A new online ‘Guide to the Laws of the Game’ is helping to improve understanding of the laws of the football, as well as demonstrating how they should be applied.

The Football Association have launched the new facility, which also includes the variations for youth football. Across five sections/modules, which take around 90 minutes to complete, videos are used throughout, plus there are activities to reinforce all the key points within the guide. It’s available free of charge and is relevant for any football role.

There are some questions at the end of each module, all of which must be answered correctly to successfully complete the learning. Anyone who wants to become a referee must complete this learning before then attending The FA’s new face-to-face training course.

Module 1 (‘Before the Match’) covers the referee’s pre-match responsibilities, including ensuring players’ kit is safe, how to carry out the coin toss and what a referee needs to take with them to a match.

Module 2 (‘Signals and Communication’) contains short video clips (GIFs) which show every signal the referee and assistant referee might give during a match.

Module 3 (‘Getting it Right’) deals with foul challenges, violent conduct, handball, unsporting behaviour, denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO) offences and advantage. It uses video clips from football at different levels to show how the referee should manage common scenarios.

Module 4 (‘Offside’) also uses video clips, this time to demonstrate what is and isn’t offside and how the referee should manage offside offences. The clips, like those used in the ‘Getting it Right’ module, are voiced over to explain the decisions the referees make.

Module 5 (‘Managing Restarts and Set-Pieces’) covers restarts and set pieces, including goal kicks, corner kicks, throw-ins, free kicks and penalty kicks. It uses both video and illustrations to clarify what players must do at each restart and set piece and explains what the referee should do if players don’t comply with the law.

To find out more about the learning, or to sign-up, please follow this link. You can also keep up-to-date on the latest grassroots football news by following @EssexCountyFA and @EssexReferees on Twitter and by searching for ‘EssexFootball’ on Facebook.