If you’re looking for soccer referee write on cards, you have several options.
Write on Cards vs. Paper Notebooks
Write on cards vs. paper notebooks is a more contested debate among referees than you might expect. It might even be a bigger debate than what are the best soccer referee shoes.
Using paper gives you a permanent record of the match and helps you back up your game log. If someone questions the score or who you gave cards to, you’ll still have the game details in your notes even if you’ve moved on to the next game.
Write on cards are easier to use and help you keep your eyes on the field since you don’t have to flip open a notebook. Players will often try to violate the FIFA rules while you’re not watching. You also don’t need to worry about the game details getting washed away by rain or sweat or your notepad tearing as you try to write on a wet sheet.
Pencil vs. Permanent Marker
When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface, and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to 300 degrees Celsius.
The Russians used a pencil.
Write on cards that use a permanent marker are clearly inferior. Yes, the cards clean easily with nail polish remover or rubbing alcohol. But, you can’t write at all when your card gets wet from rain or sweat. You also have to worry about the marker running off on your shirt.
Cards that work with a pencil avoid all of the concerns of using paper or a permanent marker. Plus, when you’re ready to use them for the next game, all you have to do is use your eraser instead of going digging for nail polish remover.
One thing to note with the pencil cards is that the writing and erasing will usually wear out the surface of the card after a season or two. If you’re doing a lot of games, this will still be a small expense.
White vs. Yellow and Red Cards
Another decision you have to make is whether you want to write on your yellow or red card or use a separate white card.
Using the yellow and red cards gives you one less thing to carry and one less pocket to dig through. This can help you stay focused on the game in heated situations.
The downside to writing on the yellow or red cards is that they can look messy when you display them, or people might think you’re giving a card when you’re not.
Using the separate white card is the same as using a notebook, except you’re just pulling it out and writing on the front of the card. You might also want to get more than one, so you can keep your notes from multi-game sets until the end of the day.
Plastic vs. Cardboard
Most write on cards are plastic cards with a special lamination. There are a few manufacturers that produce a white write on card made out of cardboard.
The cardboard cards use a pencil and are water resistant. They’re more durable than a traditional note sheet, and you can save the card for each game.
If you try to use them more than once, you might get two or three games out of them before they get too messy. (They come in packs of 10 or 50 and work out to about 25 to 50 cents per game.)
The main manufacturer of the cardboard cards is B+D in Europe, and they’ve been hard to find in the United States Since the pandemic. You can sometimes import them cheaply from a European online store.
