Summary
The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of first half activity,
overall match intensity and seasonal variation on the physical match performances
of English Premier League football referees. Match analysis data was collected using
the Prozone® match analysis system from 19 fulltime professional referees during a total of 254
matches in the 2004–2005 season. Physical match performances were classified into
three separate categories: 1, total distance covered (TD); 2, high-intensity running
distance (running speed > 5.5 m/s, HIR); 3, average distance from infringements (DI). Using these match activity
variables the influence of first half TD and HIR distances on second half activities
and also the influence of players’ match activities upon the referees’ physical match
performances were examined. The main finding of the present study was that the physical
match performances of the referees were partly related to those of the players, in
that the referees’ HIR correlated with players’ HIR (r = 0.43, p < 0.0001, n = 212). Furthermore, first half TD and HIR distances were found to be related to second
half coverage in referees (r = 0.47 and r = 0.52, respectively, p < 0.001, n = 254). These results demonstrate a need to assess the overall match intensity prior
to examining the physical match performance of the referee. Further examination is
required as to whether reduced physical performances in the second half of matches
are a consequence of referee fatigue, tactical strategies on behalf of the referee
or reduced player match activities resulting in a slower tempo of match.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Journal of Science and Medicine in SportAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Analysis of work rate and heart rates of association football referees.Br J Sports Med. 1993; 27: 153-156
- Analysis of match activities in elite soccer referees during actual match play.J Strength Cond Res. 2001; 15: 167-171
- Physiological demands of top-class soccer refereeing in relation to physical capacity: effect of intense intermittent exercise training.J Sports Sci. 2001; 19: 881-891
- Activity profile of competition soccer.Can J Sport Sci. 1991; 16: 110-116
- Physiology of soccer: an update.Sports Med. 2005; 35: 501-536
- The physiological requirements of soccer refereeing.Aust J Sci Med Sport. 1994; 26: 67-72
- Intermatch variation of match activity in elite Italian soccer referees.J Strength Cond Res. 2003; 17: 388-392
- Match performance of high-standard soccer players with special reference to development of fatigue.J Sports Sci. 2003; 21: 519-528
- Accuracy and reliability of a commercial video-computerized, semi-automatic, soccer-match analysis system: preliminary results.in: Hoppeler H. Reilly T. Tsolakidis E. Gfeller L. Cologne K.S. 11th Annual Conference of the European College of Sport Science. Sportverlag Strauss, Lausanne, Switzerland2006: 319-320
- Statistical power analysis for the behavioural sciences.Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ1988
- Measures of reliability in sports medicine and science.Sports Med. 2000; 30: 1-15
- Comparison of global positioning and computer-based tracking systems for measuring player movement distance during Australian Football.J Sci Med Sport. 2006; 9: 25-32
- The effect of match standard and referee experience on the objective and subjective match workload of English Premier League referees.J Sci Med Sport. 2006; 9: 256-262
- Physical and perceptual-cognitive demands of top-class refereeing in association football.J Sports Sci. 2004; 22: 179-189
- Profile of movement demands of national football players in Australia.J Sci Med Sport. 2006; 9: 256-262
- The impact of specific high-intensity training sessions on football referees’ fitness levels.Am J Sports Med. 2004; 32: 54S-61S
- Factors affecting decision making of soccer referees.in: Spinks W. Reilly T. Murphy A. Fourth world congress of science and football. University of Technology, Sydney, Australia1999: 28
Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
September 21,
2006
Received in revised form:
September 14,
2006
Received:
May 12,
2006
Identification
Copyright
© 2006 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
