Members Blogs

Italy vs Croatia Referee Howard Webb (ENG) Assistant referees Michael Mullarkey (ENG), Peter Kirkup (ENG) Additional assistant referees Martin Atkinson (ENG), Mark Clattenburg (ENG) Fourth official Pavel Kralovec (CZE) Reserve official Roman Slyško (SVK) UEFA Delegate Adonis Procopiou (CYP) UEFA Referee observer Kyros Vassaras (GRE) Spain vs Ireland Referee Pedro Proença (POR) Assistant referees Bertino Miranda (POR), Ricardo Santos (POR) Additional assistant referees Manuel De Sousa (POR), Duarte Gomes (POR) Fourth official Marcin Borski (POL) Reserve official Marcin Borkowski (POL) UEFA Delegate Christian Schmöelzer (AUT) UEFA Referee observer David R. Elleray (ENG) Filed under: Uncategorized Continue reading...

Denmark vs Portugal Referee Craig Thomson (SCO) Assistant referees Alasdair Ross (SCO), Derek Rose (SCO) Additional assistant referees William Collum (SCO), Euan Norris (SCO) Fourth official Viktor Shvetsov (UKR) Reserve official Oleksandr Voytyuk (UKR) UEFA Delegate Jozef Kliment (SVK) UEFA Referee observer Jaap Uilenberg (NED) Holland vs Germany Referee Jonas Eriksson (SWE) Assistant referees Stefan Wittberg (SWE), Mathias Klasenius (SWE) Additional assistant referees Markus Strömbergsson (SWE), Stefan Johannesson (SWE) Fourth official Tom Harald Hagen (NOR) Reserve official Damien MacGraith (IRL) UEFA Delegate Ainar Leppänen (EST) UEFA Referee observer Marc Batta (FRA) Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Assistant referee...

Greece vs Czech Republic Match officials Referee Stéphane Lannoy (FRA) Assistant referees Frédéric Cano (FRA), Michael Annonier (FRA) Additional assistant referees Fredy Fautrel (FRA), Ruddy Buquet (FRA) Fourth official Matej Jug (SVN) Reserve official Primož Arhar (SVN) UEFA Delegate Nodar Akhalkatsi (GEO) UEFA Referee observer Bo Karlsson (SWE) Polland vs Russia Referee Wolfgang Stark (GER) Assistant referees Jan-Hendrik Salver (GER), Mike Pickel (GER) Additional assistant referees Florian Meyer (GER), Deniz Aytekin (GER) Fourth official István Vad (HUN) Reserve official Gabor Erös (HUN) UEFA Delegate Geir Thorsteinsson (ISL) UEFA Referee observer Hugh Dallas (SCO) Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Assistant referee (association...

Netherlands has a good chance to beat Germany at tonight’s Euro 2012 clash in group B. At least, if we base our conclusions on referee’s hair stats of previous matches between the two teams. Dutch graphic design student Bart Corré analysed all previous 38 matches between the two teams for his graduation thesis (pdf). Germany scored 56 points in them, Holland 44. The Netherlands will also not win based on the nationality of the referee: both teams scored totally 7 points each with a Swedish referee. Tonight’s referee is Jonas Eriksson and this important clash in group B is his first match of the tournament. It’s also not the colour of the referee’s shirt which makes Holland win. Actually, the Germans have won more games (out of 35) with...

Good luck if your taking your Supply/Contrib fitness test this sunday. Hopefully this weather will ease up for the morning to allow you to pass. It may hurt but just think you can enjoy the euros knowing that you’ve passed. Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Fitness 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. Sorry for the delay, guys. I’m going to marry later this month and it takes some time to arrange things. Will provide you with some interviews and blogs later on, also on a more regular basis. Here are some quotes of the last weeks for you. I hope you’ll enjoy. “The referee has become someone who applies the rules. I rarely see real authorities, referees with charisma.” Charles Corver, referee at the 1980 World Cup in Italy, dislikes Uefa’s decision that referees may not explain their decisions to the media. He also wishes that referee could give just a...

On Saturday, Google went along to Wembley to capture it to add to Street View. Cant help to think would have been more fun to ahve done it while there was a match actually on at the same time. Filed under: youtube Tagged: Google, googlestreetview Continue reading...

With the Euro’s kicking off tomoorow ive just been having a bit of a browse around and came across this little gem on youtube. Particularly love the Gazza from Euro 96 bit. Filed under: Euro2012 Continue reading...

Just discovered this site via twitter and some of them are just brilliant. I like the one of the sub caught at the burger van. One that just caught my eye is No. 449 – Campaigns to stop swearing that use swear words! Check out http://500reasonstolovefootball.blogspot.co.uk Filed under: Blogroll Continue reading...

Michel Platini has stated that if the Referee‘s feel appropriate they have the powers to stop games if there is racism during the Euro’s. The BBC is reporting this as following the panorama programme last week they have been on a bit of a mission (rightly so) to highlight the issues with fans in Poland and Ukraine and the racist chants from them. Platini insists officials will book any player who walks off the pitch without permission – even if they are a victim of racial abuse. “It’s a yellow card. It’s not a player – Mr Balotelli – who’s in charge of refereeing. It’s the referee who takes these decisions. “So the referee has been given advice and he can stop the game if there are problems.” I had a conversation at work with someone...

Uefa have confirmed the appointments for the opening set of games for the Euro’s. Spains Carlos Caballo will take charge of the opening game between the Hosts Poland and 2004 winners Greece. The 2010 world cup final referee Howard Webb will take charge of the evening match on the opening day between Russia & the Czech Republic. Match Referee Assistant Referee 1 Assistant Referee 2 Additional Assistant Referee 1 Additional Assistant Referee 2 4th Official 8 June POL – GRE Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP) Roberto Alonso Fernandez (ESP) Juan Carlos Yuste Jiménez (ESP) David Fernandez Borbalan (ESP) Carlos Clos Gomez (ESP) Gianluca Rocchi (ITA) 8 June RUS – CZE Howard Webb (ENG) Michael Mullarkey (ENG) Peter Kirkup (ENG) Martin Atkinson...

With the Euro’s kicking off on Friday, Graham Poll has put together a rundown of the Referee‘s who will take charge of the fixtures doing the tournament. With some new names its worth a look, and with the first set of fixtures due out tomorrow. It’s a chance to learn a bit more about the man who the English press will slaughter when a decision goes against England. Link to the run down. Related Articles #Euro2012 Match Officials (the-referee.com) Video: Spanish ref does a Graham Poll (Villarreal 1-1 Real Madrid) (offthepost.info) Filed under: Euro2012 Tagged: Graham Poll, referee, soccer, UEFA Continue reading...

This is not an accurate description of the British weather as we move into Day Two of a 4 day weekend to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, who is a matter of months away from being declared the longest reigning monarch in British history. It is intended to describe the warm up I have developed over the last 4 years or so of training for refereeing games at my level. The comments below are not an expert view but they have been gleaned from working with others who have benefited from professional fitness coaching Regular readers will know that I trained hard a few years ago, in an attempt to pass the FA's fitness test so I could be considered for assessment and perhaps recommendation to officiate at Level 4...

With the start of the London 2012 Olympic games only 8 weeks away, the first round of fitness tests only 9 days away and the start of my pre-season fitness training less than a week away, I began considering how I can avoid the type of injuries which plagued my seasons before I "retired" back in December 2009. I've received advice on my running style before from Andy Madley who refereed on the Football League last season. I also reviewed my style myself by trying to avoid the "landing on my heel and rolling the length of my foot before pushing off" method as a means of avoiding hamstring and Achilles injuries. The problem I have is that carrying around 110Kg means there's a lot to propel around the field ... So I am planning on taking...

Just spotted this on refereeforum.net, what a great example of a lack of basic knowledge with some pundits. If anyone knows who the pundit is, would be interesting to know how it was recived. The clip is from the 2010 world cup and the opening game between South Africa and Mexico. Related Articles BBC pundits on Euro 2012 (bbc.co.uk) Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: 2010 FIFA World Cup, Competitions, Mexico, pundit, soccer, South Africa, Sports, World Cup Continue reading...

When I arrived this morning at the backword game I had been given on Friday, I saw the nets weren't up and the home team, who are usually changed and warming up sometimes as early as 45 minutes before kick off, were standing about in the car park, still in their "day" clothes. When their manager gave me a "cutting the grass" signal, I didn't think he was suggesting anything about my gardening prowess and it was with dismay that I found out my season was finishing, as it had started back in January at the same ground, with a postponement. I decide not to insist they collected up all their subs and paid me in 10p pieces, but reported the facts to the League Secretary when I got home. Well the truth is that I got halfway through the...

For a bit of fun during the Euro’s I have set-up a fantasy competition on the UEFA site. If you want to enter its free. To join the league the pin is 68443-16303 Filed under: Uncategorized Continue reading...

I posted last night about my season finishing with a late pickup of a game on Tuesday after the appointed referee didn't turn up and the Ref Appts Sec was on holiday in Ibiza. He's back home now and one of the referees for the 3 remaining games in the local Sunday League has been taking advantage of the good weather to get some golf in. That wasn't a problem until he either stood on a ball or was hit by one which left him with a bruised foot/ankle meaning he can't do his game on Sunday, so with nothing riding on the game, I'm looking after my 2nd Premier Division in 5 days (and 2 1/2 years if I'm honest). There are no more games left after Sunday and football shuts down on June 1st (apart from the administrators and international...

During FIFA’s medical conference in Budapest the topic of drug testing Referees for performance enhancers was discussed. I’ll be honest im surprised the FIFA officials aren’t subject to this already. Given the pressure on the officials and the physical demand I wouldn’t be surprised if one failed such a test. FIFA chief medical officer Jiri Dvorak told delegates on the second day of the FIFA medical conference in Budapest. ‘We have started to discuss this and this is something for the future which will be discussed to include possibly an anti-doping programme for referees. ‘We do not have an indication that this is a problem but this is something we have to look at. Related Articles FIFA prepares to select anti-corruption officials...

This time last week I fulfilled my appointment as 4th official for the local Sunday League Cup Final. It was a busy night as I brought the referee's attention to a caution, missed getting his attention to dismiss a player, saw a game which involved 12 penalties (11 scored), no goals from open play and the best celebration I have ever seen. The game included another dismissal which the referee dealt with and as often happens the team reduced to ten men held out to win the trophy. Sunday saw me watching the team defeated last Thursday take out their frustration in another cup final and win that one comfortably 8-2. On Tuesday, the 'phone rang a little after half six and the captain of one of our Premier Division teams told me their...