In late July a number of referees were invited to The FA’s Young Referees’ Development Programme in Staverton.

The course brought together budding match officials from all over the country to help them in their decision-making and communication techniques and a weekend of learning saw them partake in a number of practical sessions all aimed at improving their refereeing techniques.

These sessions looked at communication, body language, assistant referee techniques and better ways of managing a game, with particular focus on playing advantage and managing set pieces, throw-ins and penalties.

The referees also had to analyse various video clips and discuss what they felt the referee in question did well and what they could improve on.

The key note speaker of the weekend was Bobby Madley, who at 26 is the youngest referee on the National List, while Ian Blanchard, The FA’s Senior National Referee Manager, and David Elleray, the Chairman of The FA's Referees' Committee, also offered their words of wisdom.

Each referee was also handed a learning journal which they will complete over the next 12 months.

Harrison Read, 18, was selected to attend the programme by the Surrey FA and he found the weekend wholly beneficial.

He said: “It was incredible and it left us all with lots of good contacts to call on in the future.

“Personally, I found the body language and communication areas the most interesting, learning how important it is to walk onto the pitch smiling and looking confident. Communication is a vital part of refereeing; using a whistle may create more aggression between players than talking firmly and calmly to them.

“The role-playing was very realistic,” he continued, “allowing us to be challenged as if in a real match, and learning about the importance of communication for set pieces as well as using different whistle tones to denote different offences.

“All in all it was a really enjoyable weekend. We left Staverton eager to complete our journal in time for next year's programme and brimming with ideas with how our refereeing can improve.”

If you would like to become a referee you need to take part in a Basic Referees Course with your local County Football Association. Click here for more information