Football Federation SA 'A Panel' referees Regis Queffelec, Stephen Toth and Christian Verdicchio and FFSA Referee Recruitment and Development Officer Nathan Magill attended the Elite Referee Workshop in Perth between July 29 and 31.

The seminar was hosted by Football West in conjunction with the English FA and presented by Ian Blanchard, the Senior National Game Referee Manager at the FA.

Blanchard is a former English Premier League Assistant Referee and also assists in the running of the AFC Elite Education Seminars for Referees and Instructors.

The workshop themes included positioning and movement, techniques and styles and a range of other beneficial topics, as well as extensive video analysis.

Toth acknowledged the seminar was highly beneficial and praised Blanchard.

"The seminar was very enjoyable and beneficial to further the development of the officials that were there," he said.

"This seminar gave us an opportunity to look at refereeing from a different point of view but it also showed that the coaching in England is very similar to Australian coaching. Ian was a great presenter and I hope we can use him for seminars in the future."

Magill also applauded the presentation conducted by Blanchard and was pleased to discover Australian referee education is not too dissimilar to that in Europe.

"Overall the seminar was a great opportunity to provide an insight to the education provided to referees within the FA," he said.

"Ian’s knowledge of refereeing and understanding of the game was first class. It also displayed that referee education is not that different to styles used in Europe."

"I found it beneficial to learn different presentation techniques as well as new coaching materials that can be used in educations sessions here in South Australia."

Aspiring A-League referee Queffelec admitted the seminar provided an important opportunity for discussion amongst elite match officials from Australia.

"It was a really beneficial seminar where Ian Blanchard brought all his experience to us," he said.

"The overall experience though was great because it wasn't instructing us how to officiate, rather bring about discussion which was the most important thing."