Guestblogger Simon Tilkin, referee from Belgium

Hi guys, Simon from YungRefLife again. In this second post, I would like to share some adventures and interesting game situations from this season.  

The season started out at full speed right away: I was appointed for two cup games, two friendlies, and a league game – all in just ten days. Quite tough, after a long summer break, but being back on the pitch felt great.

During the first two weekends of September, I had games on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons. Doesn’t seem heavy, but there was not too much time for my legs to recuperate – at least not when you run 12 kilometers in an intensive game. During the week, I do my training in between school and homework.

Then, it was one game on the weekend. My two favourite experiences were Antwerp FC vs. Standard de Liège U18, and KVC Westerlo vs. Standard Fémina in the Belgian women’s cup. For both games, I was backed up by great ARs. And it was fun to work with buzzer flags – if you don’t know them: they’re a great tool to improve your communication when you don’t work with headsets yet.

Of course, there were some interesting situations on the pitch. Once, I gave two players a yellow card for "entering the pitch without permission". One of them was a substitute who came on to celebrate a winning goal: couldn’t miss him, as he wore his warming-up shirt. But I did fail to register the other one, as he was wearing his actual game outfit. Too bad, better next time.

Another interesting situation I recall is when a goal was scored by a player in the offside position, but the ball came from a defender. So, the question was: do we talk about deliberate play or deflection here? I interpreted it as deliberate play because the defender could see the ball coming and was aware of his options. I allowed the goal, no protest.

Anyway: it’s been an interesting season, with nineteen games officiated so far, and about eight more to go before winter break. I look forward to a new bunch of great appointments.