Last night, my lads and I had a great opportunity to see San Jose Earthquakes play Vancouver Whitecaps (yes, MLS but still…). And if you’re ever in Northern California, you really need to check out Quakes’ new all-“soccer” facility: Avaya Stadium. It’s small by Premier League standards, of course, but absolutely gorgeous. But for a referee fangirl, this was absolute
Read more
So, in many ways, MLS has much more in common with American sports like baseball and basketball than they do with European club football. Witness the All-Star Game. Every summer, MLS pulls its best and brightest together for a single game. In other American sports, this game pits the best of the various conferences against each other. Since MLS isn’t
Read more
Well, there’s been all of diddly going on since the World Cup in the referee news world (magical world that it is), and that’s been fine by me. 60-odd games in a row – most accompanied by margaritas – and I needed the break. But now that I’ve had a chance to stretch my legs, I’m starting to miss my
Read more
Here are the referees for this upcoming week in MLS. Top referee Hilario Grajeda (above) is in Columbus, while Chicago Fire v. New England Revolution wins the Best Referee Name of the Week award, with both Sorin Stoica and Kermit Quisenberry on board. Notice who’s missing? Mark Geiger, the United States representative at the World Cup. It’s been a few weeks since he’s
Read more
Here are your referees for this weekend’s MLS games. Saturday Houston Dynamo vs. FC Dallas REFEREE: RICARDO SALAZAR AR1: Peter Manikowski AR2: Mike Kampmeinert 4TH: Mark Kadlecik Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Colorado Rapids REFEREE: IOANNIS STAVRIDIS AR1: Kevin Klinger AR2: Matthew Kreitzer 4TH: Daniel Radford Columbus Crew vs. Toronto FC REFEREE: ISMAIL ELFATH AR1: George Gansner AR2: Jason White 4TH: Sorin
Read more
Here are the MLS referees for this upcoming weekend, March 29 and 30. You’ll notice that some of the officials – including the fourth official for my hometown Earthquakes, Ioannis Stavridis – were replacement referees. So, it does appear that PRO is working some of these guys into the rotation. Plus, MLS may have scored the jackpot on Best Referee
Read more
Continuing on from our earlier conversation about referees explaining their decision, I did notice one interesting thing from the second week of the MLS lockout. After his woeful penalty kick call, MLS replacement ref Alan Kelly had this to say: “Yeah I saw a challenge from behind from the defender [Olave] on the attacker [Chavez]. And the second question you
Read more
Always check “Latest Appointments” on the sidebar for updated referee appointments. The boys are back in town! MLS’ regular referees pick up the mantle this week, fresh off their collective bargaining agreement with the league. The top MLS referee will officiate the Colorado Rapids, who arguably helped bring about the end of the two-week old lockout when Marvin Chavez conned
Read more
The MLS referees union, Professional Soccer Referees Association, has reached a five-year collective bargaining agreement with MLS. The agreement ends the two week old lockout of regular referees by the MLS refereeing body, Professional Soccer Organization (PRO). Terms have not been disclosed. The union voted to ratify the agreement, which was reached with the help of Federal mediators, on Wednesday
Read more
Could we be seeing World Cup referee Mark Geiger (above) in action for MLS soon? According to an ESPN report, it’s a very strong possibility. The referees’ union, Professional Soccer Referee Association (PSRA) and MLS’ Professional Refereeing Organization (PRO), have been tied up in a labor dispute that has seen the regular refs locked out for the first two weeks
Read more
PLAY THE ADVANTAGE 