To see just how athletic you need to be as a Prem ref, we roped in legendary whistle-blower Graham Poll to officiate on our efforts. He puts us to the test on a cold, windy track in the middle of nowhere.

THE CHALLENGE
Every referee and assistant referee has to pass the same pre- and mid-season test. First up? Sprinting: complete a 40m dash in 6.2 seconds, six times in a row. You can fail one sprint, but you’ve got just one chance to repeat it and succeed.

If you pass this, you progress to the stamina test: a 150m run in 30 seconds, followed by 50m in 30 seconds (a brisk walk). This is repeated until you’ve done it 20 times – the equivalent to 10 laps of an athletics track.

TEST ONE: SPRINT
Graham’s first observation that we are “slim and athletic” doesn’t seem to be far from the truth, as we find the first few sprints easy.

But with five runs dispatched in good time, we decide to ease up a little bit… and miss the target by just 0.02 seconds!

We’re promptly booked and sent back for our one-chance extra run, which we nail. We’ve passed test one. But only just.

ALLOWED TIME: 6.20 seconds
ZOO'S AVERAGE: 5.88 seconds

TEST TWO: STAMINA
This is all about pacing yourself. Naturally, we ignore this tip and go out hard on the first lap. By laps three and four, we’re finally into a rhythm, hitting close to 29 seconds for each sprint. However, lap five goes badly, as we scrape 30 seconds dead.

The sixth lap is better – a swift 27-second sprint – but we pay the price and it’s all over by lap eight, mainly down to our erratic times. We keel over on the track, unable to continue. “It’s at this point, you’d have Sir Alex screaming in your ear,” Mr Poll tells us.

TARGET: 10 laps
ZOO: 8 laps

THE VERDICT
We’re not fit to referee! But Mr Poll’s still impressed: “You did one more lap than I expected. Do it again and you may pass.” Again? You must be joking.

- Graham Poll writes regularly for Championship Manager’s Football Council. To check out Graham’s most recent column, visit www.championshipmanager.co.uk