Progressing with UEFA's help

By Domenic Aquilina

uefa.com recently met up with Maltese international football referee Joseph Attard for a coffee at the Malta Football Association Training Centre. Together with Tom Restall, the head of the Malta Football Association (MFA)'s refereeing department, we immediately got down to talking about Attard's footballing obsession - refereeing.

Early days
Attard started his professional refereeing at the age of 23 and fondly recalled his early training days within the MFA's refereeing programmes. "During those days, we used to train individually, and not as groups," he said.

UEFA invitation
Born on 1 July 1965, Attard's hard work was rewarded when he was promoted on to the FIFA international referees list in 2000. In June 2001, he was invited by UEFA to participate in the Seminar for Talents and Mentors, an offer that he gladly accepted, and he served with distinction and dedication until the end of 2002.

uefa.com: What did the UEFA talent group selection mean to you as an international referee?

Joseph Attard: I was astounded when Mr Restall phoned me to tell me to get my luggage ready as I had been invited to participate in the Talents programme. It was great to be invited to take part in such a high-profile refereeing programme organised by UEFA.

uefa.com: What does the UEFA Talents programme consist of?

Attard: Referees are assigned to a mentor who constantly monitors their progress. For the first year, I had Arie Frost from Israel as my mentor, before John Martin of England took over. The programme consists of constant contact and analysis by the mentor of every match I refereed, whether in Europe or in our national leagues. Mr Martin and, locally, Mr Restall, who also kept in contact with Mr Martin, have analysed my refereeing rigorously, and given me advice to further my progress as a referee. I have been given a training programme from Werner Helsen, the person responsible for the physical training programme for all UEFA referees. I have been following this programme, which is very intensive and demanding. In addition, at the invitation of England’s professional football refereeing body, I attended a seminar from which I benefited immensely, as I got to know more about England’s refereeing structure, as well as the English Premier League referees’ training programme. I must thank Mr Martin and Mr Restall for all the help and advice they have given me, and for patiently following my progress as a referee. I must also thank Mr Frost for his advice, he encouraged me a lot as well. Now, my main target is to keep advancing further in my refereeing career.

uefa.com: Tell us briefly about yourself.

Attard: An interesting note about myself is that I played football at Under-16 and Under-18 levels in my early days, and even played in the Maltese Premier League with my home-town football team. I am married with two children. My hobby is training, and - whenever I have the chance - reading.

uefa.com: Do you feel that UEFA helps referees from smaller countries?

Attard: The fact that this refereeing programme opened the door to small and medium-sized countries such as Malta, and gave Maltese referees the chance to progress in their refereeing career, speaks for itself.

uefa.com: What have been your most memorable games in your refereeing career so far?

Attard: My two most memorable games remain the [FIFA] 2002 World Cup qualifying game between Wales and Armenia at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, and the UEFA Cup match between Dutch side FC Utrecht and Austria's Grazer AK in 2001.