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It would be a lie to say nobody (that is outside a cave) has not heard of football, especially now. The World Cup fever and pre-tournament build-up is ON. The beautiful game in the host nation, Brazil. There couldn’t be a place more passionate about football than the Seleção’s own nation. A fantastic host of World Cup ads have been coming out. Check them out! FIFA has also created the participating nations’ profiles. See Brazil’s. This is the four year continuous reminder for every young referee why we are working so hard. New football stars will emerge and upsets in the making to behold. It’s hard to believe I was in Soccer City, Johannesburg only four years ago watching Howard Webb’s management of Netherlands-Spain final and...

The World Cup referees are in Brazil, but how do they train? Getty Images shot some photo’s during 2014′s Confederations Cup which online media are able to embed on their news and editorial pages. On the 6th of June their … Continue reading → Continue reading...

Cause & Effect Chart I’ve been employing a very strategic method of dealing with my areas for improvement in refereeing. Before the season started, I reviewed all of last year’s assessments and the collective feedback and constructed a two-column table. I noted the problems and removed the similarities, I had found a cause of potential issues in the game. I then classified it under the areas of the game it could affect in the seven areas below (could have multiple). Application of Law Positioning, Fitness & Work Rate Alertness & Awareness: Including Management of Stoppages Communication Teamwork Advantage Match Control This was very useful because I am able to reflect and see a direct correlation on the effect on a game and helps...

The World Cup referees arrived already in Brazil. But where do they stay and where do they have to train? “As for the teams the referees have to undergo a thorough qualification process”, says Massimo Busacca, Fifa’s head of refereeing. … Continue reading → Continue reading...

This was a hectic day because from nothing to a very tiring day with two heavy games. Also imagine that. A post dedicated to just one day of football. Game #1 I initially had this designated as laundry day and I was worn out from the week from running around for errands or games with late nights and early mornings. My plan was to sleep in on Sunday and fully recover but I groggily woke up at 11am (I had planned to wake up later) to find a message of a scheduler looking for a referee in the adjacent district for a Mens league game. I quickly judged the situation; 80km trip, 4.5 hour commitment. I needed to rent a car for any hope to get to this. I did a quick financial feasibility check. I would still be in the green to go but 81% of...

2:24 am, 15th of January 2014. An e-mail was sent to Mark Geiger from Uefa Headquarters with the news that he’d be a referee at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. “I woke up to an email and a couple … Continue reading → Continue reading...

Refereeing is absolutely not a walk in the park (despite what my posts on the blog may lead you to believe). ;) There’s definitely some lost sleep over it and some recently. It has its ups and downs. Speaking of which, World Cup is edging closer than ever and the fever is slowly catching on. With squad lists being posted, Howard Webb looking more like Bane from the Batman in his tropical fitness training, all eyes are slowly turning to Brazil. Hang on folks because almost everyone (football-lovers or not) is turning their heads. I watched a bit of Futsal early in the week. A colleague was playing and another colleague refereeing the game so to watch a fixture from the league’s debut season, I went to watch. A nice escape and great to...

Hi everyone, Predicting the World Cup referees in December and January was kind of difficult. That Fifa picked less match officials than previous tournaments did not make it easier. Viktor Kassai, not chosen for this World Cup, was even picked … Continue reading → Continue reading...

When a referee didn’t turn up Joel Aguilar from El Salvador had to pick up the whistle. “When I was asked to be the referee I said no at first because I liked playing and in fact had poor relations … Continue reading → Continue reading...

As games are coming up, I expect there to be more blog posts since there is more to talk about but let’s see what time I have to unload them all! Road trip at the start of the week and a long one considering it was the first time on my own. Why you ask? To meet an Aussie! He had my… adidas 2014 kits of course. With the season ramping up and the latest World Cup around, I had to update my kit. The kits felt much lighter than the 2010 counterpart and so more comfortable. Only time will tell if that is indeed the case. My primary pair of adidas mundial team shoes which I use on grass had been looking worse for wear so I gave it a bit of a cleaning and in-sole replacement. I have found that other than colour fading, the in-soles have...

Yuichi Nishimura is a big contestant of becoming the first Asian World Cup final referee. The 42-year-old referee from Japan has already shown his skills during the 2010 World Cup with a quarter final and the appointment as 4th official … Continue reading → Continue reading...

My attempt at a blog sort of thing: http://joshuabrayshaw.wordpress.com/ Feedback Appreciated! Thanks

How a bit of jealousy can help you grow as referee. A post on Lifehack made me think about jealous referees. It’s the end of the season and your refereeing colleague got a nice play-off match that you’d like to … Continue reading → Continue reading...

The anticipation for the first game is always high considering there is more than six months indoors. I planned every element of the pre-game build-up. Having arrived a little more than 48 hours before kick-off, my first priority was re-aligning sleep schedule so that I was mentally prepared. The first night I had to sleep in three shift segments. I spent the day after watching the first day’s tournament games and was out for 5 hours. This helped me stay awake for the rest of the day but I was worn out by the time I got home and was out like a light. I didn’t have my entire kit with me for the games; just my umbro and I co-ordinated with the rest of my crew to make sure they at least matched as assistants; they wore the 2014 kits. The...

Björn Kuipers was a football player every referee would hate. The 16-year-old captain of his team couldn’t stop whining at the man in black about wrong decisions. Not once, e-ve-ry match. As a player he was the complete opposite of … Continue reading → Continue reading...

The most notable item of the week is the travel. Long trip and jet lag to recover from. Abu Dhabi Airport Frankfurt Airport I even spent a bit of time wandering around trying to sort out living arrangements but managed to call a lot of colleagues and have a chat. Before travelling, a lot of co-ordinating with e-mails pre-season and catching up on the latest updates through Skype. I also played my dad in FIFA while watching the BPL Liverpool-Manchester City finale. The La Liga decider match was another thriller during the week. It was interesting to see Lahoz’s refereeing style and combination of firmness and smiles during the game. Champions League final is also coming up soon. Another surprising piece of news was...

I haven't posted since October partly because I received some advice on running the blog and partly because I got busy. I got busy refereeing open age football, refereeing junior football, assessing promotion candidates, assessing Supply league referees (and assistants), arranging fixtures, appointing referees, tutoring new referees, appraising referee tutors and coming to a tough decision. Since October I've refereed with my body constantly protesting. It protested through sore joints, erratic heart rates and sleepless nights caused by number or and two on this list. I therefore decided after being appointed to a County Final (U16 4th Official) and local Sunday League Final (referee), that I would hang up my whistle. 14 years and 4...

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.

Aran Hodgkinson is a young referee from the UK who got the opportunity to referee and train two weeks in Portugal. What a great chance for him. On his blog Aran Hodgkinson shares his experiences with the world. The first … Continue reading → Continue reading...

Uefa referee boss Pierluigi Collina supports the use of the sin bin in football matches. “We are going to introduce a new rule into football”, Collina told in Turin before the Europa League final to the media. According to Reuters … Continue reading → Continue reading...