Trevor's thoughts

Trevor Massey is the Referee Development Officer for Cheshire FA, the first county to have a dedicated RDO.

Trevor also had the honour of acting as Assistant Referee in last season's FA Cup Final between Cardiff City and Portsmouth.

When and why did you take up refereeing?

I started refereeing in 1978. I was rather an outspoken player and was regularly cautioned and sent off for my comments made to referees. I wanted to stay involved with football, so took up refereeing rather than getting fined every week.

How did you find officiating on last season’s FA Cup Final?

Anyone who loves football has to have dreamt about playing in The FA Cup Final. Not being good enough to do that, the next best thing is to officiate on The FA Cup Final. It was an absolute dream. To walk out at Wembley, with a crowd of 90,000 was unbelievable. My mum came to watch. She has never seen me officiate ever, so for her, at her age to travel down to London with my wife and children made it extra special. People said to me: “Take in as much as you can, it goes really quickly.” They were right, already some of the day does seem to be distant memories.

What would you say are the top three attributes required to be a good referee?

Man-management – this has to be a major part of every referee’s make up. If you can manage players and club officials effectively, you have gone a long way to keeping control of the game. Unfortunately, not everybody has this when they first start refereeing, but it can come with experience and listening to more experienced colleagues.

Professionalism – this is linked to appearance, attitude, and administration. Your off-field duties are as important as your on-field performances. The old saying: “You never get a second chance to make a first impression,” is so important. The way you turn out to referee and to your games have a massive bearing on how people perceive you. At whatever level you referee at, your attitude has to be spot on, otherwise players will pick up on that immediately. Lots of referees let themselves down with their poor administration. If you control the controllable, then you can concentrate more on the green bit.

Communication – as a referee you have to be able to communicate to all those involved. To have the ability to sell your decisions by using body language, voice, signals, etc will help you control the game far better.

What attracted you to the post of Referee Development Officer?

Having been a referee since 1978, it gets in your blood and becomes a way of life. So to have the opportunity to work full time within refereeing and being able to recruit, retain and improve refereeing at grass roots level is very rewarding. Cheshire County FA was the first County to put an RDO in place, so a lot of the foundations were laid. It’s a brilliant job and I never get that ‘Monday morning feeling.’

What has been your biggest success to date as RDO?

Seeing a newly qualified referee who had a learning disability and lacked confidence, develop his man-management skills and personal confidence. He now loves his refereeing and is showing great potential to progress further.

What currently is the biggest challenge in terms of refereeing that you face in your County?

The retention of referees is the biggest issue without doubt. We have to re-educate players, spectators and club officials that referees just want to enjoy a game of football like everyone else involved in the game. It’s really exciting times with the roll out of The FA’s Respect programme starting this season. Hopefully, grass roots footballers will see it being accepted in the professional game and emulate their behaviour.

What are you doing in Cheshire to recruit more referees?

In Cheshire we are working with schools, colleges and universities to promote the benefits of refereeing. We are also working with local leagues to encourage older players to take up the whistle and put something back into the game.

How can we ensure we retain more referees?

The new Respect programme will have an effect on the environment that referees work in. Hopefully, the improvement will make the refereeing experience much more enjoyable, thus more referees remaining in the game. All those involved within the game have to start to accept the referee’s decision. We will and do make mistakes, but they are honest mistakes.

Who do you admire most in the refereeing world?

Pierluigi Collina, the Italian referee is someone I have always admired. His man-management skills were unbelievable. Just one stare from those eyes was enough to make a player stop dissenting.

Where do you see yourself in five years time?