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#Post#: 106659--------------------------------------------------
Referee Abroad
DIR By: olliebcafc
Date: May 25, 2026, 1:11 pm
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Hi everyone,
I recently found out about referee abroad which allows referees
to travel to countries around Europe and the US to referee
mainly youth tournaments. I just wondered if any of our
contributors here have had any experience of it or know somebody
who has before I decide to take part? Feel free to send me a
message
Here’s the link for those of you who may also be interested:
HTML https://refereeabroad.com/product/ibercup-barcelona/
Thanks in advance.
#Post#: 106660--------------------------------------------------
Re: Referee Abroad
DIR By: D.B_ref
Date: May 25, 2026, 1:13 pm
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Hi ,
I’ve been to 4-5 of their tournaments. I really enjoy them and
have also made a few friends around the world and I have also
become close friends with a few lads in other areas of England
which I’ve met abroad. We try and go away each year to a new
tournament.
The ones I’ve done I really enjoy , but the tournaments in Spain
and Portugal tend to be a bit more chaotic and unorganised (not
from referee abroad’s perspective, but from the tournament
organisers).
Usually get to use comms when out there, too , which is fun.
If you need any more info just let me know !
Dylan
#Post#: 106701--------------------------------------------------
Re: Referee Abroad
DIR By: NoComment1105
Date: May 27, 2026, 3:20 pm
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I visited Paris last year and will be heading to Portugal this
summer, the experience you get is incredible, you meet some
really cool people and often get to use comms too. They're
fantastic in my opinion. The organisation in Paris was a bit
rough from RefereeAbroads perspective (appointments out at 1am,
no food boxes available until prettyuch lunchtime) but
regardless the Paris trip remains one of my greatest experiences
so far in my career. I'm hoping for Portugal to live up and/or
exceed the Paris trip. I thoroughly recommend going if you can
afford it, maybe your county will subsidise some of the cost if
you can convince them?
#Post#: 108958--------------------------------------------------
Re: Referee Abroad
DIR By: olliebcafc
Date: July 12, 2026, 7:37 am
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Thanks to everyone who messaged me about this. I’ve just spent
the week in Spain and to anyone who’s an active referee I’d
definitely recommend it. The majority of people were under 30
but it’s a great experience no matter your age.
4 of us flew out from the UK who I all became close with over
the week, and I also spent time with a lot of the European guys
who were great fun. There were varying levels of experience
amongst the group but almost everybody was easy to get along
with because we were all there for the same reason.
I got between 2 and 3 games each day, some as ref some as AR,
and then appointed to a final on the last day. Not everybody got
to do a final but it was the highlight of the week - there’s a
proper ceremony before kick off with national anthems played and
also a medal after the game.
You get plenty of downtime aswell. There was a pool at our hotel
which was a short walk from the beach and town centre. The cost
was reasonable, it included everything except flights.
The only thing I didn’t like was appointments would come out
after 1am with some games kicking off at 8.30, but the advantage
of the 8.30 kick offs was the weather was cooler and you were
done by 11 with the rest of the day off.
Obviously there’s a degree of professionalism expected but it’s
generally a chill week, it just felt like a holiday to me.
I’ll happily answer any questions if anybody has any, just drop
me a message!
#Post#: 108963--------------------------------------------------
Re: Referee Abroad
DIR By: Ryanellis
Date: July 12, 2026, 8:07 am
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Sounds like you’ve had a good time in Spain! I think I’ll
consider going to one of these this time next year
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