A love of football is certainly central to anyone’s desire to be a football referee, but not this weekend – our final training session was schedule to run all day on Sunday, right through the middle of the Manchester derby. So, there we were, 30 prospective referees, trying to concentrate on the activities and experiences we were being taught, whilst also trying to sneak a peak at our phones to check the score from Old Trafford. The once in a lifetime result meant that the tutors were as interested as us, so our lessons on the offside rule and how to award a penalty were soundtracked by shouts of “it’s 4-1 now!” and “surely not 6!”

Away from the matches, this Sunday’s exercise was probably the most enjoyable we’ve had so far. The outside activities on the actual football pitch is where you feel closest to the action, so it’s easier to imagine yourself in the midst of a game, making the key decisions. Doing some roleplay with an angry keeper disputing the penalty isn’t how you’d expect to spend a Sunday, but it’s a good way of getting experience for the real thing!

Offside was the other big topic of the day, and we spent plenty of time with those magnetic boards you see in changing rooms, deciding just what is and isn’t offside. We can all do it on TV, but it’s even harder out on a football pitch. It’s even more harder when you find out that most referees starting out at a local park level won’t have any assistant referees, so you have to make all the offside calls yourself. Thankfully, there’s some helpful advice on where to position yourself on the pitch, so you can get the best view of the action.

After all this practical activity, we ended the day in the worst way possible – with an exam! Having not had the exam experience for a good few years, it was a strange experience, but thankfully this mock version of the final test wasn’t too difficult. It’s the real deal tomorrow though, with the final exam for our Basic Referee Training. I’ll let you know how I get on….