2025 USL/NWSL/USOC/MLS Next Pro Referee Discussion [Rs]

Discussion in 'Referee' started by Dayton Ref, Mar 7, 2025.

  1. ptref

    ptref Member

    Manchester United
    United States
    Aug 5, 2015
    Bowling Green, KY
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Open Cup again this week. MLS teams now playing. Should be some good matchups. Chance for some big games for refs not yet in PRO2 group.
     
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  2. soccerref69420

    soccerref69420 Member+

    President of the Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz fan cub
    Mar 14, 2020
    Nat'l Team:
    Korea DPR
    And unfortunately, it appears that all games are continuing to be behind the Paramount+ paywall, as opposed to YT in the earlier rounds. So no ability to follow the game timeline and go back and see big incidents for those of us not subscribed. A real damn shame, because I learned quite a bit from these shitshows
     
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  3. ManiacalClown

    ManiacalClown Member+

    Jun 27, 2003
    Greater Pittsburgh
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Some of the matches are live on the (free) Golazo! network, at least, but you do need a sub to watch any replays.
     
  4. Twotone Jones

    Twotone Jones Member

    United States
    Apr 12, 2023
    Stop being cheap. It only takes 1 of your game fees to get a subscription to Paramount+. There's too much soccer on Paramount not to pop for a subscription these days. Besides..... seeing Kate Abdo on the CL coverage is worth the price in GOLD.

    And don't be cheap when you need a new ref jersey either. Refs make enough money that they can replace that faded, sweat-stained green jersey with a new one. It's only $60 bucks. That one line on a MLS Next match. Off my soapbox now. Thanks for listening.
     
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  5. soccerref69420

    soccerref69420 Member+

    President of the Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz fan cub
    Mar 14, 2020
    Nat'l Team:
    Korea DPR
    1. I will not fall victim to the current TV network scam of “put everything behind a paid streaming service”.
    2. Funny you specifically mention the green uniform, because official sports green uniform is is only color uniform that completely fades on everyone. Clearly they used subpar dye or material when making it. We soccer refs already pay a ridiculous amount of money for a bunch of different colors of uniforms that no other sport on earth requires (despite all these sports having teams in the same different colors of jersey like soccer has), so no, I won’t be replacing my faded green uniform to buy another defective green one before they change the design in a few years and make refs spend hundreds of dollars AGAIN and being part of the referee uniform scam

    Completely sidetrack but you have your soapbox, I have mine
     
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  6. Twotone Jones

    Twotone Jones Member

    United States
    Apr 12, 2023
    That's fair. I subscribe to the "look good, feel good, play good" theory. (#nogrammarpoliceplease). If you walk out on the field with that faded green jersey then, IMO, you put yourself one or two beats behind before the game even starts. If you walk out on the field with that crisp green jersey looking spiffy, you'll at least get a point for appearance before the coaches start accusing you of messing up the coin toss. I sarcazz, but I think looking the part helps every referee. Just my $.02

    If you don't want to get into the uniform war with OSI, Capelli, etc. then I can understand that also. 5 short-sleeves and 5 long-sleeves plus the pink that's floating around is crazy. Add in the college uniforms for some of us and it's even more insane.
     
  7. soccerref69420

    soccerref69420 Member+

    President of the Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz fan cub
    Mar 14, 2020
    Nat'l Team:
    Korea DPR
    Oh believe me, I feel like I look like crap if I wear green, which is why I do everything I can right now to avoid it. But literally every referee I work with either has the same issue with their green, or tossed their green to buy a new one, so I refuse to participate by getting a new one. I have all 5 SS OSI colors and even the unofficial score pink one (and won’t get the OSI pink).

    But soccer referee uniforms are the biggest scam in world refereeing, and the excuse of “oh well it’s *just* one game fee, it’s not that bad” doesn’t fly. Every other sport has managed to have teams playing with as many jersey colors as soccer does, but make due with the universal black and white ref uniform, or some other generic single color. Not requiring 4-6 different colors in both short and long sleeve, putting referees out hundreds of dollars in just shirts, not even including redesigns. And then add in capelli vs OSI, vs. NISOA which are exactly the same as OSI but with some arm shading but you need another 5-10 uniforms? Give me a break.

    But I digress…
     
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  8. ptref

    ptref Member

    Manchester United
    United States
    Aug 5, 2015
    Bowling Green, KY
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I watched Phoenix Rising and Houston Dynamo in CBS Sporys Network, completely free by the way. Very intense match. Phoenix got a controversial penalty call right before halftime. 9 cautions in all. Ties 1-1 going into extra time before Houston scored 3 unanswered to win 4-1.
     
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  9. Geko

    Geko Member

    Sacremento Geckos
    United States
    May 25, 2016
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Found capelli CEO's burner account
     
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  10. ManiacalClown

    ManiacalClown Member+

    Jun 27, 2003
    Greater Pittsburgh
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Can I just say I haven't noticed any issues with the green before, but now I'll be looking extremely closely.
     
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  11. soccerref69420

    soccerref69420 Member+

    President of the Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz fan cub
    Mar 14, 2020
    Nat'l Team:
    Korea DPR
    That’s surprising, because almost every single referee I know has the same thing. The entire back (except for the bottom since it’s tucked into shorts) and back sleeves are faded, the front and front arm sleeves are fine. See below (back on left, front on right)
    355AA36B-9657-41F2-9FA6-2D3AFCC547D7.jpeg
    I don’t know, maybe we just way overused it. But actually, looking at my yellow, I think it’s also a little faded on the back too, but it’s much harder to tell with that color.

    Either way, I am not contributing to the soccer referee uniform scam by rebuying this because it’s faded
     
  12. MetroFever

    MetroFever Member+

    Jun 3, 2001
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    Croatia
    Most of the folks I work with know I hate green, so we rarely wear it. Perhaps that's the reason I'm not seeing this fading issue, that I suppose is similar to guys I see who refuse to buy shorts on a reasonably regular basis.

    I don't think I'll be further hijacking the thread by chiming in on the streaming issue since having to watch the games on such a platform is killing some of the threads on the forum (notably the MLS one the past two years).

    I had a hard line stance in the beginning also about shelling out money, but I get Paramount as part of our cable package and eventually "splurged" for Peacock since you have great Premier League matches on it.

    I've always said I've learned so much over the years (especially in the beginning) from watching the videos folks would share on Big Soccer. However, it's becoming increasingly difficult to post them when many of the games that used to be "free" are now on apps, etc.
     
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  13. Twotone Jones

    Twotone Jones Member

    United States
    Apr 12, 2023
    Not even close brother! I stopped working for assignors that were requiring one uniform over another because it was going to cost me double and I wasn't going to make that money back. No reason to own OSI and Capelli NISOA jersey/shorts when everyone was trying to make money off the refs. No thanks.

    But I still believe in replacing a faded ref jersey when it's time. Maybe that's an oxymoron but it is what it is.
     
  14. soccerref69420

    soccerref69420 Member+

    President of the Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz fan cub
    Mar 14, 2020
    Nat'l Team:
    Korea DPR
    Yeah I don’t watch any soccer live, only a handful of games, and I have a number of sites that I’ll just pirate the full match from. It may be harsh but the USOC doesn’t deserve to be behind a paywall.

    In a vacuum I definitely agree with you. However, the circumstances that I’ve mentioned surrounding this particular situation (everyone’s green getting faded, and my anger about soccer referees needing a bunch of uniforms period) means I’m not doing it
     
  15. ManiacalClown

    ManiacalClown Member+

    Jun 27, 2003
    Greater Pittsburgh
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Very interesting sequence in CHI/WAS (NWSL) starting late 16th minute. IFK for a GK handling after a flubbed release of the ball followed by a foul (???) coming out on the ensuing restart.
     
  16. weka

    weka Member+

    Dec 9, 2011
    Takes me back to Sunday league..... the colors. I bet the referee crew was not happy...
     

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  17. Midwest Ref

    Midwest Ref Member

    Jul 25, 2002
    This is a mess. If the referee determines that the first Washington player's touch of the ball was not enough to consider that it was kicked and moved, the next player hitting the ball is sufficient to put it into play, and the defender is then guilty of failing to respect the distance. Given that two different attackers touch the ball here, no sure how this is a free kick coming out.
     
  18. AZOldRef

    AZOldRef Member

    Chelsea
    United States
    Apr 5, 2021
    Echoing comments above - the green ref jersey fades WAY faster than the other colors.
     
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  19. RedStar91

    RedStar91 Member+

    Sep 7, 2011
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
    That's why you all need to be wearing black more often. It's simply the best color and fades the least
     
  20. soccerref69420

    soccerref69420 Member+

    President of the Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz fan cub
    Mar 14, 2020
    Nat'l Team:
    Korea DPR
    I think pink is the best but before pink’s release, I definitely like black the most. However, people rarely seem to want to use black, and also it is much more likely for you to be difficult to see. I’ve had twice where we had to change out of black mid game, once because the center could barely see the ARs, and once because players complained they could barely see the center on the field.

    My rankings are
    1. Pink
    2. Black
    3. Yellow
    4. Blue
    5. Green (not factoring in the fading problem, just its general ugliness)
    6. Red
     
  21. davidjd

    davidjd Member+

    Jun 30, 2000
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I started when black was the only option (red alternate, but almost nobody even owned one.) Seeing ARs was never a problem. Sure a bright color may be easier, but I feel there's something else going on there.
     
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  22. soccerref69420

    soccerref69420 Member+

    President of the Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz fan cub
    Mar 14, 2020
    Nat'l Team:
    Korea DPR
    I think i that games case one touch line was really close to a dark fence so the AR almost blended in. But my reason for hating red is psychological, red can bring feelings of anger so I try to avoid wearing it.
     
  23. Rufusabc

    Rufusabc Member+

    May 27, 2004
    I have a new complaint that has nothing to do with streaming and faded uni’s. My complaint is with “formerly” white match balls that have been played to death on turf and are nearly black! I had a referee miss a ball going in the net because the ball arched up above the lights in a night game, he lost it against the sky, and when it came down, it found a hole in the net (of course!) and he ruled no goal! It was under the cross bar in reality by 3-4 feet!
     
  24. Sharper

    Sharper Member

    Charlotte FC
    United States
    Aug 23, 2022
    What was the AR's take? Did they check the nets ahead of time and repair them as needed? Or was this some rec league somewhere?
     
  25. Rufusabc

    Rufusabc Member+

    May 27, 2004
    HS 3 person. AR 1 lost it too. The hole in the net “wasn’t there pre game”.
     

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