David Bernstein, the former Chairman of the Football Association has always been a good friend of referees, addressing the annual Referees Conference with kind words. At the beginning of this season he berated Premier League managers for setting what he …
The first question I was asked after Reading’s inglorious failing to score the winning goal against a much depleted Yeovil side, and one that I have been asked many times since, is how many players does a team have to …
When he returned to manage Chelsea, it seemed that Jose Mourinho had decided to play the game of a controlled manager and not to repeat the extravagant behaviour that he often exhibited in his first spell at the club. I …
When it comes to football, I hesitate to suggest that the Scottish FA can teach the rest of the world anything but they have one little strategy that might be worth consideration. The thought came to me when watching Tottenham’s …
A good few years ago, 1994 to be exact, I wrote an article for a referee magazine, in which I described how I judged a tackle to be fair or a foul. I explained that if the player played the …
One thing that often surprises me is the amount of research that universities spend on football and in particular refereeing. I suppose that football being the world’s most popular sport; it is something that is going to make the press …
‘Spitting fines for footballers’ was the headline in a national newspaper a few weeks ago. The story behind the headline was that Enfield Borough Council has passed a bye law under section 235 of the Local Government Act that stated …
Should spitting footballers be above the bye-law? Read more »
No doubt the off field management problems at Southampton has put their complaint about what referee Mark Clattenburg said to one of their players on the back burner for the time being. Although it has been thrown out by the …
It’s difficult to decide which caused the most comment after the Newcastle v ManchesterCity match, the mistake the referee made or the reaction to it by Newcastle Manager, Alan Pardew. What was the cause of his anger? After a skirmish …
New interfering with play interpretations meant Newcastle’s ‘goal’ should have stood Read more »
One of the perks of being a referee years ago was that you had the opportunity of being a steward at Wembley Stadium for the big matches. There was no remuneration apart from a packed lunch. However, when you had …
