Members Blogs

This week it was announced that the Premier League are going to be working with clubs to talk to them about the run of dangerous challenges we have had recently. While its a positive move, I would also like to see the FA use the various media outlets (Sky, BBC, Web) to explain and share the DVD they will be using.This is a crucial step and will help educate everyone. Unfortunately it will kill the debate and Sky & BBC would never take part. This weekend we had the Robert Huth sending off. Which according to MOTD wasn't as his feet were on the floor and it wasn't two footed so it wasn't a sending off. ********!! Stoke City v Sunderland by kevnido Stoke City v Sunderland by kevnido It doesn't matter if a player is taken out by a foot...

Some how the fact that ESPN was free this weekend in the UK escaped me until this afternoon. On finding this out I quickly turned over and caught the back of Genoa vs Lazio. Amazingly the first thing I saw on turning on was this challenge. (Not the greatest video in the world ill admit) Now I don't get to see a lot of Serie A but how the heck was that not a red card. Now you can argue the Referee didn't see it, but he decides to play the advantage so in effect acknowledges there was contact. The rest of the highlights if you want to watch Continue reading...

A collection of news links that explain themselves! ROBERTO MARTINEZ claims referees see Wigan as an 'easy touch.' Nigel Pearson isnt happy with Referee Gavin Ward Retired French FIFFA Assistant Stéphane Duhamel has been found hung Uefa say there are 3 key elements to being a succesful Referee Scottish Referee's have taken to Boxing Training Steve Mclaren is on the look out for a ghost! Continue reading...

You cant help but to have heard of the shocking news from Egypt, where 73 people have been killed with a further 1000 injured. This happened after Al Ahly vs Al Masry and after the Arab spring has grabbed the worlds attention. Games in Egypt can be so voliatile that they quite often bring in European referee's. Former Scotish Referee Stuart Dougal has talked to the BBC about his experinces. Link to Video Continue reading...

FIFA have released the Agenda for 126th International Board meeting to take place in March. There are a few interesting points on the agenda, however Im not sure how many of these will be approved. One of the main things is a fourth sub maybe used duirng extra time. An interesting idea, however can we make sure its not a defender! Also if a player uses tape on his socks, it has to be the same colour as the sock! One addition, which I think is a good idea is if a goal is scored direct from a drop ball there is now provision for this. If a dropped ball is kicked directly into the opponents’ goal, a goal kick is awarded If a dropped ball is kicked directly into the teams’ own goal, a corner kick is awarded to the opposing team...

I thought I'd seen everything in last week's game but it seemed that football still had a few old tricks up its sleeve. The falling temperatures meant that the game was in doubt but the early morning sunshine saw the white coating melting away but the top layer of the field was crusty. I did have to laugh when one of the players told me we could play as it would "take a stud". It was the perfect opportunity to trot out my one liner "... yes mate but when you weigh as much as I do, everything takes a stud ...". I didn't expect to see sparkling flowing football from the bottom team in the league against the team 4th bottom. I wasn't disappointed in that respect but what I did see was generally honest endeavour from two groups of players...

‘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. “What are you doing, ref?” Tony Soprano in the HBO series The Soprano’s (season one, episode 1) I’ve been watching. “We’ve got some reports that people are buying referee outfits in districts too … so I wouldn’t be surprised to see some penalty flags get thrown at some members of Congress’ offices.” Jamie Henn, communications director for 350.org, during a protest against the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL oil pipeline where activists where dressed as referees to ‘blow a whistle’. “Their preparation for officiating at UEFA matches will start here.” Pierluigi...

Mexican referee Marco Antonio "Chiquidracula" Rodriguez's decided to be a bit different when showing the yellow card to two players in the Tigres-Santos match. Rather than show each player the card, he pulled out two yellow cards and showed them at the same time, earning himself a 5 game ban! Mexican Soccer Federation secretary general Decio de Maria said in a statement: "The situation of having drawn two yellow cards at the same time is outside the role, not something that is considered in the arbitration rules and is considered as if he had not responded to what happened and did not sanction it. Continue reading...

Following on from the photos in the earlier post. Ive managed to find a video. The players did well to play the game, but at times its a bit of a farce. Continue reading...

This is from the build up fro the Niger equaliser against Tunisia in Fridays Africa cup of nations game. If you touch it or not is it really sporting for an attacker to jump like this when competing for the ball? It's clearly a distraction technique. What do you thin Continue reading...

The problem/benefit with tournaments, is that with the right schedule Games need to be played. The photos are from Libya vs Zambia. Do you play? Oh they tried to make it better at half time Continue reading...

Due to lack of time and as a result enthusiasm the blog sort of of disappeared. It hadn't I just didn't update my card details for the hosting. In sure no one missed it. Continue reading...

A new section has started on the Dutch Referee Blog: Life after refereeing. This is how I got the idea: Two weeks ago I got an e-mail from a retired Romanian referee, named Daniel Munteanu. He was an international referee and had officiated with René Temmink, a Dutch referee. ‘Got his e-mail address?’, he asked. I know some refs but not all of them. Little research finally got me in touch with a car dealer with the same name. And yes, it was him. Doing this, I wondered why I shouldn’t let these former referees talk about their refereeing experiences. They both agreed to answer the four questions to give an impression of what they do now and what they did before. Today I’ll publish the first part with the Romanian referee. Munteanu at...

Almost, Sir Alex! “To play or not to play, that is the question”, words first uttered by William Shakespeare who played in goal for Brentford! Whenever you apply advantage in a game you have to consider the football skills needed to fashion a goal-scoring opportunity from your shout of “Advantage, Play on”, coupled with the double-arm signal which, when given on the run, makes you sound like a neutered tomcat. You also have to consider in which part of the field play is operating, and for an advantage to have any chance it needs to be the attacking third of the field. Consider also whether it would affect your control for the rest of the game. So there is plenty to think about. Let us consider this scenario. Play is in the final third...

‘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. “Ofcourse I talked with my assistant about this. He says he did not spit. But that will be investigated.” Says referee Dennis Higler about his assistant Richard Slop, who is accused of spitting Dennis Hollart from Almere City. “Based on our insight into his economic conditions, we have written off damages in the millions of crowns and are glad thereby to contribute to ending this unfortunate case which without a doubt has had large, personal consequences for Ronni Norvig.” Says DBU spokesman Lars Berendt to Reuters about the settlement the Danish FA has made...

From time to time, life provides you with a reminder of things you know or knew but had allowed to slip from the forefront of your mind. Sometimes the realisation that you had forgotten them comes as an pleasant surprise, other times the memory stings a little as you realise you had been in denial about those forgotten facts. Here are some things that I "re-learned" this morning as I made my return to active refereeing in the local Sunday League ... - Credibility sometimes matters more than the correct decision - The ability to sell a decision is inexorably linked to your proximity to play - My eyes are faster than my brain which is in turn faster than my legs - Sunday League players are fantastic people as are the people who run...

No, not wrong law. We’re talking about your movement around the field! The top referees always seem to get into the best viewing positions on the field, but this does not occur by accident. It comes through years of good practice at one of the game’s basic skills. You can know the laws inside out, but if you are badly positioned at the vital moment you can easily attract the wrong kind of attention from players, team coaches and assessors. Your many games as a referee will confirm much of what you have been told about where you need to be to obtain the best views of all that is happening. You will learn when you need to be a little closer to the main action and also when to hang back a little in order to have a wider view. Yes, you can...

Is there any aspect of refereeing that makes the official look unsure of himself more than lazy signalling? We are speaking here not only of referees but of assistant referees also. Too often do we see a referee offer a directional signal with his arm held slackly out almost as if it contained no muscles to give it strength, and it is also probably a forearm signal rather than a full arm one. Upon seeing a few such arm-signals, a spectator was heard to say, “If I were playing in this game I’d start to give this ref a bit of aggro. He looks as if he’s frightened of upsetting everybody.” Lazily given signals — for that is exactly what they are — give confidence to nobody. Avoid them like the plague! When the ball goes out of play for a...

First of all, apologies for the lack of updates… I have been a busy bunny. Tomorrow I travel a short distance to a game of which I have been appointed as Referee in the Windsor Foods County Senior League Cup. As I have mentioned previously, this is my first season as a Level 5 referee whereby I do not usually get Assistant Referee’s appointed to the game. Level 7 and 6 assistants are usually assigned to the Premier League games that the Level 4 referee’s officiate in and the Level 5 referee’s are left to their own devices in the Division One and Two games. As tomorrow is a Cup Game, I have been treated to 2 “Official, Officials”, or Assistant Referee’s hence the title of the blog post. I have also had notification that I am being...

Wednesday brought about my 2nd game as a level 5 referee in the Windsor Foods County Senior League, and my first mid-week match along with a 6pm kick off. Lesson one: It gets dark quick this time of the year! If no flood lighting is available, consider reducing both halves by 5 minutes! Needless to say, we played the full 45 and finished in very dim light! I went in to the game far less nervous than my first match last Saturday, although there were some nerves on board as this was to be my first assessment of the Season! The boots were polished, the kit bag was meticulously checked and I started to think what I needed to try to get right to score well with the assessor: Jewellery checks. Body armour matching the kit colour. Caution to...