Football Queensland (FQ) are pleased to announce Football Gold Coast’s Daniel Larney as the Referee of the Month for September.

24-year-old Larney was nominated by Football Gold Coast Referee Development Coordinator Craig O’Neill for his drive and dedication to improving.

Larney returned to officiating this year after a five year break and has had a successful first season back as a Football Gold Coast Premier League referee.

“Daniel’s attitude and commitment to becoming a better referee has been refreshing,” O’Neill said.

“He regularly receives positive feedback from not only his peers, but the staff of Football Gold Coast and many players whose respect he has gained in a short space of time.

“Daniel has the drive to learn and grow as a referee and accepts the feedback he receives from assessors well, applying it in his next match.”

Larney began refereeing on the weekends to earn some pocket money when he was a teenager.

He returned to refereeing after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in pre-season training but with his heart not in it anymore, decided to hang up his whistle at the age of 19.

Larney said he took time off to focus on playing, in the hope he would rediscover his passion for refereeing.

“I started playing in the Metro League because I wasn’t enjoying refereeing at that moment in time,” Larney said.

“So I thought I’d leave and go play with some mates and maybe it would make me miss refereeing, and eventually I came back.”

After five years off, Larney returned to officiating this year and was awarded for his hard work, being selected as one of the assistant referees for the Football Gold Coast Men’s Premier League Grand Final.

When asked how he handles the challenges that can come with refereeing, Larney said his experience as a player has helped him to communicate easily with players on the field.

“Players and coaches are quite passionate and everyone wants to win, so I don’t take negative comments on the field too much to heart because most of the time it’s not personal,” he said.

“I think I deal with players differently to how some referees do; I think playing for all those years has helped me with that.”

After a successful first year back officiating, Larney said he’s excited to see where his refereeing can take him.

“I’m hoping to go as far as I can with it, but I’m only in my first year back,” he said.

“If I could get to the NPL that would be great, and even higher than that would be even better.”

Words: Elizabeth Lepre