“I’m not going to forget it soon”: the completely unexpected referees who led Anderlecht’s match – all football

Due to a problem along the way, the referees designated for this preparation meeting did not arrive in time. Nevertheless, The match therefore started with staff members as improvised referees.

Thus, Justin Verlinden, the new goalkeeper coach in Anderlecht, took on the role of a sidelines. Nevertheless, With humor. Similarly, he joked after the match saying that he had “a little knowingly” forgot to whistle the offside on one of the two goals of Luis Vazquez. “We have to give him confidence,” he joked.

After more than half an hour, a referee finally arrived, but without assistants. The match was able to continue under a slightly more official “i’m not going forget it direction. although it was difficult without a touch of the two sides. The unusual situation caused some frustrations on the field, but the match was able to continue.

A proposal welcome to rest – "i'm not going forget it

In the second half, an unexpected additional judge was added to the match. Dieter Devos, sports manager of the first provincial team of Ardooie, spontaneously proposed in the locker room during half-time. One day he had followed the assistant-arbitrator course, but had never officiated along the line. Until this unexpected opportunity.

“It was a very pleasant experience that I will not forget to soon,” he explains to Newspaper of West Flanders. “But soon, I’m going to devote myself fully to Ardooie, even if Anderlecht remains the club of my heart”. Preparation matches are also that: unusual scenes that allow some to realize their dream.