Written by Spike Soccer Store
Do you want to become a soccer referee? In addition to knowing the rules, roles and responsibilities that govern being a referee, you will also need to have the right equipment. Here is a list of soccer referee equipment that will be needed to officiate games:
Whistle
This is one of the defining characteristics of a ref, the whistle. Note that only the head referee actually has a whistle. Initially the whistles were all metal for a shrill and high pitched noise. Now the plastic versions are more common. There are two types of whistle. One is a finger whistle, which is on the finger and the other is kept around the neck.
Watches
Soccer officials need to have accurate watches to keep track of the game. Top referees in the most popular leagues have two watches. One is run during the entire game, while the other is stopped when play is halted for whatever reason. That time difference is used to calculate injury time. Often more than one referee will monitor the game time in case of problems with the first watch.
Yellow card, red card and notebook
These are probably the most well-known soccer supplies used be referees. The yellow card is used to caution/warn players for bad conduct. The red card is for serious violations and removes a player from the team. The notebook is used to note down the jersey number of the player that has been booked.