Scottish FA Referee Development Blog

Referee Lorraine Clark blogs from about the Celtic Female Referee Seminar that was held at Stirling University over the weekend which aims to develop and improve referee standards in female referees from Scotland, the Republic or Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Day 1

The first ever Celtic Nations Female Referee Seminar began on Friday, 25th May 2012. A total of 17 officials from Scotland, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland gathered for the weekend at Stirling University. The seminar was opened by Category 1 referee Steven McLean and was followed up with an introductory session on sports psychology delivered by Douglas MacDonald, a student from Stirling University. The purpose of the session was to introduce the concept of psychology within sport and to give some advice on how goal setting, self-evaluation, imagery and relaxation methods can all help to make a performance that little bit better.

After this session we had our evening meal which gave us a chance to get to know each other and then broke into our groups in order to complete our DVD analysis in preparation for the group discussion the following morning. The clips covered a selection of topics and by having smaller groups everyone was involved.

Day 2

The three groups were brought together to compare views from the DVD clips. Discussion took place so we could all learn from each other and Steven provided guidance on certain scenarios. Then it was time for training.

Scottish FA Referee Fitness Coach John McQuade held a team building fitness session. The aim of the session was to improve the friendships within the group and work on areas of fitness at the same time. Some games were played such as touch rugby and frisbee until it was thrown over the fence on the secnd throw of the game! Exercises were also done to show a variety of drills that could be added to a training program to improve core strength and other areas. After a two-hour session in 20+ degrees it was time to relax a little for the majority of the group.

In the afternoon, referee Morag Pirie and her team for the day (Michelle O’Neill, Ruthanne Wright and myself) officiated at the Vauxhall Women’s A International Challenge Match between Scotland and Sweden at Stark’s Park. The rest of the group went along to watch the action and had various exercises to complete during the game such as positional and game temperature exercises. These were used to encourage the group to look at the game in a different way and learn from it. With Scotland suffering a 4-1 defeat from a superior team, the game was fairly straightforward for all involved with no controversial decisions and therefore the evening’s guests were still happy to come along and speak to us!

Anna Signeul, the Scottish Women’s coach and Anne-Helen Grahm, the Swedish Women’s assistant coach both gave up valuable time after the game to speak to the referee group in Stirling. The information provided by both was very interesting. It was nice to know they want us to be strict but fair domestically for example. Managers and coaches educate players regarding discipline but need referees and assistants to be strong and punish them if required in order for the players to realise what is acceptable and what is not in order to improve their own game. The better disciplined the players are domestically; the easier it is for the referees and the coaching teams. It was good to see a referees’ decision can sometimes be seen in a positive way by managers. The session was very beneficial to see things from the different perspectives and some good advice was given by both Anna and Anne-Helen.

The group went out for an evening meal and we had some time to relax and get to know each other better. After a group agreement of ‘what happens in Stirling stays in Stirling’ I better move on quickly…

Day 3

The final day started with a de-brief for the match officials involved in yesterday’s game. There was no access to the DVD but the team described their feelings about how the game went, things to improve on and things that went well. The positioning pitches the referee team had drawn during the game and temperature graphs were all looked at to see how the game was perceived and any positional habits that could be spotted. Feedback was given in order for everyone in the group to learn from key points in the game.

Later, Craig Thomson and his Euro 2012 colleagues Derek Rose and Alasdair Ross gave a presentation on match and tournament preparation to the group. Craig concentrated on the preparation from a referee’s perspective. Derek and Alasdair explained how an assistant referee would prepare and wore lovely matching purple polo-shirts to prove that team work even exists off the park too! The presentation was very interesting giving everyone lots of advice about how to be in the best form for a game technically, physically and psychologically, leaving as little as possible to chance and hopefully being a successful official and therefore the most successful team on the park.

The seminar was closed late morning to allow everyone to get away for games and flights. The weekend was very successful and the group all made friends very quickly sharing stories from past experiences, some providing advice and all learning from each other as well as having a good laugh all the way through. I am quite sure everybody that attended the seminar learned something and found it very beneficial. Hopefully this can be continued in years to come and more people can share the great experience we all had.

Assistant referee Alasdair Ross blogs about the William Hill Scottish Cup final…

Saturday, 19th May 2012

So, here we are! After a hectic week of hype and preparations, cup final day has arrived!

The nerves had started to kick in on Friday afternoon and I struggled to get much sleep last night. I awoke at 4.30am and, although I did manage to dose for a little while longer, I was wide awake and up and about by 6.30am. By 9.30am I had polished a pair of shoes and two pairs of boots, I had hoovered and dusted my house, washed and hoovered my car, been to shops, been for a walk, had a couple of poached eggs and read the newspaper!

I arrived at Hampden just after 11.30am, meeting-up with the rest of the cup final team: Craig, Derek and William. The traffic was already heavy, and the atmosphere was building all around Hampden: you could sense the excitement and anticipation of a great occasion. We proceeded to the Scottish FA Boardroom for a light lunch and some photos with the Scottish Cup. And we also signed some cup final referee tops for some charity events. After lunch we headed over to the Lounge in the North Stand where the Referee Observers were having their pre-match lunch. We were all introduced to the Observers by the Scottish FA’s Head of Referee Administration, Drew Herbertson – and then we were all wished luck and sent on our way to make our final preparations for the game.

It was now 90 minutes until kick-off, so we went in to our normal pre-match routine at this stage – inspecting the pitch, exchanging pleasantries with players and coaches in the passing, receiving a security briefing from the police, etc. We got changed into our kit, ready for our warm-up, and Craig went through some final pre-match instructions for the referee team – although, having worked together so often recently, these were limited.

The team captains came to the referee room at 2pm for a coin toss which would establish which end of the stadium penalties would be taken in the event that the match required the taking of kicks from the penalty mark to decide a winner. We went out to the pitch for a 30 minute warm-up and already the crowd was sizeable and noisy. The atmosphere was fantastic. By the time we came in from our warm-up, there was just time to put on our communications kit and have a final ‘comfort break’! At 2.55pm we ventured into the tunnel with the teams and with mascots and, with the deafening chants coming from the capacity crowd inside Hampden, it was time to take to the field for the game; it was time to ‘Focus on Football’…

Cup final referee Derek Rose blogs about the day before the big match.

Friday, 18th May 2012

7am: Off to Hampden for a 7.30am light training session with Craig, Ally and a camera from Sky Sports. It’s fair to say we don’t look any better first thing in the morning but the early session woke everyone up. It wasn’t surprising to see how enthusiastic and sprightly we all were that early…maybe it had something to do with the camera!

8.15am: We are finished and ff on our separate ways to our respective offices
to start our day job.

5.30pm: Head to the Crowne Plaza in Glasgow in preparation for the eve of cup final dinner which is hosted by the Scottish Senior Referees Association (SSFRA). This is the second year the dinner has been held in honour of the cup final team and is when the cup final referee is presented with the Jack Mowatt Trophy. This year’s dinner was in support of Alzheimer Scotland and the football reminiscence project – a fantastic cause.
The event was hosted by Jim White of Sky Sports, Cat Harvey from Real Radio with ex-World Cup Finals FIFA referee Graham Poll and top Scottish Comedian Raymond Mearns as speakers. The cup final team stayed for the presentation and dinner before heading off just after 9pm so we missed the full entertainment as we were all tucked up in bed early and ready for the next day’s match. The feedback was that the night was fantastic and enjoyed by everyone and more importantly £8000 was raised for charity.

10pm: Bed time. Tomorrow is beginning to shape up to be a classic tie and one that the
whole team are proud to be part of.

Alasdair Ross blogs about his week leading up to the William Hill Scottish Cup final.

Thursday, 17th May

After a gruelling training session for the entire Euro 2012 team in Stirling on Wednesday evening, being put through our paces by our fitness consultants Graeme Jones and John McQuade, the legs were a little stiff and sore this morning! I headed into the office and had a busy day of meetings, although I had time to nip over to Hampden during my lunch hour for a quick chat with John Fleming, the Scottish FA’s Head of Referee Development. I had hoped to be collecting my kit for the cup final, but it wasn’t ready yet.

After work I got my pre-cup final haircut, and I also went to Slaters Menswear to order a new suit to be ready for the next domestic season starting in July. After I got home I did a short ‘recovery’ training session, to get the tiredness out of my legs from the previous evening. And then I briefly visited my mum, who had just returned from a two week holiday – she was as keen to hear about my cup final preparations as I was to hear about her holiday. With our final training session scheduled for 7.30am on Friday, before work, I managed to get to bed before midnight for a good night’s sleep.

William Hill Scottish Cup final assistant referee Alasdair Ross blogs ahead of the final.

Wednesday, 16th May 2012

The legs a little stiff this morning after the high intensity training session that we did at Hampden last night – but not as sore as they might be since it was the lungs that were getting the bulk of the
work yesterday!

After another busy day at work, with lots of meetings in the office, I met Derek at around 5pm to head to Stirling together. We arrived at Stirling University just before 6.30pm and met up with the rest of the Euro 2012 Team (Craig Thomson, William Collum, Euan Norris and Graham Chambers) for a speed endurance training session under the watchful eyes of the Scottish FA’s Sport Scientist, Graeme Jones, and the Scottish FA’s Referee Fitness Consultant, John McQuade. After a regular warm up we embarked on our training session: five circuits of the football pitch, which included walking, backwards running, sidesteps, jogging, 90% sprints and full-out sprinting, followed by six minutes of active recovery… and we repeated this another three times! A long, tough session but we all came through it well and Graeme and John seemed pleased with our condition.

Simultaneously to our training session on the pitch, there were a number of senior-listed referees going through Sprint Technique Training, on the running track, with sprint coach Andy Carroll.

It was after 8pm by the time we finished our training. On the way home from Stirling I popped in to my brother’s house to deliver a birthday present to my niece – it was nice to see them, however brief! After getting home at 10.15pm, there was only time for a quick snack for dinner before some more emails and then off to bed.

William Hill Scottish Cup final assistant referee Alasdair Ross enters his second blog ahead of this weekend’s semi-final between Hibernian and Heart of Midlothian.

Tuesday, 15th May 2012

I was up early this morning to catch up on personal emails before heading into work. Last night was the Monthly Members’ Meeting for the Renfrewshire Referees’ Association, where I am a member – so I had attend that meeting and enjoyed the coaching slot (delivered by Category 1 Referee Des Roache) as well as the other business of the meeting. It was also good to catch up with many friends and colleagues whom I had not seen for a few weeks – but the result was an early start today to follow-up on some business from the meeting and to catch-up on other correspondence.

At work it was a long and tiring day: lots of meetings and calls, and lots of actions. And, in the midst of all this I also had to get to the shops to get a birthday present for my niece, and I dealt with over 20 referee-related emails during the course of the day too!

After work I met up with Derek and we headed to Hampden to meet up with Craig for a training session. We were joined by our refereeing colleague Steven McLean. We undertook a high intensity training session in the indoor warm-up area of Hampden. The session went well and we all worked hard but there is no air circulating in that warm-up area, so it was very warm and unpleasant. We were desperate for some fresh air and for more reasons than the one I just mentioned!

After a quick shower we headed our separate ways. I arrived home to several newspapers which had been put through my door, each including photos and interview pieces from Monday’s photoshoot and media interviews with Craig. I made a bite to eat and did some laundry and then it was time to log into the UEFA fitness monitoring portal to upload my training data for the past few days. After that, and before heading to bed, there was just time to pack my training kit for tomorrow night’s planned training session in Stirling.

Derek Rose, who will be an assistant referee at the William Hill Scottish Cup final on Saturday, blogs about his preparations for the big match in the latest instalment of our ‘Road to Final’ blog.

Monday, 14th May 2012

Today was back to our normal place of work for the team (our day jobs), however the preparations continue with the launch of the new referee kit for next season and what will be worn at the William Hill Scottish Cup final on Saturday.

Craig Thomson, Alasdair Ross and I headed to Hampden at lunch time for a photo shoot pitch side with the Scottish Cup which was followed by a press conference with Craig. We were also joined by Lucy Stevenson, who has recently won the Specsavers ‘Spectacle Wearer of the Year’ , to help promote the new referee kit. In recent years, the referee uniform has taken a bashing as not being a trend setter in the fashion stakes. However, for next season the uniform follows what is used in Europe by the refereeing teams and I really like it.

Today is also our rest day, so it’s good to get a rest before we launch into our intensive daily training schedule and final preparations for Saturday. We will meet tomorrow evening as a team, train and start to prepare as we approach one of the most anticipated dates in the Scottish footballing calendar.