Howard Webb

In my thirties and early forties, I was a soccer referee, working my way up from kids games until I was head referee for a large AYSO organization and certified as a FIFA referee that got me doing many college games (always welcome because they paid a lot more and added travel expenses.)

I played soccer in high school, was mediocre at best, but really got into refereeing. I loved it. This was at a time when we used the two-man system rather than a ref and two linesmen. It’s a system that I still think has some advantages, but requires much training and teamwork on the part of the two on-the-field officials. (Remember this was some 35 years ago. That system no longer exists.)

We had a very active association that scheduled all the refs and negotiated the fees. I was lucky that I had a job from which I could take off a couple afternoons a week to drive the considerable distances to the games.

Of course as a former ref, when I watch games now, I spend as much time watching the officials as the players. Some of them become celebrities in their own right, like Babiana Steinhaus, a first-rate woman official who was the first female ref to do the premier men’s German league games. She also, in real life, is a Police Chief Inspector. She retired from officiating in 2020, but I discovered she also married Howard Webb, a premier World Cup referee, also a policeman. Howard, as it happens, wrote a book about his career, the culmination of which was officiating at the World Cup final in 2014.

I suspect unless you have some interest or background in soccer — it really should be called football all around the world; that other sport could be called pointy-ball or boring-ball — this book will probably not interest you. I really enjoyed it. The training program and learning experience of top-of-the-line referees is extensive, and that includes a great deal of analysis of mistakes. Webb is not afraid to discuss his blunders, and in soccer, the buck truly stops with the man in the middle.… (altro)

Only really interested in the football related elements of the book so skimmed chapters on his personal life. As a supporter there were insights from Webb with regard to the job of a referee and clear that its full of ups and downs. One of my major frustrations as a football fan is the lack of feedback from refs after the game as finished, particularly when there are controversial incidents. Webb explains their hands are tied and they cannot to criticism from managers, the media and fans. No wonder he retired early as there is little support for referees in the game. The authorities need to be aware there is no game if there is no referee.… (altro)