Month: January 2012

Ask The Ref: Mike Riley on BBC 5 live

Mike Riley is the manager of the Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) board, which gives him the responsibility of looking after the referees at the professional level in England.

He recently took part in a BBC 5 live special, discussing, you guessed it, refereeing, with a particular emphasis on the Premier League.

Also featured is Kenny Hibbitt (Match Delegate) and Paul Rejer (Senior Coach of PGMO Assistant Referees).

Some topics:

  • Should Assistant Referees turn professional?
  • The assessing and match delegate system.
  • What is being done about the swarming of referees following contentious decisions?
  • Are referees letting personal / ‘big club’ relationships influence decisions?
  • Should assessor reports be made public?
  • Goal line technology and the Extra Assistants.
  • Should referees explain their decisions to the media after a game?

The Podcast can be found on the 5 live podcast page.

Badshot Lea v Cove

Out and about with the camcorder again to take in a local New Year fixture. This time, Badshot Lea v Cove in the Combined Counties league.

There were five goals in the match, including a penalty, with an old-fashioned confrontation featuring as well.

Due to time pressures, I did not have time to fully charge the camera before heading out. As a result, I did not get the last 20 minutes of the game. Thankfully, all the goals were before!