Although I had 6 books for Christmas,
they didn't include either of the two refereeing auto-
biographies that I expect many referees hoped to get in their
stocking this year.
Top of the list for most would have been
The Rules of the Game by Pierluigi Collina, easily the
most recognisable of referees with his bald head (result of
illness; not the barber's razor) and goggling eyes and, in the
estimation of many, the world's best referee.
We get many of this country's top
referees come to talk to us here in Reading. People like Mark
Hawsley, Steve Bennett, Steve Dunn and last year before he
retired we had a captivating evening with David Elleray,
considered by many to be England's finest.
It may be remembered that David turned
down a place at the 1998 World Cup where many felt he would
have taken the final, because of his duties as Housemaster at
Harrow School. We have also heard from Thatcham's Nationwide
Football League duo, Paul Armstrong and lain Williamson.
They all mentioned that, without fail,
they prepare before each match with a dossier on the teams and
the individual players they are next refereeing. It has always
concerned me that this might pre-
condition a referee's view of individual players. Give the dog
a bad name and all that. However they all believe that this
preparation is essential good refereeing.
As I said, I haven't got a copy of
Collina's book and have to make do with extracts published in
magazines and newspapers. One extract in The Guardian,
in which he details his preparation for the England v
Argentina contest in the last World
Cup, shows if anything, that he is perhaps even more thorough
than his British colleagues.
For a referee, he says, an essential
part of getting ready for a football match is research. For
him this meant watching England and Argentina in action.
Instead of going along to their matches he watched the games
on television, studying how the teams played, the tactics they
used both in attack and in defence. It is important, he said,
to understand how the various moves are played out, to observe
how they deal with set pieces such as free kicks and
comers.
He then moved on to an analysis of the
individual players. For him, carrying out a game plan depends
on the characteristics of the various players. But watching
the games live was not enough so he videod each game. This he
felt was essential, as it enabled him to see all the moves
repeatedly and allowed him to focus attention on the most
important moments of the game.
Research, Collina says, requires time
and commitment but he is convinced that it pays
dividends in the long run. His preparation also runs to the
stadium in which the match will be played. He always tries to
have at least one training session at the ground especially if
he has never been there before.
This enabled him to get to know the
surroundings of the Sapporo Dome where the England -
Argentina game took place. The different smells and so on, as
he put it. In this way he avoids being taken by surprise
during the game itself or suffering the effects of
disorientation.
He said that with this testament to
knowledge and study, he doesn't intend to suggest that without
it, things are necessarily going to go badly. However he does
recommend it as a guideline for life; try and minimise the
element of luck in doing the best that you can.
For myself, I'm much more laid back, not
worrying about a match until the morning of the game, and
rather than prejudge players, take them as they come. This of
course probably explains why I never got any further than the
old Isthmian League and Pierluigi Collina refereed the World
Cup Final.
Dick Sawdon Smith