25th Dallas Cup - Dallas, Texas, U.S.A

'The experience of a lifetime' - Report by Ryan Johnson

    I was very shocked but excited to be asked by the F.A. to join a party of English referees travelling to officiate in the 25th Dallas Cup in Texas U.S.A. in April this year. I had never been to America before, and the experience of foreign travel and refereeing foreign teams was something that filled me with both excitement and trepidation.

    The first day was spent travelling, starting from home at 4.30am. The shuttle to London where I met up with 2 National list referees also going, Martin Atkinson and Andre Marriner, together with 2 services referees, Nigel Smith (RAF) and Neil Stewart (Navy). 13 hours later we arrived at Dallas Fort Worth, first impressions - the sun is hot, everything is big and the people are really friendly - even the customs officers!

    We were driven directly to the families who we were to stay with for the 2 weeks, and although we were all advised to try and stay awake as long as possible to beat the jetlag , I was beaten at 9.30pm and had to retire to my bed , falling asleep immediately. Unfortunately the next morning I was awake at 4am. 3 hours later it was a training session - welcome to the Dallas Cup!

        This became the routine for the first few mornings - a training session followed by a hearty American style breakfast and then team bonding by visiting various sites of interest in Dallas. The training sessions were extremely useful , getting us used to the playing surfaces that we would be officiating on and I also picked up some useful tips from the more experienced lads.

    After 4 days acclimatisation, we were now all getting over our jetlag and the training sessions were now getting quite intense ready for the competition due to start on Saturday 3rd April which would be our 5th day . We registered at 7pm where I received my fixtures for the first 4 days of competition.

     I started on the Saturday with 2 friendly games, an U17 game as referee and then as an assistant to Nigel. Lessons were learned very quickly as the style of play was different to that which I had been used to in England. I was also fortunate that both Andre and Martin came along to support me and together with Trevor Simpson from the Football League, they all gave me much encouragement and advice.

    Myself and Nigel Smith (RAF) after our friendly games.

    At 6.30pm we were to attend a FIFA reception (smart dress code), where we all met other colleagues from around the world. There was a buffet of dishes from around the world -  1st class !! A long day but very rewarding.

Sunday 4th April - Game 1 - Referee U16's - Ikapa United v Dallas Texans Red

    Interesting game , my other 3 officials were not used to the pre-match I gave them, especially when I asked them to swap over at half time so that they would have the same defence. A pleasant start to the game where all the players lined up in the centre circle - this happened before every game. An extremely unusual event occurred in this game which I doubt will ever be repeated in England. I had occasion to caution a player for a bad tackle, as I informed the player why he was being cautioned he actually said 'Thank you sir, sorry'. Now that must be a first !!

    That evening was the official opening ceremony which was superbly organised with each team attending with their country's flag. The ceremony was followed by the official opening game with a team from Brazil playing the local team from Dallas.

    Monday 5th April 10.00 am - game 2  - 4th Official U19's - Knowsley Youth v Palo Alto Crew

        I was 4th Official to an ex FIFA referee from USA,  his refereeing style was somewhat different from what I was used to and talking to the players afterwards I discovered that the Liverpool lads were sometimes finding it difficult to adjust to the different styles of refereeing.

    12.00 - game 3 - Referee  U17's- CF Monterrey v Ballistic

        This was an extremely enjoyable game with both teams being fiercely competitive, I managed to put into practice some of the advice I had received after  my 'friendly' and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

    2.00pm - game 4 - Assistant U16's - Forsyth Fusion Gold v FC Quickstrike

        There were a few problems on this game, varying from the condition of the ground at the lines (it was very hard )  to suddenly realising that I had not worn any sunscreen in my 2 previous games and was now beginning to burn ! This was despite the weather being rather cloudy - a lesson learnt there!. I also learnt that foreign players have a distinct lack of English understanding until it is them that want to say something !!

    Tuesday  6th April - game 5 - referee U17's - Chicago Magic v Aiken Fire

    A rather bad nights sleep suffering from sunburn was not the best preparation for this game, fortunately though this was my only game of the day. I learnt a good lesson today regarding the players feigning injury, at one point the goalkeeper was trying to insist that his shoulder had 'popped out' hoping that I would send off the transgressor, only for it to miraculously 'pop in' again when I called the trainer on ! I was more aware of pretend injuries after this episode. An interesting point was that the procedure for issuing a red or yellow card was different to that I adopt in England, it was more like what happens in the Premier Lge in that cards are shown immediately and only the number is taken due to the fact that all players registrations and numbers are held by the 4th officials. It made the process very slick and less time consuming and could quickly diffuse situations. I was assessed by an Ahead merican assessor on this game and was pleased to receive a very good assessment. The day was concluded with another BarBQ.

    Wednesday 7th April - 4.00 pm - game 6 - 4th Official U19's - SWISA Fire v Texans Red

     I learnt a few lessons from watching the American referee control this particular game.

6.00 pm - game 7 - Assistant U19's - Sockers FC Chi9cago v Brookhaven SC

    Another American referee, this game was held in quite a small stadium under floodlights, there was a rather large crowd who really got involved in the game. They were also getting rather irate so that at the end of the game we 4 officials were given a police escort from the ground, not too many people argued with gun toting police !!

8.00pm - game 8 - Assistant U19's - Capital SC v Dallas Inter Black

    This was actually a late kick off due to the problems on the previous game, but concentration levels had to be kept at 100% and the game passed off without incident.

I arrived back at my home stay at 11.30pm extremely tired , only to be greeted by the news that I had been appointed as referee for an U14's quarter final and as assistant on an U17's semi final. A high point to end the day on.

    Thursday 8th April - 4.00 pm - Qrtr Final Referee U14's - Chicago Magic v Solar SC

     The game seemed to go very well , an early caution for diving set the tone early on and the game progressed without further incident which meant a truly enjoyable experience. Unfortunately I seemed to have picked up a slight niggle in my calf which was quickly treated by the excellent medical staff. Little did I realise that the injury would return with a vengeance the next day. The hard grounds were beginning to take their toll !

    That evening we were guests at a local NBA Basketball game which was another first for me. To be followed by a dinner party involving a wine tasting of wines from the world - its a hard life being a referee !!

    Friday 9th April - 3.00pm - Assistant U17's Semi Final - Toronto Lynx v Dallas Texans Red

    A large crowd had turned up to watch this game but it was pleasing to see that they all behaved well and stood behind the barriers in a very orderly manner. The game was going well until half time when I realised that my calf injury was now so painful that I would not be able to continue. I was replaced by Andre, fortunately this was my last scheduled game so I would not be missing any further games.

The final 3 days were spent resting my leg in the best possible fashion by attending a baseball game on the Saturday - we were entertained royally in our own corporate box !, an excellent Easter dinner followed a visit to the local church on Easter Sunday., we then watched the U19's final before attending a final get together to say goodbye to new friends and colleagues.

Monday was a sad day as we said goodbye to the families who had looked after us for the 2 weeks. They had been absolutely brilliant and it had been a joy to stay in their homes. We departed at 12.30 Dallas time to arrive back in Manchester at 10am on Tuesday morning.

    I feel that there are many benefits that I have gained from my time in Dallas which will assist me in my refereeing career. Dealing with foreign players has taught me the importance of body language in getting a message across. Working alongside Football League lads has taught me the importance of the correct type of training to adopt. Working with colleagues from other parts of the world has been an immense learning experience.

Finally I would just like to thank a few people for their invaluable help, Mr Morris and all at Manchester County FA, George MacCaffrey for looking after our every need in Dallas and organising our trips, Trevor Simpson for his advice and guidance and his uncanny knowledge of every law of the game, Martin and Andre for their training sessions and their overall support, our homestay family for looking after us and feeding us and keeping our kit clean each day and finally Randy Jones the organiser of the Dallas Cup.

For anyone getting the chance to referee in the Dallas Cup - GRAB IT - it has been the best 2 weeks of my life - 'The experience of a lifetime'.