Leicestershire Referee Wins Referee of the Tournament At IberCup
The IberCup is one of the largest international youth football tournaments in the world. Teams from a range of age groups across the world enter the competition each year. This year, I was among 20 referees from the CORE group chosen to represent The FA in Estoril, Portugal.
We departed London Heathrow at 06:00 on Monday, July 1, and touched down in Lisbon just a couple of hours later. We were then taken to our hotel; later in the day, we had a look around Estoril, and the coaches took the opportunity to talk to us about the expectations for the tournament and how our officiating styles may need to change when dealing with non-English speaking teams.
We also had a mobility session down by the beach to get our legs moving ready for match day one. That evening, we had a briefing from the tournament organisers and later headed to Cascais for dinner to get to know the group a bit better.
Day one of the tournament was by far the busiest day. In teams of four, we officiated six matches at Tires.The day was all about getting acclimatised and used to officiating in the heat as well as managing non-English speaking teams. I learned a lot from these first few games, particularly about being more expressive with my body language and limiting the use of words when interacting with players. After a tough first day of officiating in high temperatures, we headed back to the hotel, where we focused on recovery in the swimming pool.
On day two, I travelled to Malveira da Sarra with a new team of referees from the CORE group. After receiving feedback from the coaches on day one, I was keen to put into practice what I had learned. The four of us were involved in officiating four matches in the morning. As well as coaching, we also had Bruno Cheftel, a former Ligue 1 referee, observe us. I took charge of the second game of the day between two Portuguese U17 sides.
The game was high tempo and played at a fast pace. After Bruno debriefed us on our performance, he noted that I should consider dropping shorter for goal kicks as many teams in the tournament will try to play out from the back. After our games, we headed back to the hotel for the afternoon to recover.
The next morning, I was back refereeing at Trajouce. Today the officiating teams were mixed up; myself and another FA CORE referee were working alongside a referee from Northern Ireland. I refereed the game between Academico Alves Rocadas and Estoril Paria Elite. I was then an assistant for three games. Once again, as well as having a coach with us, we were also being observed. The day was really valuable in understanding how other referees manage players and deal with different situations on the pitch.
As we moved into day four and towards the business end of the tournament, the games started to get more intense. With the matches coming thick and fast with limited recovery time, it was always going to be tough, both physically and mentally. The game I refereed at Torre was high-tempo and competitive; it required me to put everything I had learned so far into practice. The home side came away with a last-minute winner. I was happy with my performance, and the observer and former FIFA referee, Peter Frojdfeldt, also praised us for how we managed the game.
On day five, I had a further three matches working with match officials from Italy and Tunisia; this included refereeing the semi final between SC Rio Tinto and FC Ferreiras. I also had my final observation of the tournament. After I arrived back at the hotel, I was informed that I had finished at the at the top of the observer merit table and that I had been awarded the final on Sunday. I was later told that I had also been awarded Referee of the Tournament.
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On the final day of the tournament, I took charge of the U17 final between two teams from Spain. I worked in a team of four with match officials from the Netherlands, Sweden, and Germany. I was incredibly proud to walk out in front of 4500 at the Estoril Praia Stadium, knowing all the hard work had paid off. The game finished 1-1 and went to penalties.
I am proud to have represented the FA and FA Core at the IberCup. It has been an amazing experience and one I will remember for the rest of my refereeing career. I’d like to thank all of the coaches for taking the time to share their knowledge and experience. I have learned a great deal during my time at the IberCup, and I look forward to implementing what I have learned during my games in the new season.