Referee Bobby has field day in France
EK whistler enjoys his taste of top tournament
Bobby Madden admits the s uccess of t he home nati ons at Euro 2016 was a f ac t or i n his group stage exit from the tournament.
The East Mains whistler has recently re t urned f rom France where he was involved in three group matches as an additional assistant behind the goal in Willie Collum’s team of officials.
However, de s pi t e S c o t l a nd’s o nl y team in France earning praise for their performances, they didn’t make it to the knockout stages and were one of six referee teams to make an early exit.
While Madden was disappointed to see his “outstanding” experience come to an early end, he admitted with Wales, England and Northern Ireland (as well as the Republic of Ireland) progressing from their groups, it made it difficult for his team to continue.
The 37-year-old told the News: “It was disappointing for everyone on the team to go home.
“You want to stay as long as possible and experience as much as you can.
“But it was always going to be difficult and all you could do was perform in your matches and hope for a bit of luck that you need at times.
“With England, I re l and, Northern Ireland and Wales all qualifying, that didn’t help but we can be happy that we have only enhanced our reputation as a team on the biggest stage in Europe and look forward to next season to try to build on that.”
Interestingly, officials received their appointments vi a t he mobile phone application ‘WhatsApp’ and all three of Madden’s games ended in 2-0 victories.
His first appointment came on June 12 when he was the fourth official for G e r many’s wi n ov e r Ukra i ne, a s a n addition to English ref Martin Atkinson’s team in Lille.
Three days later he was on board with Coll um’s t e a m a s host s Fra nce beat Albania in Marseille and his final match on June 21 in Lens saw Turkey overpower the Cezch Republic in the final round of group games.
And out of the three matches, being i nv o l v e d i n a g a me w i t h t h e h o s t s was comfortably his highlight of t he championships.
On the night, Antoine Greizman and Dimitri Payet struck in the second half to deliver a crucial win over Albania, which put them on the way to the final where they lost to Portugal on Sunday.
“Being involved in a France game was the pinnacle,” said Bobby, a category one FIFA referee.
“T h e p r e - mat c h F r e n c h a n t h e m i n Marseil l e, t o be on t he pi t c h and experience that, was something special.
“Even as the French players passed for the handshake, you could see they were visibly moved by its rendition.
“But I can honestly saw I enjoyed all my time in France.
“The level of professionalism you were afforded was an eye-o p e n e r and thoroughly enjoyable. “We also had the opportunity to go to the opening ceremony and several other fixtures, the Ireland v Sweden game being the pick of them.
“As a r e f e r e e y o u j u s t want t o b e involved in games that mean something, w h i c h f o r t u n a t e l y a l l t h r e e o f my appointments had.
“At Germany v Ukraine, being part of Martin Atkinson’s team, it was good to see other referees operate first hand.
“The Turkey, Czech game was massive for both teams and as is usual for Turkish f ans, t he at mosphere generated was exceptional.
“The appointments were distributed on a WhatsApp group around lunchtime each day and there was a real sense of anticipation and excitement waiting for that message to arrive.
“I remember opening the message to see us appointed to the France v Albania match and from that moment the whole experience was outstanding.”
Reac hi ng t he Euro s ha s be e n t he biggest test of Madden’s 14-year career – but he insisted he did not feel any extra pressure compared to officiating in the Scottish Premier League.
He said: “I suppose it’s easy to say that but with the experience gained over the years you learn to deal with the pressure.
“I didn’t feel any more pressure than normal on the matches as every time you officiate there is pressure to perform no matter what level home or abroad.
“I would say, though, being appointed to the France game put more focus on the referee team, from security, police escorts, media presence at the stadium and to crowds lining the streets hours before kick-off.
“Whi l e y o u d o n ’ t f e e l a d d i t i o na l pressure you do realise the magnitude of the fixtures you’re involved in.”
This weekend Madden i s back on domestic duty as he will t ake charge of Saturday’s fr iendly between Celtic and Wolfsburg, which will be Brendan Rodgers’ first game in charge of the Hoops on home soil.
As he prepares to get back into his r e g u l a r r o u t i n e , t h e f o r me r E K Y M player says he has learned a lot from his experience at one of the biggest sporting events on the planet. “The two key things would be the level of preparation and that you have to be a strong team,” he revealed.
“The game is getting faster and players and coaches are looking for any means to give themselves a competitive advantage.
“As officials we have to combat that with preparing physically, mentally and tactically for each match and having trust in your team, sharing responsibility to try to achieve the highest possible standards.
“The level of preparation that went in to each individual match was incredible, and having that time available was the biggest difference from a standard international appointment.
“There were match analysts present for the duration and they would spend time with the referee team for each match d i s c u s s i ng a t t a c k i ng a nd d e f e ns i v e strategies, teams’ general style of play, t acti cs at s et pieces and providing a mass of statistics, all details which are invaluable in today’s game.
“It was great t o f eel l i ke a f ull- t i me official for that period and all the support mechanisms i n place helped deliver successful performances.
“It was a thoroughly enjoyable and memorable experience which absolutely gives you the appetite for more.”