They came from near and far; Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Middlesex, Essex, London, Dorset, Wiltshire and Kent. All of the refereeing family was represented; level three referees through to level ten, assessors, instructors, County Training Officers, Referees' Committee Chairmen and Secretaries.

There were County FA Secretaries and Chief Executives, FA Council members and County FA directors and employees of The Football Association. They all descended upon the small town of Harpenden in Hertfordshire to see at first had what FAMOA was all about and what it does for referees.

They were not disappointed.

The FA's Head of Refereeing addressed the conference to explain what FAMOA was all about and then used the lunch time interval and time after the conference had closed, to meet and chat personally with referees.

David Elleray was invited as the keynote speaker. He took the theme of 'From Park to FIFA' as his address and used it to challenge our approach to refereeing at any level. Do we approach matches and our duties as referee in a professional manner, thereby doing our job correctly and ultimately earning respect from the teams that we referee. Or are we prepared to duck difficult issues and not fully apply the Laws of the Game in search of that illusive 'easy life'.

David ended his address to the conference with a 20 minute question and answer session where he gave honest answers to direct questions from the audience.

Everyone who attended the FAMOA conference on Saturday 29th June left enthused and with a greater knowledge than when they entered as they had witnessed a thought provoking day.

To see David Elleray in action was worth the entrance money alone but here's the thing; it was FREE. So where were you? Four dates still left don't miss out sign up now and attend. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.