Members Blogs

New toys for referee’s boys (or girls): the playmobil referees. You can buy them for 9,59 US dollars at Amazon.com. Continue reading...

‘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. “It really is something that is a once in a lifetime opportunity.” Sean Hurd, Olympic football referee in London. “We had this minor panic when that came in, thinking, what are we going to do?! But ultimately, the referees in Fifa don’t make goal line mistakes so we’ve really already got it.” Says Fifa 13 lead producer Dave Rutter to The Guardian. Immediately adding: “That’s a cheat answer, I know!”. Read more about the new Fifa 13 on the Guardian Blog. “It’s time for my family and my undivided attention. God bless all future endeavours of my ref colleagues...

Fitness test, check. FA Contrib Meeting, check. Supply League Meeting, check. So, having done almost 250 miles, it's official. I am now a Level 4! Chelmsford for my fitness test, Dartford for my Contrib meeting and Tring for Supply meeting. The past 6 weeks have been harder and more stressful than the whole of the previous year trying to achieve promotion. The season is only 3 weeks away, although due to prior commitments, including my cousin's wedding, I won't be officiating on either Contrib or zsupply until September! So, how should I as an official (and any officials reading this) prepare for the upcoming season? Lots of people do it differently. I know guys who do 10 or more pre-season 'friendlies' (that's a WHOLE other blog!)...

I just bought this armband for my smartphone. Reason: I want to get an idea of how much I run while practising and maybe even when officiating a match. Hopefully you can help me. Does anyone of you have experience with running apps? I’ve used Runtastic (free version) once, but would like to try other alternatives. Which app has been useful to you? Does someone know if there are running stats of professional referees? I’ve found many of Champions League and Europa League players, but not of the officials. Would be nice to have a look at that stats too. Continue reading...

I was desperate to do more matches. I got an e-mail about pre-seasons friendly but I learnt quickly that referees are very quick off the mark and as soon as they get an e-mail about a pre-season friendly they reply within seconds. I missed out on a few - gutted!! I decided to "advertise" the fact I was looking for pre-seasons games on Twitter in my local area and asked Kent FA and other people to re-tweet it. Within a couple of days a manager made contact with me asking if I was willing to do Under13games. 100% yes. Any game is always good for me. We exchanged a few tweets and direct messages and numbers. He phoned me up and I still didn't catch the teams names but that didn't really matter to me, I got a game. I remember speaking to...

‘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. Because of my honeymoon an overview of the last four weeks. “I think in the future we will not stop the match, but we will give information to the referee, the (match) delegate and the clubs, and say that we suspect that this match has been fixed, and that we will be monitoring this match even more closely.” Norwegian FA president Yngve Hallen told Reuters about informing a referee when they suspect a match result is going to be fixed. As Reuters wrote: “The FA then took the unprecedented step of cancelling the game between Ullensaker/Kisa and Ham Kam. “I am...

Got this via a Dutch referee forum: a referee who sends a ball boy (pretty old one though) away. The match between ABC and Vitória in Brazilian Serie B was stopped by referee Wagner Reway to talk with a militarian and his fourth official. The latter walked around the field and summons the man to leave the pitch. See the video of the incident here: Continue reading...

The Dutch Referee Blog has been inactive for a few weeks. Good reason: my wedding and honeymoon Both were great. The blog is now back online, suggestions for interviews or articles are always welcome. I wish everyone a good holiday and preparation for next refereeing season. For who’s interested: more pics here from our photographer. Continue reading...

My 1st game of the season (2012/2013) was a pre-season friendly. I would be the asst ref for the game. I was told it was Bearstead Youth v Maidstone Utd. I assumed it would be Maidstone utd youth team - but I later found out how wrong I was!! On Saturday 7th July I woke up and had a relaxing morning. I then look in my diary on my phone and see 1300 game. Its 1130 and I start to panic thinking it's a 1300 KO and not, as I later found out, be there for 1300!! I start to rush round the house getting changed and getting my bag by the front door. I cant get hold of the referee and I start to panic even more. I get in my car and notice I have enough diesel to get me to the end of the road and that was it. PANTS!. I quickly fill up with the...

Hi all, I have just completed my 1st blog on my game on Saturday. I plan on doing this for every game (hopefully) for the rest of the season. I am doing this to pass pm hints and tips to other referees that I pick up and also to see how I progress during the season and to look back at games and remember things and how i have improved (hopefully!). I hope you enjoy reading it. http://thematchoffical.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/my-1st-pre-season-friendly.html

I apologise for leaving readers hanging after my post about warming up posted more than 4 weeks ago but there has been some football to watch and comment on (Euro 2012) with games on TV for the last 11 nights. In addition, both my wife and son have suffered injuries incurred while horse riding and although their injuries weren't serious, my wife is still experiencing some discomfort after nearly two weeks. It caused a bit of disruption to our usual routine as you can imagine. So hopefully you haven't all been training and then suffering from DOMS (Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness) for want of an effective warm down! My warm down is intended to ease your muscles back towards a rested state as well as trying to drive any lactic acid...

The new referee shirts for the 2012/2013 Champions League season have been released. I’d prefer previous editions. What do you think of them? Photo’s by RefereeWorld. Prices: 36,95 euro (short sleeve), 40,65 euro (long sleeve), 29,95 euro (short) and 8,95 euro (socks). Continue reading...

Hello! I decided during the 2011-12 season that I wanted to start a blog. The blog is going to be mainly about refereeing (football), both my own games/experiences and what I witness on TV. Please leave your suggestions/comments and if there's anything you'd like me to comment on. I am a Level 4 referee, which means I referee in the Supply Leagues (Spartan South Midlands) and I am on the Contributory List of Assistant Referee's. This season, 2012-13, will be my first as a Level 4 and it's something I'm greatly excited about! The referee's level system is different to coaches with Level 1 being the top and Level 9 being a referee who's recently qualified and is completing their process. (Level 10 is a qualified but inactive referee)...

Right, having decided that I'd do it, it's now up and running! First 'introductory' post up, first main blog to follow next week! Excited for it! www.yelloworred.blogspot.com

This made me smile: an assistant referee in match between Corinthians and Santos in action spraying paint on the pitch. Look at that ‘circle’. Continue reading...

Seen lot’s of discussions about the Ukrainian goal that didn’t count. But the decision from the extra assisant is not the first mistake. Got this picture via BBC journalist Jacqui Oatley, which showed that Viktor Kassai’s AR missed an offside first. Artem Milevskiy (center) got the ball from the Ukrainian left back, and the image below shows that he is probably (can’t see full pitch) is offside. Most newspapers in Holland missed that. What about that in your country? Photo via Twitter of BBC Journalist @JacquiOatley I’m wondering if this will influence which referee teams are going home today. I bet so. Who do you think will stay in Poland and Ukraine for the final rounds? And why? Continue reading...

‘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. The first winners of the European Championship football are set: the referees. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an analysis after one third of all matches during Euro 2012. “I’ve always loved watching football, but never got involved in playing it. When I went on a course to learn how to become a referee it was terrifying, but also the most amazing thing I’ve ever done.” Lorraine Deschamps is appointed MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. ‘The mother-of-two became one of only two women to qualify as a level four tutor for football referees, around 14...

Saturday 16th Czech Republic vs Poland Referee Craig Thomson (SCO) Assistant referees Alasdair Ross (SCO), Derek Rose (SCO) Additional assistant referees William Collum (SCO), Euan Norris (SCO) Fourth official Fredy Fautrel (FRA) Reserve official Frédéric Cano (FRA) Thomson has worked at the FIFA U-17 World Cup, although his career highlights remain his ‘Old Firm’ games between Celtic FC and Rangers FC, the 2007, 2010 and 2011 Scottish League Cup finals and the 2009 Scottish Cup final. He officiated the Denmark vs Portugal thriller during matchday 2. Greece vs Russia Referee Jonas Eriksson (SWE) Assistant referees Stefan Wittberg (SWE), Mathias Klasenius (SWE) Additional assistant referees Markus Strömbergsson (SWE), Stefan...

The lucky people who get to be blamed for Englands performance tonight against Sweden are Referee Damir Skomina (SVN) Assistant referees Primož Arhar (SVN), Matej Žunič (SVN) Additional assistant referees Matej Jug (SVN), Slavko Vinčić (SVN) Fourth official Florian Meyer (GER) Reserve official Jan-Hendrik Salver (GER) Damir is 36 years old and Referee’d the Denmark vs Holland game earlier in the tournament. Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Assistant referee (association football), England, Euro2012, referee, UEFA Continue reading...

The match officials for todays Ukraine vs France match at Euro 2012 are Referee Björn Kuipers (NED) Assistant referees Sander van Roekel (NED), Erwin Zeinstra (NED) Additional assistant referees Pol van Boekel (NED), Richard Liesveld (NED) Fourth official Tom Harald Hagen (NOR) Reserve official Damien MacGraith (IRL) Björn Kuipers has been a FIFA referee since 2006 and refereed the Croatia vs Ireland match earlier in the tournament. Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Assistant referee (association football), England, Euro2012, France, referee, Sports, UEFA, Ukraine Continue reading...