HE may be one of the men in black everybody loves to hate, but Matt Messias is happy to be in the thick of the action as the new football season gets underway.

Thirsk School's head of PE has his sights set on reaching the very top as a referee and revels in taking on a role which exposes him to ever greater scrutiny from fans, managers and TV pundits.

The 36-year-old, currently taking charge of Football League matches across the country, is ambitious to referee in the pressure-cooker world of the Premiership.

He said: "I started refereeing because I wanted to be involved in football at the highest level. I played when I was younger, but you get to a stage when you know you are not going to make it.

"Then the cartilage in my knee went and I had an operation when I was 19. I was told I would never be able to play properly, so I got into refereeing a bit more."

As everyone knows, the man in the middle can never win and is inevitably the target of criticism from all sides. It's something any referee has to get used to.

Messias said: "Crowd abuse doesn't bother me, I just blank it out. Most referees are thick-skinned."

He started out refereeing in local Sunday league games before getting on to the Football League linesmen's list in 1991-92. At that stage, he was refereeing twice a month in the semi-professional Northern Counties East League and was promoted to Vauxhall Conference matches in 1992-93.

A year later, he was running the line in the Premiership and was also on the international linesmen's list. He has made 12 trips abroad as a linesman, officiating in Champions League games and World Cup qualifying matches in Spain and Hungary.

He is beginning his fourth season as a Nationwide League referee and hopes he can soon progress to the top flight. "It's such a competitive environment and it might never happen for me", said Messias.

"Only one or two are promoted each season from a list of 50, but I've got better each season and I'm still young in refereeing terms."

He believes that good man-management skills and a sense of humour are vital ingredients in the make-up of a modern referee. "I've learned to be more proactive and I talk to players continuously to break down barriers."

Calls for professional referees have become stronger in recent years, but Messias has his doubts that it would raise standards.

He said: "I think it would definitely improve fitness because we would have more time to train, but in terms of decision-making I can't see how it would help. We would still have a split second to make a decision."

In terms of preparation, Messias believes referees are already as professional as it is possible to be. Before every game, he does his homework thoroughly, analysing each team's recent results and the past history of the fixture.

He even studies the playing style of each team. "If they play the long ball game, you might have to adjust your positioning."

A high-level of fitness is also vital and Messias tailors his training to mirror what happens in a match - a mixture of jogging and sprinting.

If the opportunity to become a professional referee did arise, Messias, who has been teaching at Thirsk for ten years, would have some serious thinking to do. "I would consider it, but I love my teaching and the head at Thirsk is very supportive", he said.

He believes the new rules being brought in will improve the game as a spectacle and help referees.

He thinks that the power to move a free-kick forward ten yards if players dispute a decision too vehemently will contribute to cutting down dissent, just as outlawing the tackle from behind has helped to make the game flow better.

He also welcomes the FA's promise to deal severely with any instances of players surrounding a referee en masse. But he believes that the increase in such incidents recently is a symptom of the growing pressure on players to perform and get results.

The improvements in televison coverage and technology mean a game can now be viewed from every conceivable angle, which is great for the armchair spectator. But it also exposes referees to sometimes unfair scrutiny because they can only view an incident from one angle.

Messias takes charge of next month's Sheffield Utd v Blackburn fixture, a game which is live on Sky TV. "They will have 27 cameras there and sometimes I wish they would only show something from the ref's viewpoint.

"But if there were no controversies, there would be nothing to talk about. I try to keep things in perspective."

Whatever happens in the coming season, Messias will have one thing in common with the fans, players and managers who sometimes see him as the enemy - a passionate love for the game of football