Interview with Mark Halsey: Behind the Whistle

We are joined by ex-Premier League referee Mark Halsey.

Halsey was a Premier League referee from 1999 to 2013 and was a FIFA listed referee from 2000 til 2006. He's been he's been involved in many big games notably:

• the 2002 FA Cup between Arsenal and Chelsea as the 4th official

• the head referee in the 2008 League Cup final between Tottenham and Chelsea

He also writes a weekly column in The Sun newspaper.

In this episode I really just wanted to go inside the mindset of an official: how do they handle the abuse from players, the pressure of making important calls, what does it feel like to make a mistake and hurt a team. My desire was to humanize referees as we can really hate them.

If you want to reach out to Mark, his Twitter handle is @RefereeHalsey. Mark is also an ambassador for the Steve Prescott Foundation, which aims to raise money for cancer research. If you'd like to learn more about that you visit their website https://www.steveprescottfoundation.co.uk/home

Listen Here

Timeline

4:53 His pregame routine

8:15 In-game mindset

12:32 His philosophy towards refereeing

15:03 Handling dissent and abuse

17:22 Being mentally strong

20:00 Making a mistake

23:50 How he became a referee

31:25 Why he's given less cards as he's refereed longer

38:00 Getting cancer

46:12 Biggest mistake of his career

52:13 If he could change one law