REFEREEING - SO WORTHWHILE

WHAT A BUSY OLD WEEK!!!!

As you know, I Referee for Nottingham Forest on a regular basis. Refereeing at an Acadamy is great. Everyone is learning, the Acadamy boys are learning, and they have to impress every week. As a Referee you are learning in a fast paced environment, where the matches are filmed and feedback both good and bad is given. The acadamy's are still particular, and if a Referee isn't up to scratch, they don't last very long. The Acadamies know that without good Referee's, their boys will miss out on an important part of their development.

As you promote internally within the Acadamy, you eventually get to Referee the under 18's. These footballers are briliant, they have power, skills, speed and ambition. I referee'd the under 16's two weeks ago, then last week got the call to Referee the under 18's. It was a great game. You rarely get any problems as the Lads are in such a strict environment, and are aware that if they do so'mething wrong their position in the squad is in trouble.

If you are a budding Referee I would definately recommend that you speak to your Co-ordinator to get yourself a place at your local professional clubs acadamy - Plus it's quite a buzz driving in through the Acadamy gates.

Radcliffe played away to Rotherham at the end of March. It was a great game and I loved playing more in the middle of the field. It was a really warm day, and I ran some distance over the match. The team were on a high, even to the point of us doing a fantastic car Karaoki on the way home.

Radcliffe played against Wolverhampton at the weekend. I've got to admit, it wasn't one of our better performances. The Wolverhampton home ground is an impressive stadium and it's lovely to play at such a facility, but we just didn't gell at all. Having said that we lost 2-3, but it was frustrating. My Grandad came to watch the match as well - so the critic was a very honest Mancunian one!!!!

I even managed to get a Man City Ladies European match in, at their home ground. It;s the first time that I've been inside the new
ladies stadium. It's very impressive, and right next door to the Acadamy. Must admit that the game was pretty boring, it was very set piece oriented, and needed some spark really. City women won comfortably.

Cup Match games are starting to come in. I did a semi final in the Men's Senior League, running the line to my good friend Charlie. I've known Charlie for around 8 years, In fact he bought me my flags when I first passed my Referee exam. Charlie works with my Mum, and also has his own outdoor fitness company, so he expects the best from you. Havng said that, the match went to extra time, then penalties - We  were shattered and even stopped for a sly MacDonalds on the way home (naughty)

Last night the Ref: Stories from the Weekend film aired on BT Sport. It was quite surreal. I have been interviewed on TV before, and even did the odd advert as a child but it is different when you are on the TV as a subject of the film. As only my Mum and Myself had already seen it, my Brother and Sister watched it for the first time, and friends were watching all over the place. Within minutes of the programme being on, my phone was a hot potato, with texts, facebook messages and people asking to follow my twitter / instagram etc. I really enjoyed being involved in the programme, and will hopefully be involved in others - If the programme also tells people what refereeing is about, then thats fantastic.

I love football and I love refereeing. The opportunities are amazing and the experience and learning is endless. It also keeps me busy!!!!