Mark makes his international assistant referee debut

8 May 2023

“The hardest part was having to remain professional - inside, all I wanted to do was celebrate with the England team when they scored but I had a job to do.”

A West Mercia Police Federation member has described the privilege and honour he felt at being given the opportunity to be an assistant referee at his first-ever international football match.

Chief Inspector Mark Reilly was running the line during the Men’s Deaf International between England and Germany in front of almost 1,000 supporters at Telford United’s New Buck’s Head Stadium.

The match in March, which Mark said himself was a ‘huge fixture’, was a warm-up game for the forthcoming ICSD World Deaf Football Championships, which will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this autumn.

“It really was such an amazing experience for me,” said the 45-year-old father-of-three, who has been officiating for the past six years, having spent his teenage years playing for Manchester City Youth Team.

“Being approached to work at the match was a real privilege and honour, especially for such a fixture - it was a massive achievement for me.

“I’m not going to lie, I was absolutely bricking myself, I had jelly legs. I only live around half a mile from the ground, and before I left the house, I was pacing up and down, I was so nervous. Once I arrived at the stadium though and we’d been fully briefed, the nerves settled and the adrenaline kicked in.”

Mark has spent the last two years refereeing in the Midlands Football League, working regularly at midweek and Saturday matches, in front of hundreds of football supporters.

“This was my first deaf match though, with all of the players either partly or completely deaf - so it was a very different experience for me,” Mark explained.

“And it wasn’t just the players - a lot of the fans are partly or fully deaf too, and they were looking at me, to see what decisions were being made.

“So instead of the referee simply blowing the whistle, I needed to flag every stoppage in play, which was very unnatural at first. I had to be very switched on for the entire 90 minutes. I was absolutely mentally drained afterwards.”

Mark said it took his passion for the game ‘to a whole new level’, adding: “I now have a whole new appreciation for the ability of these guys. Their lip-reading ability was amazing. I came away in awe.”

The match ended in victory for England, who walked away with a 3-0 win.

“Watching England score was the hardest bit. I had to remain professional but all I wanted to do was run down to the corner flag and celebrate with them,” continued Mark, who enjoyed a meal with the players following the match.

“The whole day was brilliant, and I’m now exploring ways to work at more deaf, blind or cerebral palsy games in the future.

“I think this will provide me with many more opportunities moving forward.”