Former referee Alan Snoddy is writing an autobiography about his career in football. From making his bow in a Churches League game between Lowe Memorial and Bourneview Young Men back in 1972, Alan went on to spend 25 years in the Irish League where he became one of the top officials in the country. He was also a FIFA referee for two decades - working at successive World Cups in Mexico (1986) and Italy (1990) - before going on to become a technical instructor with both FIFA and UEFA.
His refereeing career spanned over 40 years, offering a lifetime of memories which he hopes to condense into a book to be released later this year. "I am not an author, obviously. But the original ideal was that I would start off with some memories of a lifetime in refereeing," Alan said. "As it developed, I am getting other people's memories included in it as well, and I am just trying to tell the story of my life. I have kept a notebook from the very first match I refereed in. Notes of the game, the date, the score, where it was played. And without that I would be struggling," he said. "I was involved in over 1600 games so it is pretty difficult to remember every single one. I was approached by a publisher quite a while ago through LinkedIn. At that time I just simply didn't have the time to sit down and write a book. And I had never thought about writing a book, to be honest. They just said that from looking at my profile, that I had a story to tell. So the idea sort of floated around, and they would have sent me the odd email asking if I had thought any more about it. I would have said yes but I was still too busy. Then Covid-19 hit us, and I thought if I was ever going to do it, it was now. So I got back to the publisher and said yes. We had a nice conversation and discussed things and I got stuck in. It is virtually most nights of the week, I sit down and write something. I only started the process in April."
Alan admits football today is much changed from the era when he was in the middle. "Twenty years ago the game was much more physical than it is now, yet we had less yellow cards then than referees are expected to give out now," he said. "So it has changed in that respect. There are a lot of cautions given now for technical things, things that if they had happened back then you probably would just have given a warning. Or the free-kick would have been taken the game would roll on. I am not saying the yellow cards these days are wrong, they're not. But the game has changed in that way.” Since retiring from refereeing in 2003, Alan's experience has been in demand all across the world. He was Referees' Manager with the Irish FA for eight years where he helped with recruitment and development, and has worked as a technical instructor with both FIFA and UEFA. He has also worked in Latvia and Cyprus, and has done significant work with UEFA's Centre of Referee Excellence. But does he miss being the man in the middle on match day? "I suppose part of me misses refereeing, but at the same time I had 32 years. I was never injured or had to cry off a game," he said. "I have a lot to be thankful for, and I got to choose when to stop. I can't be greedy about things, I had a fantastic run. It was the right time to stop when I did, and move onto the next chapter." Alan anticipates a busy summer of work and writing as he looks to get his autobiography published by the end of the year. "We are aiming for the end of this calendar year. Hopefully around Christmas time," he added. "I need a target to get it done and dusted, and have something to aim for. So Christmas is a realistic objective."
