Intensities of exercise during match-play in FA Premier League referees and players

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between intensities of exercise during match-play of elite-standard soccer referees with those of the players from the same match. Match analysis data were collected (Prozone® Leeds, UK) for 18 elite-standard soccer referees (age 26–49 years) on FA Premier League matches during the 2008/09 English FA Premier League season (236 observations). Running categories for referees and players were as follows: total distance covered (m); high-speed running distance (speed >19.8 km · h⁻¹); and sprinting distance (speed >25.2 km · h⁻¹). Analysis of the distance–time regression coefficients revealed no differences between the referees' and players' within-match rates of change for total distance covered (−0.594 ± 0.394 vs. −0.713 ± 0.269 m · min⁻¹; P = 0.104), high-speed running (−0.039 ± 0.077 vs. −0.059 ± 0.030 m · min⁻¹; P = 0.199), and sprinting (−0.003 ± 0.039 vs. −0.021 ± 0.017 m · min⁻¹; P = 0.114). In addition, there were no differences between across-season rates of change for total distance (–26.756 ± 40.434 vs. −20.031 ± 25.502 m per match day; P = 0.439) and sprinting (–9.662 ± 7.564 vs. −8.589 ± 4.351 m per match day; P = 0.542). These results show that elite-standard soccer referees' intensities of exercise during match-play are interrelated with those of the players and thus demonstrate that referees are able to keep pace with the players during FA Premier League matches.

Keywords:

• Soccer
• referees
• players
• match analysis
• exercise intensities

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Martin Bland and Mike Adamson (Prozone®) for their help with the match analysis data reduction. We sincerely thank Keith Hackett and Simon Breivik (PGMOL) for their help and support in the project. The cooperation of the referees was invaluable.