David Gough is balanced on his hunkers in front of a TV, slowly rewinding clips and talking about “delay fouls”. The clock in the livingroom of his family home in Slane shows it’s a couple of minutes after 10 on Saturday morning. From here, it’s 183 kilometres to Ballybofey, but all the examples on screen are with MacCumhaill Park in mind. Soon, everybody in this room will be for the hills.Listening attentively are his dad Eugene, his cousin Dean, Robert Victory and former intercounty referee Cormac Reilly. They are his quartet of umpires for today’s All-Ireland Series fixture between Donegal and Cork.The Irish Times is in the room too, granted rare full access to shadowing a referee on match day.The ‘delay foul’ was one of the recommendations tabled by the FRC. It deals with tactical fouling for deliberately delaying or impeding play. The penalty is a free 50 metres more advantageous from where the foul occurred.Gough’s Saturday started at 7.45am when he left his house in Dublin to make the trip to Slane. It will be after 10pm when he gets back to the capital. But preparation began days ago. David Gough preps for the Cork Vs Donegal match On Monday, a detailed itinerary was sent to his umpires. He also contacted a hotel in Ballybofey to book a post-match meal for the group.A separate message was sent to his appointed fourth official, Maggie Farrelly, and line umpires Noel Mooney and Mark Loughran. It covers matters ranging from Game Control to Support Play.As he does for every game, Gough has printed out cards with the first names of players from both squads – something he feels is helpful when addressing matters on the field. He tucks the cards in his notebook and also distributes copies to his officiating team.David Gough lists the first names of the Cork squad in his notebook A principal at Scoil Mhuire Gan Smál in Inchicore, on Tuesday night Gough refereed an under-14 Division 4 league game between Kilbride and Castletown in Meath. On Wednesday there was collective training for the intercounty referees in Abbotstown, followed by a rules briefing.Two of the key issues raised during the seminar were a noticeable increase in tactical fouling and the covert deployment by managers of their maor uisce as in-game coaches. The match officials will be keeping a close eye on both matters this afternoon for what will be Gough’s 58th championship game to officiate. The car journeys are largely family trips. And there has, naturally, been the occasional mishap – including a wrong turn that once saw them heading for Salthill when Castlebar was the destination. A frenzy of panicked phone calls and a siren-blaring Garda escort later, they landed in MacHale Park just in time.Eugene is at the wheel today. He has been umpiring with his son since this all started almost two decades ago. David’s brother, Stephen, continues to umpire with him too but is unavailable today. Dean, a much-trusted lieutenant, has been there from the start as well. Dean’s dad, Terry, was the fourth member of the original quartet but he retired from his job last year and has since moved abroad.“We miss Terry massively, he was such a brilliant character in the car and brought great experience,” says Gough. “Over the years it has been nice travelling around the country together.“There are rarely silences in the car, though there wouldn’t be much football talk.”Time for a coffee and snack halfway through the drive to Donegal And so it transpires. The chat ranges from tennis (David’s first sporting love, truth be told) to what shows folk are watching on Netflix and upcoming family holidays.About 20 minutes outside Cavan town, there’s a pit stop for coffee and a sandwich. In an average game an intercounty referee will cover somewhere in the region of 10 kilometres, and regularly north of that. Fuelling and hydration is a key part of preparation. Gough clasps a water bottle in his hand the entire trip to Donegal.The mileage rate for intercounty referees is 70 cent per mile. There is no match fee.Gough recently submitted his claim for refereeing the league final between Donegal and Kerry at Croke Park.“Mileage from my house in Kimmage to Croke Park works out at €6.80,” he says. “That’s what I got for the day.”David Gough in the changing rooms at MacCumhaill Park, Ballybofey, Donegal. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho Dinner is covered and that meal is essentially what the umpires receive for their efforts. The referee pays the bill, submits the receipt to Croke Park and the cost of the meal is later reimbursed. “You are not making any money, definitely not,” adds Gough. “If you go to referee a championship match in Meath, you’d get €50 for the game. So, you’d actually make more in a couple of hours driving to Dunshaughlin for a match.”Half of their gym fees are covered, while referees get a €250 boot allowance voucher every two years. Nobody in the car is threatening to lead a crusade on the issue; they choose to volunteer and remain involved. But at the same time, it’s no harm folk know the background.Ballybofey is bouncing when we arrive. The dressingroom is basic but entirely satisfactory – there’s a toilet, a shower and on a table sit steaming pots of tea and coffee with an assortment of sandwiches and snacks. [ Stress on referees is ‘one of the biggest threats to the GAA’Opens in new window ]The county secretaries enter the dressingroom just over 40 minutes before throw-in with team changes. Each eyes the other suspiciously as if their respective clipboards contain the third, fourth and fifth secrets of Fatima. From the Book of McGuinness it is revealed Donegal’s holy goalie will indeed rise on this day – Shaun Patton starts. As Gough jots down the changes, the Cork contingent are already halfway out the door like town criers eager to make known this revelation.Going over details for the Donegal vs Cork match at MacCumhaill Park, Donegal. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho Out on the pitch, Gough asks his line umpires to summon the maor uisces. “Are we in trouble already?” jokes one as he approaches. Gough lays out the regulations. Rules will be enforced. The game passes without any maor uisce pitch incursions. Having access to an earpiece for the game also provides us with a window to the communication referees have with match officials and players.Midway through the second half, one of the only flashpoints in the game occurs when Michael Murphy puts in a strong tackle on Dara Sheehy. The Cork players immediately react with a closed-fist punch motion and surround both Murphy and Gough. Murphy’s punch-tackle on Kerry’s Dylan Casey in the league final has been following him around. He escaped with a yellow card on that occasion – but the Cork players are looking for a red here.Gough calmly tells them to move away: “I can’t deal with it when you are all around me.” Cork players surround referee David Gough and Donegal's Michael Murphy following Murphy's tackle on Cork's Dara Sheehy at MacCumhaill Park, Donegal. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho Then the conversation starts between the team of match officials. One of the sideline umpires had a good view. “Rough play,” he says with conviction. Yellow card. Video replays later show it’s the correct call. Then, with five minutes remaining and the game tied, Cork win possession and set off on a rapid counterattack.Caolan McColgan tries to chase down Ruairí Deane, but just as the Cork player crosses the 65-metre line, his Donegal pursuer cuts across from behind and barrels him to the ground. Gough blows the whistle. Delay foul. It’s a mirror of the clips we had watched back in Slane several hours earlier. Gough signals the ball will be brought forward 50 metres. Some aggrieved Donegal players question the call. Gough responds, “Delay foul, rule 5.42.” The players back off. Nothing more is said. Cork opt to move the ball back outside the arc for a two-pointer, which Steven Sherlock converts. It ends up as the match-winning score.“It doesn’t always work like that but it goes to show the benefit of preparing for any eventuality, so it was good we had looked at it this morning,” says Gough.David Gough gets equipment fitted at MacCumhaill Park, Donegal. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho Some disgruntled Donegal fans toss out a few barbs at full-time but the anger quickly fades out. Either way, it’s always hard to hear specific insults above the din at intercounty games. Club is different.Gough recalls one particular club match where a ‘supporter’ was roaring non-stop abuse his direction. Eventually, enough was enough. As Gough approached the culprit, the man frantically pulled out a pair of spectacles, slipped them over the bridge of his nose and immediately declared: “Jesus, sorry David, I didn’t realise it was yourself.”“From experience we have learned that the only opinions that matter after the game are other referees or other people who have placed themselves in our position and know what we are doing and why we are doing it,” says Gough.His report is completed on his phone before we’ve reached Sion Mills.For all referees, the aim every season is to be handed the whistle for the All-Ireland final. Gough has officiated two senior deciders now – 2019 (drawn game) and 2023.The age-limit restriction to referee at intercounty level is 50. He’s 43 now. David Gough with match officials in the changing rooms at MacCumhaill Park, Donegal. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo “I’ll do it as long as I’m contributing to the games. If it’s ever a case where I’m not fit, I’m not able to stay up with the play or I’m not enjoying it, then it’ll be time to walk away.”It’s after 9pm when we pull up in Slane. There’s a photo of the Gough quintet – David, Eugene, Dean, Stephen, Terry – from the 2019 All-Ireland final in each of their homes. Alice Gough, David’s grandmother, also has that snap framed. “She’s 93 this year and is our biggest supporter, she’s always on the phone wishing us luck.“I suppose it’s very unique, if you had five players on a pitch in an All-Ireland final from the one family it would be an incredible story. So, for us to have had five from the one family there in 2019 is something we are very proud of.”On the road from Slane to Ballybofey, Gough received a message from Meath GAA. There’s a round of club league games in the county midweek. They are checking for match officials. Off Broadway, but on it goes. No refs, no games.