UpTheLeagueFox Posted 30 April 2020 Posted 30 April 2020 [Couldn't find a ref thread but please merge if so.] Got to interview Kevin Friend for talkSPORT via zoom recently. Current Premier League refs aren't usually allowed to speak to the media so it was pretty rare having this opportunity. As some of you will know, he's Leicestershire based but a Bristol City fan, as he was born there. Covered loads of topics. PART ONE: https://youtu.be/be82_d5rKFo Life without football, working with sports psychologists, the challenges of VAR and homeschooling plus delivering medicines and shopping for the elderly and vulnerable during lockdown PART TWO: https://youtu.be/kIU9m67QE1g From postman to the Premier League, his refereeing journey, coping with criticism, collapsing at Bournemouth, rating his PL colleagues, advice for young refs and he recalls the day he was knocked out cold on the pitch!
TheUltimateWinner Posted 30 April 2020 Posted 30 April 2020 Cheers Geoff, always find interviews with referees interesting as it's a side of the game not many of us know that much about.
UpTheLeagueFox Posted 30 April 2020 Author Posted 30 April 2020 11 minutes ago, TheUltimateWinner said: Cheers Geoff, always find interviews with referees interesting as it's a side of the game not many of us know that much about. Thanks. It's only usually ex refs we hear from. We all criticise refs for errors but we forget they're human. Was nice to hear that he's out delivering med and shopping to the elderly.
StanSP Posted 30 April 2020 Posted 30 April 2020 2 hours ago, TheUltimateWinner said: Cheers Geoff, always find interviews with referees interesting as it's a side of the game not many of us know that much about. Agreed. The Peter Crouch podcast with Mike Dean and Andre Marriner were good to listen to as well. Enjoyed listening to this too @UpTheLeagueFox! Did you mention anything about the title win?! I believe he was pulled off Chelsea/Spurs duty once his Leicester allegiances were publicised...?
SystonFox Posted 30 April 2020 Posted 30 April 2020 39 minutes ago, StanSP said: Agreed. The Peter Crouch podcast with Mike Dean and Andre Marriner were good to listen to as well. Enjoyed listening to this too @UpTheLeagueFox! Did you mention anything about the title win?! I believe he was pulled off Chelsea/Spurs duty once his Leicester allegiances were publicised...? Mike Dean came across as much as an absolute loonjob as we all expected him to be. the mother ****in D R E though seems a sound guy
Wymsey Posted 30 April 2020 Posted 30 April 2020 That's great to get him on. How did you/talkSPORT go about to set up such an interview with a well-regarded Premier League referee, considering current referees now and in the past (unless they are retired from the game) never speak/spoke to the media?
UpTheLeagueFox Posted 30 April 2020 Author Posted 30 April 2020 6 hours ago, StanSP said: Enjoyed listening to this too @UpTheLeagueFox! Did you mention anything about the title win?! I believe he was pulled off Chelsea/Spurs duty once his Leicester allegiances were publicised...? 2 hours ago, Wymsey said: That's great to get him on. How did you/talkSPORT go about to set up such an interview with a well-regarded Premier League referee, considering current referees now and in the past (unless they are retired from the game) never speak/spoke to the media? Current PL refs are generally not allowed to do interviews, certainly ones pertaining to latest issues. I know Kev fairly well and asked him. He was open to the idea. We had to get permission from PGMOL who agreed after seeing a brief outline of the topics. Obviously I could ask him anything but wasn't looking to hang him out to dry. Therefore didn't touch the issue of being pulled off a Spurs game in 2016 - had plenty of other topics to cover which I thought were more relevant. And if I had brought it up, he would've sensibly played a non controversial straight bat. Had good feedback from my bosses and Kevin and PGMOL thought it all came across well. Because it was handled in the careful way it was, it might lead to us getting some more access in the future. Playing a longer game, as journalists often do.
messerschmitt Posted 1 May 2020 Posted 1 May 2020 Thanks Geoff, really good, I also know Kev, going back to the days when he was a postman and we used to play football. A nice bloke and always makes me remember when we get on at a ref that they are all people trying to do their job.
UpTheLeagueFox Posted 1 May 2020 Author Posted 1 May 2020 6 hours ago, messerschmitt said: Thanks Geoff, really good, I also know Kev, going back to the days when he was a postman and we used to play football. A nice bloke and always makes me remember when we get on at a ref that they are all people trying to do their job. He's been delivering cards for years BOOM
UpTheLeagueFox Posted 3 May 2020 Author Posted 3 May 2020 On 02/05/2020 at 07:14, Bert said: Great interview Geoff. Thanks Bert. It wasn't exactly Frost/Nixon but then I suppose not every interview has to be.
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