Before the World Cup becomes a distant memory, I thought it might be worth while looking at how referees prepare themselves for the big games, particularly internationals. We are all used to clubs and players watching their upcoming opponents on …
How referees prepared for their World Cup matches Read more »
So many viewers found the co-commentary at the World Cup by former Manchester United, Everton and England player, Phil Neville, totally unintelligible, that the BBC was inundated by complaints. But was it the hapless Neville who was to blame, surely …
After the dramatics of the summer we are now back to normality in football. Apart from England’s early exit I must say I enjoyed the World Cup. It was great to see some of the smaller nations making a breakthrough …
As this is my last column for the season, I would like to look forward to the World Cup in Brazil and at changes to Law made at the International FA Board’s annual meeting. But I must first mention one …
Some years ago when playing golf in Wales, I got a piece of unusual advise from the course golf professional. If you have a bad round or play bad shots, he said, don’t take responsibility for it, always find something …
Jose Mourinho – the special one or enemy of football? Read more »
There is a little dispute going on in refereeing training circles about one of the simplest laws of the game, something that has to happen before a match can even start – the coin toss. I realise that many people …
Is there a right and wrong way to toss the coin? Read more »
Something that anyone taking up refereeing has to accept is that refereeing is all about making decisions. There is simply no way of getting out of it. More than that, not all decisions are easy to make, and whatever your …
Decisions, decisions – the hard part of refereeing Read more »
One national newspaper’s report of Andre Marriner’s sending off the wrong man in the Arsenal match against Chelsea, suggested that it was due to tiredness. Apparently, he had travelled a thousand miles immediately before the game. I’m sure that the …
What do Premier League referees do between Saturdays? Read more »
One of the things that has niggled me for years is that players are not more honest. It stems I suppose from an incident many years ago when a player inside the goal area seemingly scored a goal and started …
Decisions are better when players tell the truth Read more »
A couple of weeks ago I got a call from BBC Radio Berkshire asking if I could appear to talk about the Lancashire FA’s ‘Silent Weekend’ initiative at youth matches. The session was planned for Saturday morning at 10.30 but …
