Posted on 07/06/2026 3:44:16 AM PDT by DFG
At 93, sprightly referee Frank Foster is still brandishing red and yellow cards and running the field three times a week for his local soccer association.
Having taken charge of around 5,500 matches over a 46-year officiating career, SWNS reported that the great-grandfather credits his longevity and match-day stamina to a lifetime of healthy habits and a foundational diet.
Foster puts his incredible fitness down to the strict wartime rations he was fed as a teenager, noting that it ensured he grew up eating “healthy food” rather than “sweets and cakes.”
Decades later, his game-day preparation is still fueled by wholesome nutrition, always starting with a morning bowl of oatmeal, cereal or marmalade on toast to give him the energy to last the full 90 minutes.
The meal keeps him active enough to referee men’s, women’s and children’s games, a hobby he jokes he will never blow the final whistle on
His sharp mind and authoritative presence on the field are just as strong as his physical endurance.
A military veteran who aced his referee exam in 1980 with a 98% score, Foster relies on old-school discipline to keep matches under control.
He believes modern elite officials are too “soft” and allow player antics to ruin the sport. To maintain order and keep players from acting out, he lays down strict ground rules before kickoff. He has no patience for intimidation or theatrical diving, stating, “Those who go down like they have been shot, well I would just book them.”
He is equally uncompromising when squads try to crowd him on the field.
“I wouldn’t let them surround me at all,” Foster told SWNS.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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LOL!
Cool.
Now do Lebron James
From what little I have seen of soccer (as it is on some of the tv’s at the gym) it reminds me of children that fall down and start crying when nobody touched them. Pansies.
It’s soccer.
A girl’s kickball game.
I always thought foreign players did that so their Healthcare would kick in.
In other words, hospitals would refuse to see them unless they faked the urgency... or insurance would deny because “it didn’t look that painful”
all professional sports have started doing this ridiculous behavior. Socccer and Basketball are the worst offenders.
They should make rules against faking it and start throwing fakers out of the game.
My son-in-law is a big soccer fan, and I asked him to explain the game to me. We watched a few matches and I found the game interesting once I understood the rules. I’m still a baseball/football/hockey guy, but understanding a sport makes it at least enjoyable. Regarding the flopping, I asked him about that, and he said it’s just a strategy. Players try to get another player a Red flag. I told him I think that’s one of the reasons why soccer hasn’t really caught on in America. We’re about walking it off, but faking an injury.
In hockey, this is “embellishment”. 2-minute minor. Go to the box.
It would be easy to stop this behavior in an instant. If they added a rule that any injury so “severe” that it stops the game, the player has to go out for the rest of the game. I guarantee those players would pop right back up after being knocked down or falling down. They almost always get back up and play anyway.
I’ve seen a side-by-side video showing a soccer player getting hit with the ball in the hip and dropping to the ground alongside Alex Ovechkin taking a puck to the face and barely flinching.
Soccer, when men played it. Now it is sissified like basketball
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