Champions League call-up for Gordon
Perth referee proud to be heading over to Norway
Gordon McCabe never envisaged that his refereeing would take him across Europe.
But the Perth whistler is getting set to jet off to Norway after again earning selection to officiate at the Futsal Champions League.
The northern city of Tromso is the location for the preliminary round group stage with matches kicking-off at the end of this month.
Hosts Sjarmtrollan Idrettslag, Luxol St Andrews of Malta, Dinamo Chisinau of Moldova and San Marino’s Fiorentino are all involved.
“It’s always an honour to be given the opportunity to referee these big matches,” Gordon explained. “I did Champions League matches last year and it was my first year on the FIFA list.
“There was also the Home Nations tournament between Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. I was lucky enough to referee there.
“I’ve had a number of international friendlies, the British Universities final and also the domestic stuff here in Scotland.
“There’s pressure in every game you do because, to the team or their supporters, it’s the most important game. But I’d say there is probably a little more pressure at this kind of event. It’s a higher profile with bigger crowds.”
Gordon regularly jumps between Gordon (left) has plenty of experience refereeing futsal
refereeing football and futsal, which is a change-up he has come to enjoy.
“Futsal is much faster and that can make it more enjoyable to referee,” he said. “The players just get on with the game because of the speed.
“There is perhaps less dissent and some of the other issues that are creeping into football more. That makes it more enjoyable for me.
“The fitness requirements are tough and we need to make sure we’re training regularly and passing our fitness tests.”
He has also noted futsal’s increasing popularity and ever-advancing level of competition.
“Particularly in mainland Europe the standard of futsal is very high and that is filtering into football as well,” Gordon added.
“The countries who are doing well with the futsal tend to then start doing well with football. I think the last 20 FIFA world footballers of the year started playing futsal and a lot of countries have cottoned onto that.
“A lot of countries now have professional leagues and I’m sure last year saw the first million pound player transfer. We’re seeing more crossover players between the two sports and I’m expecting the standard to be very high at the Champions League.”
Gordon admits getting to this stage in his refereeing career has been a special journey.
He said: “I first got into refereeing to help out the local Perth amateur football league, who were short of referees. I ended up doing a couple of games down at the North Inch and then ended up getting into futsal as it started to grow.
“It’s really just spiralled from there and shows the opportunities that are available to people who want to get involved in refereeing.
“You never know where it can take you. I’ll keep doing my games, keep the fitness up and hopefully I can get some good appointments.”
Anyone interested in getting involved with a refereeing class at the North Inch Community Campus on a Wednesday night can contact recruitment.perth@ aprefs.com