When referees turned professional in 2001 the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOB) was formed to provide match officials for all professional games played in England. One man who is heavily involved in this is former FIFA, European and English referee Keith Hackett.

TheFA.com's Lawrie Madden caught up with Keith at the referees training camp in Staveley to see how it all fits together...

TheFA.com: Who makes up the Professional Game Match Officials Board?

Keith Hackett: The Board consists of three people. The Chief Executive of The FA, Adam Crozier, the Chief Executive of the Premier League, Richard Scudamore, and the Chief Executive of the Football League, currently Peter Heard, Chairman of Colchester United is filling this role.

TheFA.com: What is your role?

Keith Hackett: Under the Board is a select group who report to the board every month. That group consists of myself as Development Officer, Philip Don (Head of the PGMOB), Jim Ashworth (National Group Manager) and Joe Guest (The FA's Referee's Officer). Our duty is to work and maintain standards of refereeing in England and report back to the board.

TheFA.com: What areas do you look into to check standards?

Keith Hackett: We deal with all matters concerning the selection, appointment, monitoring and training of all referees in the professional game, which includes the Premier League, the Nationwide League, the FA Cup, Worthington Cup and LDV Trophy.

TheFA.com: Who are the people that you monitor?

Keith Hackett: The select group of referees totals 24 and there are another approximately 50 referees on the national list. On top of that there are 256 assistant referees. Within the select group we have 10 International referees who come under the banner of FIFA and UEFA.

TheFA.com: There are a number of organisations dealing with referees. Can you briefly explain the different responsibilities for all of them?

Keith Hackett: Well the FA are responsible for the game at grassroots level, ranging from the local park through to semi professional football. They have their own Referee's Officer who is based at the FA's headquarters in Soho Square. All matters regarding discipline are handled by the FA.

In addition, there is also the National Association of Referees. Where I live the referees association is Sheffield and Hallamshire who deal with football at grassroots level. The referees association is an organisation that meets in clubs and pubs to discuss issues and exchange views and knowledge. They are not appointed. They have no responsibility in the educating and training of referees.

TheFA.com: Do the PFA have any role in this?

Keith Hackett: Yes they send delegates to games. When they appear at the games they make a record and report on the performance of referees. They give each referee a mark based on fair play awards. Mick McQuire has been doing this regularly. The reports have been very good and have talked about positioning of referees which we have taken on board and incorporated into our training programmes for referees. They have helped advance referees. David Dent is also another who appears at games on behalf of the PFA.

TheFA.com: The referees now meet up regularly. What is the purpose of this?

Keith Hackett: Yes we all meet up for two days every fortnight. Part of my job involves monitoring these get togethers. At our fortnightly meetings I evaluate their performances using video tapes of matches. We sit down and look at games that they have officiated in the last couple of weeks. This is an on-going plan all the way through the season. There is also intensive training and stringent fitness tests designed to ensure that they can perform to the best of their ability. This week they have been tested on a lot of hand and eye co-ordination exercises. We have 2 sports scientists and a sports psychologist who come in to assist.

TheFA.com: You are a development officer. What does that mean?

Keith Hackett: Another part of my job is to spot and identify talent and move them through the process. If we have a referee who is good then I should know about him. There are advanced schemes now in place where we fast track and select referees who show high standards.