RefCoach Podcasts

In this episode, Jack & Ale talk about approaching being assessed, observed, mentored or coached as a referee. As observers are a fundamental part of a referee's development, the most important thing is keeping an open mind about the feedback that is given on match day and in the report. Not all the solutions you may be given may work for you, but it is important to be opened to experimenting and taking in the feedback from an impartial and outside person. We also talk about how important it is to make the observers feel included and part of the team, so that everyone is comfortable and able to give and receive feedback in an honest and constructive manner.

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Today's episode features a very special guest: Howard Webb. For most football fans, Howard needs no introduction. He refereed in the English Premier League for 11 years, he referee the 2010 Champions League Final between Inter and Bayern Munich (Ale was extremely happy of talking about it in this episode), and the 2010 World Cup Final between Spain and Netherlands. He retired in 2014, after the Brazil World Cup, and moved on to roles at the PGMOL, before making a move to the MLS where he now manages the referees.

In this episode, Jack & Ale talk to Howard about his experience delving into the human side of it. Howard talks about his relationship on and off the field with his historical assistants, Mike Mullarkey and Darren Cann, but also about the amazing support they all received from their families and friends. We also talked about Howards introduction to refereeing, which he took on from his father who was already involved in football refereeing.

Howard talks about the emotions of refereeing the two biggest games in the world, but also what refereeing means to him and and how grateful he is for being able to live such an amazing journey.

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In this episode, Jack & Ale discuss approaching a match with Official Assistant Referees. As much as it can be an exciting milestone in your career, it can also be daunting if you are not used to leading a team. We talk about how to approach the match, the lead to it building a team culture from the moment you receive an appointment, to how to create a safe and team environment on game day. Your pre-match instructions will change as well, as you are not addressing club officials anymore, but fully qualified referees. An important aspect of the game is also being able to draw from more experienced assistants and using their knowledge to your team's advantage.

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Jack & Ale welcome Vikki Allan. Vikki is a Scottish FIFA assistant referee. She has officiated in the UEFA women’s champions league and the Scottish women's premier division. As well as this, Vikki is a Scottish refereeing youth ambassador and a supporter of Equal Playing Field, an organization that challenge gender inequality in sport. You may recognise Vikki’s last name; she is Crawford Allan's daughter, who was a guest on My life on the line a few episodes ago.

We chat with Vikki about her experience with Equal Playing Field. Her first experience with them was refereeing a match up Mount Kilimanjaro, which has the world record for the highest altitude match ever. She also officiated on the match played at the lowest altitude ever, at the Dead Sea in Jordan. We chat with Vikki about lots of other topics around refereeing in Scotland. What stood out to us about Vikki was her passion and excitement for refereeing. She is an incredible role model for referees across the world. 

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In this episode of The Coaching Corner, Jack & Ale discuss how to approach a match as a referee with club assistants. What are the important things to keep in mind? First of all, be a good human! Build a relationship with them, introduce yourself, ask them about themselves, their names their experience. What should you instruct them? The key points you need to cover and setting the right expectations. And finally, how to deal with club assistants that are interfering with your performance or unexpected situations, such as substitute players running the line.

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Our guest today is Greg Barkey. Greg was a FIFA listed AR from 1995-2008 and officiated over 300 Major League Soccer matches, including 4 MLS Cup finals. Since retiring, Greg was an AR coach for PRO and is now the PRO Manager for VAR. It’s been an exciting time for VAR in the MLS since its introduction many years ago. 

We spend this podcast talking to Greg about how VAR developed in the MLS and the journey it has gone on, the challenges of implementing VAR, the impact it has had on their referees with some fascinating anecdotes and where he sees VAR heading in the future. Greg talked openly and candidly about all of this and was a pleasure to chat to. We hope that our listeners can learn more about VAR during this podcast and that Greg’s behind the scenes experience adds a new angle to people's understanding. 

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Welcome to the first episode of The Coaching Corner, with Ale & Jack! In this episode, Ale & Jack talk through the experience of a first game as a referee.

So you've done your course, what now? Setting the right expectations for your first game can make all the difference. In this episode, we talk about what to focus on, the basics to keep in mind when refereeing your first game and how to deal with the first-time jitters. We also discuss how to prepare for your first game, making sure to be as prepared as you can be for what will be, hopefully, a fantastic journey.

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Our guest today is Adrian Bacarisa. Adrian is the referee manager for the football association of Gibraltar. Refereeing in Gibraltar certainly has some unique challenges; being a small country with a population of just over 30,000, that’s less than most European stadiums hold! Gibraltar also only has one football stadium, with every team in the league using it as their home ground, a unique situation.

We chat with Adrian all about refereeing in Gibraltar and the challenges they face. We also talk about how, despite these challenges, refereeing in Gibraltar is going from strength to strength, and they now have FIFA listed officials, which is fantastic. Adrian gives us some great insight into how a smaller federation runs football and refereeing, and we were fascinated by what he had to tell.

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Our guest today is Katy Nesbitt. Katy is a FIFA listed assistant referee and regularly officiates in the MLS, international matches and the CONCACAF champions league, where recently she was the AR on the final in Costa Rica. It’s been an amazing couple of years for Katy, as well as her recent champions league final appearance she also attended the 2019 women's world cup where she officiated 2 matches. 

Domestically, she won MLS assistant referee of the year, was on the MLS is back tournament final as well as the 2020 MLS Cup. We talked to Katy about her incredible achievements so far in her career diving into the emotions and experience of the Concacaf final. We also talked about her career outside of football as a chemist, and, how interestingly this has given her the skills that have helped her as a referee.

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Our guest today is Stuart Carrington. Stuart is a lecturer in the UK and he’s the author of ‘Blowing the whistle: The Psychology of Football Refereeing’, a book about match officials that covered all aspects of the psychology of football refereeing. He recently featured in UEFA’s mini-series about European referees, Man In The Middle, talking about his findings.

Stuart is a curious and passionate football fan. He talked to us about his research, which affects referees' performance and what are some ways we can improve our performance overall.

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