Case Study: PGMOL Refworld 

CLIENT 

Three years ago The Professional Game Match Officials Limited appointed Final Third Sports Media to manage their official website, www.refworld.com.

The PGMOL was formed, when English football Referees turned professional in 2001, specifically to provide match officials for all games played in the top four divisions in England. 

A website for the organisation had already been soft launched prior to our involvement and in the spring of 2007 we were asked to oversee the written, audio and video content of the website on behalf of PGMOL.

SOLUTION

We worked with the client to put together a content schedule that delivered regular features to a diverse range of visitors.

The site is used by a mixture of officials, clubs, stakeholders, organisations, supporters and the media and had to appeal equally to all parties with the content offering. The brief from the PGMOL was to promote all aspects of their work, focussing on what went into the development of the officials and particularly covering sports science and the technical expertise provided by companies like ProZone and Polar.

The client also wanted to breakdown any preconceptions of an 'us' and 'them' situation within the game, so a big aim of our delivery was to humanise the individuals involved with a series of features and to provide opportunities for greater interaction with the officials which would complement the more formal profiles.

One of the key areas to meeting that objective has been the 'Ask the Ref' feature, allowing visitors to put their questions directly to the top officials in the country and receive the benefits of their knowledge and expertise in their responses.

We have turned the flat site into a multimedia experience for visitors with the introduction of video features alongside the written content. We also encouraged people to interact with the site through a weekly quiz competition that tested their knowledge of the laws of the game. We also worked closely with the site developers to implement a database of appointments so that visitors could easily access a history of the games each official has been involved with and this proved to be  a popular addition with both fans and the media.

Like any site, regular and up-to-date content is key to its progression and with strict rules regarding officials doing interviews, we have been fortunate to have first hand and often exclusive access. For that relationship to be successful we have worked hard to ensure we are respected as being trustworthy and reliable within our confidential dealings with the authorities and the individuals involved. This has meant we have been able to bring immediate reaction to big appointments; from national cup finals, top European competitions and the World Cup finals, we have been able to share behind the scenes content through www.refworld.com.

RESULT

With annual traffic figures now measured in millions, the number of page impressions has more than trebled inside the first two years of our involvement. By the end of the 2009/10 season the number of visitors had increased five-fold and there had been visits to the site from over 190 countries, confirming beyond doubt its global appeal.

The website is now established as an invaluable portal for amateurs looking to learn from the professionals and aspiring young officials looking to progress in the game. It is also a popular resource  for the present group of officials who oversee matches in the Football League and Premier League all the way through to the elite group that oversee senior matches on an international stage.