At the age of 12 he was asked to referee the youngest youth at amateur club ASV’33. It was the start of the referee career of Stan Teuben from Aarle-Rixtel. Seventeen years after his first game on a half field, he made his Eredivisie debut at FC Volendam against FC Twente on Saturday evening. Is he a future world star who will referee international matches? “That is only possible for very few people, I look at it step by step.”
Teuben played football as a youth for the local ASV’33, when the retiring club referee Frans approached him to referee a game. “That went quite well and the parents were enthusiastic. I decided to whistle more often and I found it more fun and enjoyable. When I was fifteen, I signed up for the KNVB course, but not with the idea of getting into professional football. In the end, it went so well that I decided to stop playing football. I don’t regret it to this day.”
At the age of 21, he made his debut in the first division during Telstar against FC Dordrecht. He remained a fixture at that level in the following years. “I needed time to develop for the level of the Eredivisie. I felt that I was now allowed to make my debut. This season I regularly refereed the relatively larger teams, so it had to happen at some point. But I was very happy with the call from our referee boss.”
No questionable moments
He had a good feeling about the match between FC Volendam and FC Twente. “I see every match as a final, but this match is of course just a little bit more so. Fortunately, it was not a match with questionable moments and that afterwards it was all about the referee. As a team we could say that it went well.”
This season he hopes to get a few more chances in the Eredivisie. “I don’t expect to be active in the Eredivisie every week. I also enjoy being on the field in the Kitchen Champion Division. It is a challenge to try to manage 22 players who are under high tension. For me, the most important goal is to convert my expiring temporary employment contract with the KNVB into a permanent contract. I can want as much as I want, but without a contract I will no longer play professional football.”
Walk 10 to 13 kilometers
In any case, Teuben must be top fit for that permanent contract. He works a lot on his fitness and he does this in addition to his four-day working week at the KNVB as an arbitration talent developer. “Football is a top sport, but so is what we do. On average, we run between 10 and 13 kilometers every match, just as much as a midfielder, for example.”
“If I do, I’ll go crazy.”
What Teuben does not do is look at social media a lot. “I occasionally post a photo of a match, but otherwise I don’t bother with comments on social media. If I do, I go crazy. I attach much more value to the opinions of people close to me and fellow referees. They look at my performance through arbitration glasses.”
If the permanent contract is secured, Teuben wants to become a permanent face in the Eredivisie. “At 29 years old, I can still play for many years and I certainly see development opportunities. Of course, I want to work towards refereeing big clubs and ultimately important matches. Internationally is a dream, but that is reserved for so few referees.”
