REFSIX - The Referee Podcast

REFSIX Weekly Episode 2 - This week we discuss news from the Refereeing world, Eric Dier's toilet break and Jon's first 10 matches using REFSIX.

REFSIX Weekly Episode 1 - We're embarking on something new, a weekly chat show where we discuss a variety of topics around refereeing. Co-Hosted by referees Hassan Rajwani and Jon Wilks, this week we're joined by level 3 referee Lewis Dawson and level 4 referee Joe Larkin. We discuss the handball incidents from the Premier League this weekend, how Covid has impacted matchday for referees and touch on news from the refereeing world.

John Nielsen joins Hassan to discuss his refereeing career which saw him earn a FIFA AR badge and then his current role which seems him lead the development of Concacaf Assessors. 

Carol Anne joins Hassan to discuss her incredible career which has seen her officiate at 2 Women's World Cups and 2 Olympic Games, including the Gold Medal Match in Rio. She talks about her rollercoaster year in 2019, whats next for her and advice she'd give to up and coming referees.

Rosendo Mendoza is a recent graduate to the MLS having officiated his first MLS match on August 4th 2019. Rosendo joins us to talk about his career, his 2019 season that saw him officiate his first MLS match, as well as the NWSL Final and a USL Semi-Final. He shares his advice on what you can do as a referee to keep improving.

MLS/PRO Referee, Alan Kelly, answers your questions!

On this episode we talk to recently retired Premier League referee Lee Probert.  Lee first refereed a Premier League game in 2006 before becoming a full time professional referee in 2007.  A successful career in the top flight followed as he racked up 181 games in charge, 24th in the all-time list.  He was FIFA Listed in 2010 for six years and during this time he officiated on one of the more memorable FA Cup Final's of recent times, Arsenal's comeback victory over Hull City in 2014.  The last few years of his refereeing career were plagued with injuries which ultimately lead to his retirement before the 2019-20 season.  We speak to Lee about how he became a referee, his journey to the Premier League and some of the major highlights of his career.

Next season sin-bins (or temporary dismissals) will be rolled out across Grassroots football.  We caught up with Mark Ives to chat about sin-bins, how the last two years of pilots have progressed and what's in store for next season for the leagues who are new to the system.  

We caught up with Matthew Conger, a FIFA referee who officiated the Group Stage matchup between Nigeria and Iceland in Volgograd in Russia 2018. Born in the USA, Matthew currently referees in the New Zealand Football Championship as well as the A-League in Australia. We spoke about what got him in to refereeing in the first place, his refereeing travels around the world and he speaks candidly on VAR, specifically around the one VAR decision at his match during the World Cup.  

In January 2019, Cambridgeshire FA introduced the Purple Referee Shirt Initiative.  Purple referee shirts will be issued to all referees under the age of 18 in their county to provide a visual aid to coaches and spectators that the referees are young and still learning their trade.  The hope is this initiative will make parents and coaches think twice when offering their opinions on referees decisions.  We sit down with Sam Anderson the Referee Development Officer at Cambridgeshire FA who's leading the campaign to learn more.