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REFEREES
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FEATURE
REFEREEING
THE
AT THE FA
BEAUTIFUL
THE REFEREES
ASSOCIATION OF ENGLAND
GAME ON WHEELS
THE REFEREES
ASSOCIATION OF ENGLAND
Ray Brown
Referee Development
Officer, Cornwall FA
(Left to right): Lada Rojc (Croatia), Carolina Gonzaliz (Chile), Jennifer Bennett (USA) and Natalie Walker (England)
After the steady performance of our two group
games, Natalie and I knew we were in the
running for one of the decisive games. At this
stage of the tournament it is not only about
performance, we also knew we needed a little
luck with who the remaining teams were. Only
the correct combination of teams would allow
us to continue to have an opportunity to
progress. As the teams from Europe usually
do well in these tournaments, it makes it
increasingly difficult for UEFA referees to take
part in the final games. On this occasion luck
was with us and both teams in the 3rd /4th play
off were from UEFA (which meant the officials
could come from UEFA also as there would be
not perceived bias) and no UEFA teams were
in the final.
I was appointed to referee the Final between
Korea DPR and USA and Natalie was the first
Assistant Referee on the third place game
between France and Germany.
Obviously, I wanted the Final to go really well.
Fortunately, the teams played very well and
there were no major incidents or contentious
decisions. Leaving the field I was pleased with
the way it went and I was relieved to receive
confirmation of this from the FIFA staff.
Officiating on the final day of the U20 Women’s
World Cup is undoubtedly something we both will
cherish for the rest of our refereeing careers. This
game was the pinnacle of a fantastic year with
three international and two FA Women’s Finals.
Natalie Walker (Assistant Referee)
At fourteen years of age, when I first
began refereeing for pocket money,
I never imagined that twelve years later
I would be officiating at a World Cup. Sasa
Ihringova (Shropshire) and myself (Lancashire)
were both selected by FIFA as Referee and
Assistant Referee, respectively, for the FIFA
U20 Women’s World Cup in Chile.
We arrived in Santiago on the 13 November and
successfully passed our fitness tests to then be
appointed to Canada v Japan in Santiago and
Brazil v Mexico in Temuko. Sasa was also fourth
official for Korea DOR v Mexico in Chillan.
We attended technical and fitness training for
three hours every morning in temperatures of
20-30°. It was intense and beneficial to both of
us and we learnt a lot that we can take into our
games, both internationally and domestically.
Sometimes it’s easy to forget how lucky you are
to be part of such an event, to visit countries
you may never normally get to and see sights
you would never see and, after all, this is just
my hobby! Going to an event like that makes all
the hard work on a Saturday afternoon in rainy
England so much more worthwhile and makes
Contributory League games on New Years’ Day
a little more bearable.
Sasa and I were delighted to be appointed
to the final games, myself as Assistant Referee
in the third place play-off between France and
Germany and Sasa as Referee for the Final
between USA and Korea (current champions).
Two amazing appointments and we are so
proud to have represented England and we did
the best we could to make you all proud of us.
Iwas first introduced to Power Chair football
by my local Cornish side, Celtic Storm. The
game is played on a basketball size court
with 4 v 4 selected from squads of eight with
repeated substitutions allowed throughout.
Having refereed in the National League in
Kettering for over a year, I was still surprised
to be nominated to officiate the Powerchair
Champions League.
I made my debut in the competition as
Assistant Referee to my colleague, Mike Wright,
in the match between Vaucresson and Villeneuve
d’Arsq with Villeneuve securing a 2-0 win.
My refereeing debut came in the game where
Montauban beat Villeneuve 3-0. I had two
further appointments in the group stages –
one as Assistant Referee and another as Referee.
On to the knock out stages and the English
delegation took charge of the Montauban v
Charleroi Semi-Final with myself being appointed
as Assistant Referee.
Then came the 7th/8th place Play-Off match
where again I was appointed assistant referee.
My final bow in the competition was as
Assistant Referee for the Charleroi v CRRF
Kerpape 3rd/4th place Play-Off. CRRF Kerpape
established a 2-0 lead but MEC Charleroi fought
back reducing the deficit to 2-1. Having collected
a souvenir plaque I settled down to watch the
Final in the knowledge I had refereed the group
game between the same two sides – Montauban
v Villeneuve. A close fought match saw
Montauban win 1-0 thanks to a defensive
mistake. Montauban were European Champions!
During the Closing Ceremony and Gala Dinner
each referee was called individually to the stage
and presented with a medal and a large trophy.
I awaited my turn until I heard “Ray Brown-
England” – a moment I will treasure for a long time.
I would like to pass on special thanks to my hip
surgeon, Darren Fern, who twice rescued my
sporting career with surgery in June 2003 and
March 2006. Without his support opportunities
like this would not have come my way.
46 REFEreeing VOLUME 09 47