa over World Cup refereeing decisions in the quarter final match between his national team and Brazil. According to BBC he wants the world football governing body to pay him 1bn euros because of “moral damages”. … Continue reading → Continue reading...

A new case study from the German Super Cup between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. After Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the 2-0 for Dortmund he reaches behind is sock to get a superman mask. He was not cautioned by referee Peter … Continue reading → Continue reading...

Half the week is no refereeing but doesn’t mean training has stopped. Actually I have to be fair. This is my first training session all season because I haven’t had a break like this at all. Was good for the off-time to be controlled on my own terms but since it isn’t in-game, I notice fatigue more during training since there are no fouls to focus on. A great opportunity for recovery. In the meantime, I wrote up my first assessment report for an assistant referee as practice. Definitely felt time-consuming just doing it for one member of the crew. Now I know what it feels like doing a quality report for three officials! Definitely takes time. I’ve decided to wait till the end of the season to decide what becomes of my refereeing but...

Samuel Ranz is a young 22 year-old referee from Spain. “I don’t account on being a professional ref, that only happens to a very few of us”, he says. But he always wants to set a good performance on the … Continue reading → Continue reading...

Twitter exploded today after Howard Webb announced his new job as Technical Director. Here are 9 interesteing and inspiring quotes on Howard Webb’s retirement. 1. Howard Webb inspired many referes in England, as Pillaton-Referee tweets: Happy retirement #Howardwebb One of … Continue reading → Continue reading...