REFEREE Development Officer, David Dixon, hopes the Essex County FA can propel more talent up the match officials' ladder towards the Football League after witnessing the conclusion of a successful schedule of seminars designed to fine-tune some of the area's most ambitious men and women in black.

County FA hopes

Football: Referee Development Officer, David Dixon, hopes the Essex County FA can propel more talent up the match officials' ladder towards the Football League after witnessing the conclusion of a successful schedule of seminars designed to fine-tune some of the area's most ambitious men and women in black.

Promotion-seeking referees totalling 75 who have applied to leap from Level Six to Five or Seven to Six took part in 'Get to Know Your Assessing Coordinators' sessions and 'Laws of the Game' exams around the County between July and September, finishing in Chelmsford on Monday and Dixon believes the project will be advantageous to both the referees themselves and the grassroots game in general.

“The benefits of these Seminars are that the referees have been given additional information to build on their basic training and correct a few habits which may have crept in over time,” explained David, who forms one half of the referees' team at the County Office in Chelmsford alongside Terry Thacker. “It also lets the officials know what the assessors are hoping to see and the expectations of a referee at the next level.”