Welcome!
My name is Perry Gascoine and I qualified as a Futsal Referee on Sunday 2 March 2008 at the Grundy Park Leisure Centre in Cheshunt under the guidance of John Cooke.

Why did I become a Futsal Referee?
I have been refereeing 11 vs 11 football since May 1991 and have progressed up the refereeing ladder. In the past I have been a Level 4 referee and currently I am a Level 5 referee as well as being the Chairman of the North Herts Referees' Society. The Hertfordshire Football Association cascaded an email to all it's referee advertising a Futsal training course and as this provided me with a new opportunity within refereeing I enrolled and the rest is history.

What is Futsal?
Futsal is an indoor version of association football. Its name is derived from the Portuguese futebol de salão and the Spanish fútbol sala/de salón, which can be translated as 'indoor football'. Futsal is played between two teams of five players, one of whom is the goalkeeper. In addition each team may have seven substitutes. Unlike some other forms of indoor football, the court is delimited by lines, and not walls or boards that players can use to rebound the ball. Futsal is played with a smaller ball with less bounce than a football. The emphasis is on improvisation, creativity and technique. It has long been the key to Brazil's dominance of world football, with superstars Ronaldo, Pelé and Ronaldinho all attributing their dazzlings skills to playing Futsal. Other footballing greats such as Johan Cruyff and Michael Owen have used Futsal to develop their flair, touch and amazing skills. At the heart of Futsal is the smaller and reduced bounce ball. Pace, skill, teamwork and high drama characterize the indoor game while developing close individual ball skills and control. For a complete overview of Futsal click here.