In a game full of drama and with huge implications for both the top and bottom of the English Barclays Premier League between Aston Villa and Chelsea, referee Lee Mason and his refereeing crew had their hands full. The game witnessed three goals, two of these were historic and record setting goals by Frank Lampard, one controversial no-goal cleared off the goal line, seven yellow cards and two red cards.

Given the high stakes of this game – for Chelsea Championship League spot and Aston Villa relegation from the league - it was not surprising that Mr. Mason was called to action very early in the game.  Indeed, he issued his first caution in only the 4^th minute of the game.  The caution was issued to Nathan Baker for a hard foul on Chelsea’s Juan Mata. In fact, Baker should have considered himself very lucky because his lunging tackle completely missed the ball, violently upended Mata and came from behind.  Truth to be told, Mr. Mason could have easily – and should have - sent him off for serious foul play.  Under FIFA Laws of the Game, “any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force and endangering the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play.”  Baker’s foul easily met these criteria.

As a somewhat seasoned referee for the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) in Illinois, I have witnessed and somewhat have now come to terms with high school soccer rules slowly trickling down and intruding onto the FIFA Laws of the Game, ostensibly I suppose, to make the game most appropriate for high school student athletes as the NFHS sees it. These rules include, among others, rules about specific hand gestures to signal the reasoning for fouls called, the stopping of the clock for injuries, the issuing of yellow card to the coach for an illegally dressed player, the open book testing for referees and the fact that there is even no fitness test for high school officials. Oh and, yes, the issuing of cards to coaches is my personal “favorite.” I think a good enough picture has been painted. Needlessly to say, I’ve had a long journey of coming to terms with what passes for soccer officiating in a high school game setting.

Recently I sat down and watched some highlights of games from the MLS on ESPN.

I live in the Emerald Isle or the Republic of Ireland as we are formally known.

With the advent of satellite it’s great that we are able to access sport from other countries around the world.

I’ve spent a long time both on the field of play with the whistle, and off the field of play as an administrator and coach and mentor to up-and-coming referees up to, and including, World cup level.

It’s interesting to see how other referees perform (and I am specifically talking about refereeing).

The announcement of the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson as manager of Manchester United today will come as a big shock to many, but not to all.

You cannot take away his achievements at the club over the last 27 years. He won more premier league titles than anyone else. He also won the FA Cup five times and the European Champions League twice.

From a club managerial point of view this is unprecedented. From the supporter’s point of view, this is a phenomenal record and is unlikely to be repeated.

However, he won’t be missed by all.

The shocking and disturbing news in the last couple of days of the death of a soccer referee in Salt Lake City leaves us all sad, numb and in disbelief

The referee, Ricardo Portillo, 46 died in hospital where he was being treated following the assault on Saturday night last.

A 17-year-old player who punched the referee after he gave him a yellow card was arrested.

A daughter of the late Mr Portillo said she had been told by witnesses that the player hit her father on the side of the head “when he was writing down his notes.”

This is not the first time that a referee has been attacked and killed by thugs masquerading as soccer players.

In many ways referees are like policemen. When they are recruited they are asked, even instructed, to carry out their duty in a fair, firm, and unbiased way regardless of who the teams are, or who is playing

Other people make the laws – we apply them. We don’t have a choice in the matter.

In a recent game in the MLS a referee decided, for whatever reason, to flout the FIFA Laws of the Game by awarding a yellow card when the incident required, nay demanded, a red card.

Arsenal collected important three points in its fight for the spot in the next years Champion’s League by defeating Norwich 3:1 in a dramatic and controversial finish in the Barclays Premier League at the Emirates Stadium.  Norwich went ahead of Arsenal on Michael Turner’s goal in the 56^th minute of the game.  Arsenal could not break Norwich defense until 85^th minute of the game when Mike Jones, following signal from the assistant referee Richard West, awarded Arsenal a penalty kick which was converted by Mikel Arteta. Only three minutes later, Oliver Giroud added Arsenal’s second goal sending Arsenal’s fans into wild celebrations.  Unfortunately, things got even worse for Norwich when Lukas Podolski scored Arsenal’s third and final goal in the 92^nd minute of the game, completing Arsenal’s remarkable comeback.