And I'm surely not the only one who can become bored with game after game, night after night - although I have kept a closer eye on proceedings during this week's knockout stages, which I have found far more interesting.

Let's face it, you have to be a real soccer 'saddo' to have found group games like Ukraine versus Tunisia or Togo against Switzerland of great appeal.

I selected my group matches carefully and watched highlights of those games I missed that perhaps would have been worth watching.

That policy allowed me to spring off the couch like a kangaroo - it's great for your posture you know - and do other things with the little valuable free time that I have had.

And that has paid dividends on the fishing front.

Regular readers of this column will know that I have not had much luck during the past two years since setting up my stall to become an infrequent carp angler on my favourite lake in north Wales.

I have learnt that it takes great skill and patience to successfully target one specific breed of fish and restricting myself to just one water has heightened the difficulty in my view.

Because the lake I usually visit is unfishable at the moment due to weed growth, I decided to try elsewhere with immediate success.

The tactics I've been employing for hours on end over 24 months came good on my second cast, with a massive 1lbs common carp eventually landing in my net before being carefully returned.

Anglers all over Warrington are no doubt now laughing at my expense because, of course, carp catches of 20lbs and above are not uncommon and leave my effort in the shade.

But, hey, it's a start and to catch my first fish with bait attached to a hair rig rather than on the hook is the most pleasing factor for me. It's a step in the right direction.

Going back to the subject of the World Cup, how many of you have been disappointed with the standards of the refereeing from supposedly some of the best whistlers on the planet?

People I know have been screaming at their television screens 'that was never a penalty, ref' and other such phrases.

Well, if you think you can do better perhaps now is the time to try and do something about it.

The amateur soccer scene in Warrington - and nationally - is dreadfully short of referees, so much so that they have been described as an 'endangered species'.

Perhaps that is not surprising considering the amount of abuse they can receive from some sets of supporters on the touchlines - and some pundits in the media - who perhaps don't understand the possible consequences of their actions.

If there are no local football referees then there might not be any local leagues, who operate for thousands of players in Warrington.

It is therefore pleasing to learn that Warrington's leagues are stamping down on abuse of referees. A little more discipline in today's society won't do any of us any harm.

I wish the Warrington and District Referees Society well in their bid to recruit more merry whistlers.