The evolution of referees: speed tests, data, psychologists and superfoods

The Guardian

3 days ago

'Three, two, one,' comes the countdown from Francis Bunce, a senior sports scientist at the referees' body Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO), before he blows the whistle to kick off the much-anticipated maximal aerobic speed (Mas) test. It is 8.53am at the La Finca resort on the Costa Blanca, about 30C and the warm-up has very much been and gone. This a six-minute all-out run. 'They call it Mas because at the end you're just praying for it to finish,' says a smiling Keith Hill, one of the referee coaches observing the session with Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer.
Part of Webb wishes he had a time machine, so he could teleport here a minibus of referees at their peak in 2003, when he joined the Premier League list, to witness the evolution of training. Now they run approximately 12km a game and use technology such as Playermaker, straps that attach to boots and can read running gaits, track how quickly officials change direction and identify injuries. Scott Ledger, who has been an assistant referee on more than 500 Premier League games, is wearing boots fit for the occasion, Adidas Copa Mundials decorated with the Spanish flag. This is day three of a five-day pre-season camp but the Mas is the main event from a physical perspective.
For 63 officials, including 19 Premier League referees, all in identical navy kit, the exercise runs simultaneously in two waves on the upper and lower pitches. Two others are doing rehab on Wattbikes and a handful are missing owing to Club World Cup and Women's Euro 2025 duty. Some officials here are on the PGMO's development programme, including Elliot Bell, son of the former Accrington assistant manager Jimmy. At a glance it looks like an elite club at work, the giveaway the absence of balls or nets. 'Players want to be in the starting XI, officials want to be in the starting 10 on the Premier League team sheet for that first match round,' Webb says.
The aim? To run as far as possible and earn a place on the top-10 leaderboards on display. Those tables also show maximum velocity, with some officials hitting about 33km/h; last season Micky van de Ven was clocked as the fastest player in the Premier League at 37.12km/h, with Anthony Elanga and Bryan Mbeumo joint-second at 36.65km/h. Last season top-flight officials recorded almost 350km of runs of at least 20km/h.
Bunce believes the gap between players and officials is shrinking. 'You don't want to be near the bottom of the list,' says Peter Bankes, the coming season his seventh as a top-flight referee. 'We're a team, in the trenches together at times, we can have good weekends and bad weekends. But we're also striving for the big games, the big appointments, to go to tournaments, to do cup finals. There has to be that competitive edge. These weeks are perfect for that.'
Bankes officiated about 75 matches last season. He refereed 30 games, 23 in the Premier League, and also had fourth official and VAR appointments, the latter at home and abroad. Building robustness is crucial. 'We don't want to just cope in games but perform,' says Matt Willmott, the PGMO's lead performance coach. Hill, affiliated with PGMO for more than 30 years, says the aim is to establish unconscious competence regarding physical demands. 'If you're not worrying about those, you can focus purely on decision-making and it puts you in a better position,' says Wade Smith, who is heading into his fifth season as a Premier League assistant referee. 'It goes hand in hand with being more accurate.'
Is fixture congestion a problem for officials, too? 'If you feel you're tired and you need a bit of rest and recovery there are conversations to be had: 'We can take you off the field, rest you altogether,'' says Bankes. 'That probably didn't happen years ago. Now I think people are much more professional to say: 'Next week's the one where I probably just need a little bit of a breather.''
Arne Slot introduced the Mas test at Liverpool last summer and Premier League players target at least 1,800m, a figure eclipsed by some referees. The officials did the test twice before flying to Spain but this one provides support staff with up-to-date metrics. 'Twenty seconds [to go], let's get every last metre out of you,' says Simon Breivik, the head of physical performance. 'And hold it there,' says Elliot Fletcher, a sports scientist, triggering a kind of musical statues as the GPS numbers, from PlayerData, feed into his iPad. Officials make a beeline for Fletcher in pursuit of their scores, which, Bunce says, they can access via an app whether in Carlisle or Kazakhstan.
'I really scrutinise my data,' says Bankes, grabbing a water bottle from the ice bucket. Lewis Smith, one of six officials on the supplementary list, which straddles the Premier League and English Football League, uses and hands out cold flannels and Andy Madley and Tony Harrington exchange high-fives. Those who have just finished, including Thomas Bramall and John Busby, turn supporters as the next batch begin. 'Go on Akil [Howson], get to that next pole, final few metres,' says Willmott, the end near.
Smoothies packed with fruit, spinach, whey protein and almond butter aid recovery. Is there a superfood? Cacao, says Vicky Smith, a senior sports scientist, because it is rich in magnesium: 'We want to put premium fuel in premium engines.' Times have changed, body fats have plummeted. Not so long ago clubs offered referees Budweiser and pizza after matches. Steve Martin, whose father, Andy, and grandfather Geoff were top-flight officials, is happy after hitting 31km/h in a drill, a personal best. 'I was up against one of the newer guys so I was thinking: 'I need to beat him,'' says Martin, who predominantly referees in the Championship. 'I haven't been injured since I went professional [in 2016] – the right nutrition helps.'
So, how is the Mas test known among officials? 'We call it hell,' says Howson, grinning. It is approaching two years since Howson became the top flight's first black official since Uriah Rennie, whose funeral Webb and several others attended on the Monday after their return. 'We want to push each other to the end. It can be lonely out there as an official but we know how hard we work to get to those top standards. Now it is out of the way, there are a lot more smiles.'
The Premier League, with a following of almost 2 billion, is the most-watched sports league in the world, and so many eyes mean an avalanche of opinion. The noise around decisions can be ceaseless. Officiating, Webb says, has never been so challenging. David Coote, the referee sacked by PGMO last year after being found in 'serious breach' of his contract, said he took cocaine as an 'escape route … from the stresses, the relentlessness of the job'. Coote said struggles with his sexuality also contributed to 'really poor choices'.
'We had a difficult situation last year with one of our officials, part of the refereeing family and somebody we care about as a human being,' Webb says. 'We know the job they do is done under a brighter spotlight than ever. There is undoubtedly a lower level of forgiveness … if someone doesn't agree with a decision, then they're not slow or shy to comment upon that. They have a vehicle now to do so and the way some people do that is pretty inappropriate. Because of the extra scrutiny, we have to ensure that officials are supported.'
Throughout the week the officials are free to sit in the lounge or walk and talk with Ryan Pelling, one of PGMO's psychologists. Pelling explains how referees have scheduled one-on-one chats – 'there isn't an option to completely opt out because we want to normalise it' – but some naturally lean on professional help more frequently than others. Martin tells how he used it to 'mentally park' a tough game last season. Visibility is important. 'Rather than being boxed-off in a room that no one else can see and it's this secret support service,' Pelling says, adding how 'corridor conversations' help build rapport. 'Asking someone a question as simple as: 'How are you?' You're very aware that someone might go: 'Actually, things aren't going very well.''
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Webb is clear. 'Reaching out for help – because confidence is low or because of an issue at home or because you've made a decision that has created a lot of negative attention, which can be really quite tense – is not a sign of weakness or going to affect your appointments. We don't want guys to suffer in silence and just think: 'I'll get through it.'' Referees are higher-profile than ever. The officials are permitted to use social media but must adhere to guidelines. 'We don't want to celebritise referees, we want to humanise them,' Webb says.
Criticism is commonplace. 'If I had £1 for every time someone shouted: 'You're not in line, lino,' I'd be a millionaire,' says Wade Smith. 'You become hyper-focused on the game and it's amazing how many people say: 'Do you not hear all the people shouting behind you?' A lot of the time, you don't.' Madley, whose younger brother, Bobby, is also on camp, describes the job as a 'peak and trough industry', saying: 'I've made decisions on a Saturday and I've had to question if I'm in the right shape and state of mind to referee again seven days later … There are times you feel low, you might have had a decision, game or games not going so well. You need that professional advice: 'This is how we can get you back on the bike,' whether it is after an injury or a decision you can't shake off, because we do carry them quite heavily.'
There is also something of a myth to bust. 'It's not necessarily just the bad times; you need them in the good times as well because you have to keep your feet on the floor,' says Bankes. 'You are emotionally drained if a high-profile incident has not gone your way and that is where the psychological support is invaluable … you can really delve into your game and look into how you felt at the time afterwards and think: 'How can I learn from that?' When I was coming through the system, if I had a rough moment you were pretty much on your own and had to confide in your family. Now there is so much support in place.'
It is 11am in a conference room and the PGMO's technical director, Adam Gale-Watts, plays a music video of the rock band Toto, pausing just before Hold the Line hits the chorus. By that point most had cottoned on to the song choice. It is in these kinds of one-and-a-half-hour sessions where officials get to grips with new regulations. Hugh Dallas, a former referee and now coach, and Webb, take it in turns to stimulate debate and pose questions. Gale-Watts, a former assistant referee, runs through the eight-second rule for goalkeepers to release the ball, a further clampdown on time-wasting. 'We're looking for a sensible application,' says Dallas. Madley says they are training to make the countdown clear for teams and fans. Then there is the 'captains-only' approach to major decisions, to prevent referees being swamped by players. 'We're not going to cut off all dialogue with other players,' Bankes says.
The officials are shown contrasting examples of referees trying to defuse a confrontation and reminded of the importance of strong body language. Dallas reiterates the need to shut out the noise that comes with the territory. 'In the penalty area, you need to hear silence,' he says. Webb, after a clip of a decision that divides the room, uses another analogy. 'Look for the smoking gun,' he says.
Last season brought the pilot of stadium announcements for VAR decisions and semi-automated offside technology. VAR, introduced in the Premier League in 2019-20, continues to make a splash. Last season, an independent panel recorded 18 VAR errors, down from 31 in 2023-24. 'I know it's almost like a bellwether for how successful we are officiating,' Webb says.
Webb highlights how other, subtler rule changes have increased demands. 'Playing a goal-kick or defensive free-kick within your own penalty area,' he says, alluding to how the 'high-risk, high-reward' of playing out from the back can quickly spark big decisions at both ends. 'I could stand on the halfway line, wait for the aerial ball to land, watch for a [No] 9 on [No] 5 challenge ... is there an elbow, a push in the back? The game is wholly different now.'
Matt Donohue is an EFL referee and Premier League VAR who progressed through a dedicated programme designed to widen the pool of VARs. 'I understand how it can be seen as a moth to the flame,' he says of the VAR's job. Is it hard to replicate the pressures of match-day, like a penalty shootout? 'England have probably proven when they have taken practice seriously and purposefully … how much they improved in the Southgate era and we have replicated that. We're having a positive impact – VAR errors are at an all-time low.'
What is it like to be a Premier League official in this era? 'On the school run on a Monday morning people know you as the referee,' Donohue says. Referees are rarely praised compared with those with whom they share a pitch. 'People might think the prime minister should get a little bit of love for what he's doing but I don't think he sits there at night thinking he should,' Donohue says. 'We're doing the job we love.'