A year or two back I refereed an English Schools FA girls’ cup tie where three of the girls in one team, which came from Slough, wore tracksuit bottoms. Not any old track suit bottoms but obviously specially made to …
The curious case of the Hijab and the laws of football Read more »
Back in 1965 I was editor of the Reading Referee, the magazine of the Reading Referees Association, as I am again now. My co-editor, Peter Jefferies who sadly died much too young, and I had a disagreement in print over …
One particular foul that has stirred controversy again this season is what I call the ‘flying tackle’. It is often referred to as a two footed tackle but it can be committed with only one foot leading the way. What …
Tackling with feet off the ground risks a sending off Read more »
For our March meeting we were looking forward to hearing from Ray Olivier, former Football League referee who has appeared at the Madejski Stadium in that position in the past but is now Training and Development Manager for the PGMO, …
Guest speaker Mar 2012: Ken Clark – “how do we define handball?” Read more »
This coming Saturday 3rd March, the International Football Association Board will be meeting in Surrey to discuss possible changes to the Laws of the Game. For those who are not aware of it, the IFAB is the body which makes …
Change proposed to denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity Read more »
Paul Hardie, our guest speaker for February, qualified as a referee in the RAF. He attained his Class 1 (in old money) in whilst serving in Cyprus, where he refereed on the Cyprus National League for three years. Returning to …
Guest speaker Feb 2012: Paul Hardie – “managing advantage” Read more »
The complaint of inconsistency is frequently levelled at referees and a major topic that was discussed by Europe’s top referees in Turkey this month, was uniformity of decisions. The Laws of football are the same where ever it is played …
date: 2012/2/15 At the beginning of last season, my wife and I spent a holiday in Turkey to celebrate a significant wedding anniversary. The season having already started meant that I was going to miss a couple of Match of …
Referees don’t have to say heads or tails at toss up Read more »
This is a column that I have deliberately delaying in writing and I think that if you read on you will probably understand why. The footballing worlds of England and Wales were shocked by the seemingly unexplainable death of Gary …
At our January meeting we were pleased to welcome Phil Knight who has a mixed role in football. He is a level 3 referee (probably his last season she said) and assistant referee on the Football League, an assessor, …
Guest speaker Jan 2012: Phil Knight – “managing the temperature” Read more »
