Kevin Friend and Anthony Taylor answering questions

The FA Referees Department did a great thing on Twitter with Kevin Friend and Anthony Taylor answering questions. Below I’ve added the most interesting questions. All will give a wonderful insight in the world of Premier League refereeing.

Share the best tip you’ve got as referee

I was very happy that they also answered my two questions. The first one was about the best tip they got in their career. That’s what I want to know from you as well. Please share the best tip you ever got as referee on dutchreferee@gmail.com. I’ll try to bundle them and share all tips with other referees in the world via my blog.

Kevin Friend and Anthony Taylor answered my question as you can see in the tweet below. Want to read their 7 best tips? I’ve summarized them further down this post.

@dutchreferee K.F: To believe in my own ability no matter what is thrown at me & A.T: Always strive to show your quality

— FARefereesDept (@FARefereesDept) May 14, 2015

Advice for young refs

And Sohail Raja asked some advice for a young referee who wants to climb up the ladder.

@sozze786 K.F: Listen to the people around you in refereeing & always speak up for yourself if any issues arise & believe in yourself

— FARefereesDept (@FARefereesDept) May 14, 2015

7 lessons from Kevin Friend and Anthony Taylor

That were just a few tweets. I’ve summed up the 7 best lessons the EPL refs gave during the Twitter Chat.

1. Believe in yourself (Kevin Friend)
2. Always strive to show your quality (Anthony Taylor)
3. Listen to the people around you in refereeing (Kevin Friend)
4. Always speak up for yourself if any issues arise (Kevin Friend)
5. You’ll get focused by pointing that out to yourself during the game. “I use key words during a match like, ‘focus’ (Kevin Friend) & During a game I keep saying ‘next decision’ to focus (Anthony Taylor)
6. Analyse your fitness performances (Anthony Taylor)
7. Develop a strategy to deal with disappointments (Kevin Friend)

What is the biggest issue you have problems with as referee? What topic do you want to get tips on? Let it know via dutchreferee@gmail.com or as comment under this blog. I’ll try to find an answer for you in a future blog story.