The lads, all members of the Sunderland Referees Association met up with Jeff Russell, RDO Durham FA this week to provide feedback on what has been a memorable week for them and certainly the highlight of their refereeing careers to date.

The Iber Cup is one of the most important youth football tournaments on the planet. Around 50 countries are represented by more than 8000 players, referees and coaches who come together in Estoril and Costa Del Sol for two weeks of competition. The Iber cup hosts some of the top teams in the world such as : FC Porto, SL Benfica, Sporting Lisbon, F.C Zenit, Liverpool FC, Bayern Leverkusen, Juventus, Lyon, Athletico Madrid, Inter Milan, MalagaCF, Espanyol, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Sevilla and many more. The teams age groups range from U9 – U18.

"The lads were still buzzing when I spoke to them" said Jeff, "They have met so many new refereeing colleagues from around England and different countries and they have done both themselves and Durham FA proud. This experience has certainly whetted their appetite to make a return visit to the Iber Cup next Season and they are now raring to go with their refereeing back on home soil for the new Season."

To read up and view pictures on the lads own summary of their two week journey please view the document found below.