The Shropshire FA Referees Academy before the Shrewsbury Town v Exeter City match
By FA Editorial - Thursday, 12 March, 2009
The Shropshire FA looks to aid the development of its referees.
As part of their in-service training, members of the Shropshire FA Referees Academy were taken to a recent League Two match with a view to aiding their development.Each referee was asked to observe the match Referee and the Assistant Referees in order to observe their movements and learn from them. They then met to discuss their findings and share the feedback with the other referees in the group.The group attended the Shrewsbury Town v Exeter City fixture on 3 March and also had the opportunity to meet the referee, Iain Williamson, and his Assistants before the game.This development initiative is the first of its kind in Shropshire and has been used regularly with the Herefordshire FA Referees Academy for the past three years - in February, Herefordshire Referees observed the Hereford United v Millwall match.Sean Dipple, Referee Development Officer for Shropshire FA and Herefordshire FA, said: "This is an excellent opportunity for them to observe referees officiating at a higher level and not only enjoy the game, but also to learn from the performances of the match officials."Some of the topics are selected for referees who are looking to gain promotion and others who are new to it. They all display an excellent commitment to refereeing and I am also grateful to the support provided by the County FAs and also to Shrewsbury Town and Hereford United."The topics covered: