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There were about 500,000 Muslims in the UK in 1980 (source: Wikipedia). If that population had doubled every 5 years since, there would now have been 128 million Muslims in the UK. Please do your math. Also, when it declared independence, ****stan was already a predominantly Muslim-based...

My apologies. As a Dutchman unfamiliar with these FA house rules, I just wanted to be enlightened. Is the FA really so distant from the clubs that it can issue such ukases? Here in Holland, the clubs are the FA and vice versa, meaning there is a much closer relationship.

Exactly, Charlie. Why not give referees the freedom to wear whatever kit they like as long as it doesn't clash with team colours (and keepers, not to forget)? I don't know the level of match fees in the UK, but here it's more than enough to buy one new kit a year (or more if you buy different...

What a situation! Over here, clubs have autonomy over what they wear. If they want to change it, they have to submit to the national association, which assesses it for offensive character and the like, but tends to approve nearly all kits. I guess it's to do with the fact that clubs have a big...

Hi Kael, Thanks for the photo and the description. As I'm a Large (sometimes XL, depending on fit), I don't think I could wear this shirt. Still, it would be a nice addition to my collection of refereeing stuff (mostly books, but I'm venturing into other territory), so I'm interested in buying...

I'd be interested in buying it (well, at least paying for P&P), but only if it's got the FA/FL badge on. Would you be able to post a photo? By the way, here in Holland refs can wear any colour they like, as long as they avoid having their kit clash with the colours of the teams they're reffing...

Hi all, Finally had time to post another entry, this one on the 1954 memoirs of former top amateur football player and subsequent sports writer/journalist Ivan Sharpe. Not the most modern of reads, but Sharpe had some very good ideas about football, some of which didn't get picked up on until...

Heard the other day that Robert (Bob) Evans, co-author with Edward Bellion of "The Art of Refereeing" and "For the Good of the Game", two of the better books about officiating, passed away earlier this week: Bob Evans. Thoroughly recommend these books. Sad that after Stanley Lover another...

A review of a totally different book this time. It deals with the earliest history of the FA and the LotG. Not much in it for active referees, but a must-read for historians of the game. Click here to read the review.

On his site, Jan likes to pay attention not just to the elite group of referees but also to those reffing at the lower levels of football. More often than not they too have an interesting story to tell. And with International Women's Day just over, it's good to devote a few lines to women in...

Would you like to write the reviews of these titles? Saves me from having to do them ;)

Not really, all in the eye of the beholder. So far, this is one of the better ones I've read, but I'm sure I'll come across one that outshines Winter's. Pat Partridge's "Oh, Ref!" was very nice. Read about it here. David Elleray's "The Man in the Middle" I quite liked, as with Mark Halsey's...

I enjoyed the book too. It is not for nothing that I describe it as an 'honest, straight-talking' account of a referee who is not afraid to speak of his own mistakes. My only beef with it is - and this it shares with many more biographies - that it might be preferable to hear the anecdotes...

About 10 years ago, just after quitting refereeing, Jeff Winter published his memoirs. Hate him or like him, he does have something to say. Read more here. Don't be shy to comment ;)

The referee of the first ever World Cup final, in 1930, happened to be a Belgian: John Langenus. As fortune has it, he spoke Dutch. In fact, he even wrote in Dutch: memoirs of his refereeing career and the travels he made. Good for me, as I'm Dutch. And good for you, as I can tell you about it...

I just posted a review of a book by former Dutch top referee Leo Horn (who officiated the watershed England-Hungary match in 1953) about the 1974 World Cup: click here

Hi - finally posted another review, this time of Welsh referee Mervyn 'Merv' Griffiths: click here

Well, alright then, here goes. From the top of my head. Apologies to any ref, dead or alive, who feels left out ;) Johannes van Moorsel (1930s) Leo Horn (1950s-1960s) Lau van Ravens (1960s-1970s) Frans Derks (1970s) Jan Keizer (1970s) Charles Korver (1970s-1980s) Ignace van Swieten...

Scored 13 out of 15. Had no idea who #14 was, although I knew it wasn't Philip Don. And #15 was well before my time (at least before I started following English football), so I just guessed. Same with #5, but that one was a simple process of elimination. Wish a Dutch newspaper came up with a...

Agreed. Video review of offside calls should not be included. I was not clear there. Rather, I was thinking along the lines of developing technology to aid ARs in calling offside correctly. Don't ask me how ;)