Our Blogs
A revisit to the VAR concept and its application (Part 2)
This is the a bit delayed sequel to “A revisit to the VAR concept and its application (part 1)." In that first part, I have pointed out that whether you like it or not, the VAR system is with us to stay, so let us try to enjoy it as much as possible because we cannot...
Without a Referee, There is no Game: The Philosophy Behind the Statement
The return of football after lockdown promised a great deal. There was a sense, and hope, that players and coaches would have missed the game to such an extent they would never take it, or the bodies that enable it to occur, for granted again. It is often said the...
Goals, Goals, Goals: The Importance of Goal Setting for Match Officials
The most exciting part of any football match is the goals. It’s primarily what spectators pay to see and an integral part of what makes football so appealing. Scoring more goals than your opponents is what is known in sports philosophy circles as a lusory goal. In...
The Top 10 Premier League Players Most Frequently Under the VAR Microscope in Season 2019/2020
The likes of Wilfried Zaha and Raheem Sterling are notorious around the Premier League for their silky dribbling skills and attacking prowess, and it’s no surprise that both have been involved in NINE VAR reviews this season as they lead the league in the amount of...
Referee Statistics (Premier League Games Only) Season 2019/20
Below is the final table of Referee appointments together with the number of red and yellow cards issued in the season. Total of 45 Red Cards is a very low number. Longest serving referee Lee Mason was appointed to only 16 games and I wonder if this is a signal that...
Law Changes Season 20/21 – The Penalty Kick
Offences and Sanctions There is a significant change to the law on the Penalty Kick this coming season and it is important to digest and understand it before a ball is kicked. If at the taking of a penalty kick the goalkeeper offends: If the ball enters the goal, a...
Club footballer banned for referee abuse
A club footballer has been banned for a year for abusing a referee in a match in Manawatū. Central Football announced on Tuesday a player had been suspended for “over 12 months” for verbal and physical threatening behaviour towards a match official. The player was...
Mindhunter, behavioral science as applied to modern-day refereeing
Written by Soccer America In the first part of this series we discussed old school refereeing namely “refereeing by the book” and the transformation into “man management” in modern day refereeing. (Since Jaap Uilenberg used the phrase ‘man management’ when I was first...
Football Association Issues New Rules
Players who deliberately cough at opponents or referees can be shown RED or YELLOW CARDS under new FA guidelines issued amid the coronavirus pandemic The instructions to referees will come in immediately and will be applied at ALL levels of the game The FA said...
Doing Your Homework: Should Referees Do Homework and How Much is Too Much?
Sports coaching and sports psychology are two distinct disciplines in the field of sports science, yet they are often intertwined. The effective coach is often an effective psychologist. Consider, for example, the testimony of Liverpool players when they discuss...
My referee story by Edward Bellion
My referee story by Edward Bellion I began refereeing when I was about age 30. Prior to then, I had been a keen amateur and recreational player throughout school and university years in England. In 1968 I went to the USA to take up a research fellowship at the...
Moving the Goal Posts: The Restart, Home Advantage and Referees
Home advantage is a strange phenomenon in football. Naively, I used to dismiss it. I assumed that a ball was a ball and goal was a goal. Surely it does not matter where a game is played when it is the same game? Other sports seemed to support this notion. ...
Premier League returns with controversial decision
The Premier League is back but not without controversy.
After 100 days, the top flight returned with Aston Villa vs Sheffield United. However goalline technology grabbed all the headlines, as a goal was not given despite the ball crossing the line.
Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher called it embarrassing and Mark Clattenburg said VAR should have intervened.
Former Head of the PGMOL (refereeing body) will be joined by Roger Dilkes and Mark Halsey at 3pm this afternoon to discuss the incident on Ref Lounge. You can sign up free here.
Live Q&A with Keith Hackett and leading referees
Join former Premier League referee Keith Hackett, plus special guests Mark Halsey and Roger Dilkes for a one hour Q&A session.
This free webinar is made for you to improve your officiating skills while learning from leading professionals.
The webinar takes place at 3pm on Thursday 18 June. Click here to sign up.
Youth Sports, Soccer and the Pandemic
Youth Sports, Soccer and the Pandemic by Ahmet Guvener Recently I read an article (a) with great astonishment. According to a report by Wintergreen Research - "Youth Sports: Market Shares, Strategies and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2019-2026" – there was a 19.6 billion...
Controlling Yourself Before You Can Control Others
Recall a time when, during a football match, you saw a player (or players) lose their composure and control. One type of incident that comes to mind is the so-called ‘mass brawl’; a cluster of players, frustrated, angry and primed for physical competition acting in a...
A look back and how things have changed.
This blog is proudly created By Keith Hackett for Keys to Referee. With no live football on television, l was recently invited to appear on Talksport’ s Hawksbee and Jacobs show. This was to discuss a recent showing on television of the 1979 FA Cup game between...
Soccer Six football – A walk down memory lane
Some years ago, when English clubs were not qualifying for the European Competitions with the regularity that they are today, or the F.A. Premier League had not been thought about, the football visionaries felt that an indoor tournament for Football League clubs was...
Advice on applying the use of advantage
This blog is proudly created By Keith Hackett for Keys to Referee. I was a referee who just loved to apply advantage in order to keep the game flowing at pace and to allow players the opportunity to use their skills against the opposition. The more experience of my...
1-2-3 Stepped Management Process
This blog is proudly created By Keith Hackett for Keys to Referee. REFEREES SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED TO APPLY THE 1,2, & 3 STEPPED PROCESS WHEN MANAGING PLAYERS. Before I write this article, I will always encourage referees to apply the law and not to shirk from the...