Cann, who over the last month has been penning an account of his experiences in Austria and Switzerland for NorfolkFA.com, fielded questions about the English team’s two group stage matches, as well as the role he is playing as part of a wider refereeing campaign aimed at boosting the number of people taking up the whistle.
Looking back on his three week sojourn, Cann says its definitely the greatest achievement of his career to date.
“I would say this is the pinnacle so far. To go to one of the two major tournaments in the world as a match official is a dream come true.
“We had the one mishap in the first match in terms of the offside goal at the other end – but that aside there isn’t really anything else we would change from the tournament.”
One of the major talking points at Thursday’s ‘presser’ proved to be the reaction to Howard Webb’s award of a late penalty in the Austria v Poland game, a decision which Cann says was 100 per cent correct.
“Howard received some death threats and for a day or two things weren’t great. But he showed his professionalism in the second match when, only a day or two after the death threats, he refereed Spain v Greece and refereed it very, very well, so much so that UEFA referees’ committee actually commended him, saying it was one of the refereeing performances of the tournament. So, while the death threats were very disappointing for him to receive, he showed his strength and his total professionalism.
“Overall we’re extremely satisfied with our performance but we fully understand the fact that we were released after the group stages, which was expected.”
Following Spain’s victory over Germany in Sunday night’s Final, many leading pundits have been quick to praise the quality of football on show at this summer’s tournament. Cann insists the hosts should also be congratulated for putting on a spectacular event.
“I think Austria and Switzerland should be commended for an excellent tournament both on and off the field. The organisation has been fantastic. Security, which we were very grateful for at times, has also been excellent. It is three weeks that I will never forget.”
Ahead of the new season, the County FA are set to embark on a four-year strategy, to be launched in July, which amongst other things targets an increase in referees in Norfolk.
“I’ll help in any way I can and certainly encourage anyone to take up the whistle. It’s a great life. There are opportunities now in which you can have a career rather than just a hobby and if you get to be an international referee or assistant you get to see the world as well, so it’s probably second best only to playing. I would recommend anyone to take up the whistle. I think it’s a wonderful experience.
“It was thanks to the county and one of the staff, Richard King, who got me into refereeing. I am very grateful for that opportunity and didn’t believe I would be here some 17 years on."
Shaun Turner, Norfolk County FA Chief Executive, believes Cann can be an inspiration to young officials.
“I think Darren is a role model to a lot of officials out there, especially in our county, because they can see what you can aspire to.
“We don’t have enough referees to cover every game in Norfolk. It’s something we’re now working towards in our four-year strategy. Our aim is to have a registered, qualified referee for every adult game of football by 2012.”
Could you be the next Darren Cann? Click here or call County Headquarters on 01603 704050 to book onto our referee’s course this October!