Fitness for your Future

As a Referee and Footballer I have to be fit. In a single match I could run about 8 miles, and not just run but sprints and turns alongside concentrating on the match itself. I have to keep my fitness and health up, as it would show in the match if I couldn't keep up with play.

Although I have always done sport, I wouldn't say that I was super fit. I remember when I first started running with my Mum aged about 14 - I was shattered after about a mile, and even that mile was at a slow(ish) pace, Well with time, patience and persistence I got fitter and fitter, my body shape looked better, my mind was more alert and life just offered more;

Here's how I do it;

 Running -


Running costs nothing. It gets you outside getting plenty of fresh air. Have a look around where you live. If your just starting find somewhere flat, ideally a circular route of maybe a mile. Build your self up to doing a couple of loops.

Eventually find more challenging area's. Steps in the local park. The photo to the left is Vernon Park in Stockport near my Nana and Grandad's. There are similar steps near my own house in Nottingham at an area called the Park.

Have fun with your run. Join a charity event such as 'The Colour Run'. Me, Mum, Bro and Sis all entered the 'Colour Run in Nottingham, it was a great day, with plenty of laughter.


Road Cycling -


I love road cycling, it's exhilarating. You need the kit obviously - a decent bike, a helmet and if possible the proper cycle clothing. Join a cycle club it's even better. they organise training and cycle rides. You will meet like-minded people and if you are like me you will meet up a few times a month to go out on your own bike rides.
You don't need to go mad, I tend to go out and do around 50 miles these days, but a nice 10 miler is great.

It's fantastic exercise for your legs and bottom in particular..


Gym -



I  am a gym member, but tend to go more in the darker months. I am an outside person really and find that most of the training I would do in the gym, can be easily done in the fresh air.

Everyone is different, both my Sister and Brother would rather go to a gym than train outside.


The gym does allow you to tailor your training to your needs, and in most gyms there are 'Personal Trainers' who can give you a bit of help. If it's like my gym, there will also be loads of classes - My Mum likes the classes, she does persuade me to go to the Pilates occasionally, but we end up laughing too much.

Swimming -



I swam for Long Eaton when I was younger. We trained four times per week. Now, although I will do a few quick lengths, I swim mainly to relax after a run.

Swimming is a great exercise, especially if you are just starting out on your physical drive. It exercises every part of you, but without putting you under too much pressure.

And if you are near the sea, there is no end of exercise to be done.





Stretching - Massively important after every training session, no matter what.

I've made the mistake of not stretching in the past, and you do suffer the next couple of days. Ensure that you have a stretching routine relevant to the exercise you have been doing. Always give yourself time to bring your heart rate down. Time spent on the Cool Down, is Time well Spent.

Who Would Be a Referee ???

I get asked all the time - Why have I gone into refereeing?

• It's a job where at best you can only please 50% of the team / crowd. 
• It requires incredible management skills
• So much of it is split-second decision making
• You have to really keep on top of your calendar 
• AND - The referee kit isn't exactly flattering!!!!

So why did I go into refereeing??   

Here's why:

This is my Sister Paige;

Paige did the paper-round where we lived for about 3 years. When she was 16 she was scouted by a top Model Agency. Mum said to me that I could take over the paper-round as a part-time job;

Absolutely no way was I doing a paper-round. Within a day of Mum suggesting it I had booked on to a referee course. I love football, I know football and this was the way forward. 

It was the best decision for me, it has introduced me to a whole new area of football. The crowd in the stands will shout and call the referee's all match, but they have no idea just how much goes into being a referee. 

As an individual, it has given me;

• Confidence, both with Management and dealing with people
• Organisation Skills, of my time and of the events time 
• Communication Skills, with players, officials and organisations
• Thinking, about the game, about the players, about the event, about the conditions
• Forward Thinking, of the match, and of where I want my career to go
• Team Work, with the officials, with everyone involved in the game and with the referee association as a whole. 

So glad my Sis was scouted, as it gave me the push that I needed to go in the direction that I wanted to. 

Life works in a weird way, and I'm so lucky to have my Brother and Sister to support me.

What's good for you?

You've Got To Do What's Right for You

Kyra our Goalie in Neil's Angels, was a great goalkeeper, both for us and especially for Nottingham Forest. I knew that when Derby played Notts, it would take a special move to get past her. Well Kyra had the chance to try something a bit different. We lived near 'Holme Pier Point (home of rowing), and Kyra went to have a go one day - She was hooked. She took up Rowing and eventually had to decide between Rowing and Football. Rowing won.

Well in the few years since that decision she has gone from strength to strength. She is now in the Great Britain Rowing Team, and moved out to UCLA on a Rowing scholarship last September. Really proud of her and what she is achieving. She is loving it, she loves the sport, she loves where it is taking her, and she made the right decision for her. You have to do what is right for you, don't be scared to make that jump.

Who knows what might happen - the opportunities are endless

Neil's Angels

Back to my past;

Every year I had to re-trial for Derby County which was always a bit of a nervous time, however what was an advantage was that at the end of each season, it left me free from the contract stating that I wasn't to play for anyone else.

Neil was my mates Dad, who also worked with my Mum. Each year he would put together a team of girls (we all lived in the same area, and either went to the same school, or were in a team together already). Neil would enter us into the tournaments that you get over the summer months. He went off to Decathlon and bought a plain coloured set of football shirts each year

We loved the tournaments. We weren't under any pressure as such, because we were an unknown entity. We had nothing to lose, and everything to gain. We just went to the tournaments for a day out, took packed lunches, and had a great laugh.

Trouble is we were pretty formidable - Our Goalie (Kyra) was Nottingham Forests Goalie, two of the girls had played for Derby County, and one other girls had played for Forest. We. apart from one tournament, won all of them. Neil was spoken to on a few occasions as other teams thought we shouldn't be allowed to enter.

One notable tournament was an event held at Leicester City's ground. It was a massive tournament with loads of teams entered. There was one team that was in our earlier rounds who had come up to Leicester from London. The team wasn't that good, but the girls were great, and having a fantastic time. They loved the day and just laughed and sang all the time. My Mum noticed that when they played, they obviously only had enough boots for the team on the field, as every time they subbed the girl coming off had to pass her boots to the girl going on - At the end of the tournament, we passed our boots over to the team to keep. They were so chuffed.

I'll Be Playing In The Final Then!!

Well we did it - We won yesterday.

It was a lovely spring day, perfect for a game of Footy. Radcliffe v Ruddington semi-final. Got to say, that I didn't play my best, though I did put over a couple of on point corners. Fortunately the team were playing well. We out played Ruddington and won well.

Much thanks to Ruddington for a nice game of Football though, and for probably being the most friendly and pleasant team I've ever played against.

Here's a couple of action shots from the Peterborough match which I played in a couple of weeks ago.

Anyway, I now have to tell the Referee association that I can no longer Refereee the final, as I will be playing in it - I did toy with suggesting a new format of the player/manager - Player/Referee - What do you think?

Don't know about you Guy's, but I can't resist practicing my kick-ups - no matter where I am!!!

Even if I'm out shopping !!!!

My Week - This Week!!

Cup Semi Final - Linesman

I ran the line for a cup semi-final during the week. It was freezing. But you bare it, I guess that's what you do when you have so much love for the game. The game was Cotgrave Utd vs Real Utd, virtually bottom against virtually the top of the league, if we put it that way. What would be predicted to happen in this game basically did, Real dominated the game, especially in the first half, they were all over them, never gave them any chance to get involved or create any opportunities at all, apart from the odd count attack, which didnt really lead to much either. However, from a referee perspective, although no game is really ever an 'easy' game, this wasn't an action packed game with just the odd careless fouls going in, mainly from the frustrated Cotgrave players. So this was, in my opinion quite an enjoyable game to be watched.

Today I ran the line for a local league match, Wollaton vs Attenborough, within the Nottingham senior league, this is a local derby between the two clubs, therefore although they have 13 league positions between them both, this is always an exciting game and normally very close. however this one was an exception. Wollaton dominated the whole game, apart from a few minutes within the second half where they got the odd possession and had the confidence to get past players. the biggest and some would say most entertaining bit of the game was in the second half where a young lad came on from the bench, Wollaton had a free kick, so he came on and marked a player but as soon as the free kick happened he ran towards the opponent and went in with excessive force, and a bit of abusive language after the tackle, saw him get sent off before he even got chance to touch the ball, I'd say he was on then off the pitch within a good 10 seconds. who knows, maybe he was late for a date.

Tomorrow is a big day. Radcliffe play in the Semi Final of the women's cup final against Ruddington We had a great game last week against Leicester, but we lost 3-2. This week we need to do exactly what we did against Leicester as we dominated the whole game, but just got robbed in the last 10 minutes. This will be a close match, as this is also seen to be a local derby so both teams will really want to win, however, I have no doubt that we will put all our effort in and bag a few early, and tidy the game up as that's what we lacked against Leicester, so once we have this aspect mastered, I believe there is no stopping us.

And, at the end of the day tomorrow - I will know if I'm either playing in the Final, or Refereeing it?

And to top it all, I got my Referee promotion letter. Happy days.

Derby County - The Rams

I can't say that I was too aware that when I hit 12 I would have to move away from the normal league and Riverside Jets. It's a rule that is often contested, and in deed my Mum did raise questions, but 'rules is rules' and I had to go and find a girls team. I was sad to leave the lads, but they did give me a wonderful leaving present of my shirt and a signed card.

I was lucky that I had already been approached by a few girls teams who had seen me playing in tournaments with 'Neils Angels' - Save that for another post But, me being me - I wanted to trial for a 'Centre of Excellence'. I decided to go for Derby County. The trials took place over three dates, and I was successful.

I played for Derby County for five years. Training twice a week with games on the Saturday. The first year we were in the Midland league playing the likes of Birmingham, Leicester and Aston Villa. After that the league boundaries changed and Derby were in the North West league (????). This suited me well with my Grandparents and other family living in the North West. Away games became away weekends. as we travelled to Liverpool, Everton, Manchester United etc. The games were harder in the North West league, but I liked that because it made me a better player.

When we played under 15's we were invited to Charlotte USA to be in a tournament, so of course we went, what an amazing opportunity this was for me and my team mates. I didn't think it at the start, however the american game of football 'soccer' is very different compared to how we play 4000 miles away back home. As female soccer is dominated sport in the USA there standard was quite a bit better up the ladder then ours had been previously, to say this we still gave every team a run for their money, and won most our matches, getting knocked out in the semi-finals on a very stormy day, so much so that we had to pause the game due to the thunder and lightening threat, which only ever added to the nerves we were feeling, however allowed us to think about the great experience we were having out there. Overall, America was the greatest thing that happened to our team as far as the teams concerned, as we all got along very well and all became very comfortable with each other fairly quickly, as we were all very good friends in the first place, it only made our relationships stronger, which benefited us both as individuals and a team, which showed in our performances on the field whilst we were away.