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REFEREES’ PROBLEMS by John Wilkins

Rob Styles, another referee, is packing it in due to a lack of support from the FA or his Referees’ Association. It is not only at the top referees having to suffer the indignity of having their authority undermined – it is even more rife lower down the levels.

I am a Level 5 referee – or Senior County referee as we are known. I write articles on refereeing, and despite upsetting the politically correct we have in our midst, will stand by what I say in condemning the people who fail to support their referees. There is, of course, the useless Referees’ Association – a rabbit transfixed in a car’s headlights. What they do for officials is sweet FA – which is why I don’t belong to a referees’ society any more. I don’t want to finance a totally toothless and gutless organisation!

County FAs are no better. Football is run from top to bottom by people who nothing about the game. Is there a multi- millionaire around who will form a proper refs’ union with a bit of clout to supercede the current set-up?

Published: 29-June-09

TV REPLAYS CAN HELP THE GAME

Many pundits and commentators have proposed the use of television replays to aid referees’ decisions in their Premiership games – and I’m all for it.

Too many key game-changing decisions are being made incorrectly and with the amount of money involved with the game now – even at Non-League – and I’m surprised something hasn’t been done before. I think this has to be good for the game – but there is a need to be careful how it is used. If we are using technology for major decisions such as if the ball is over the line then I think it should be embraced. One thing that infuriates managers is when replays on television clearly show something has happened, but the decision has gone against them. This could be the answer.

If there is a point of fact, then I think these measures should be made available whether it is a goal-line decision or whether a possible penalty incident is inside or outside the box. No-one would argue with anything like that because you are taking a referee’s interpretation of an event out of the equation. My only fear is how many times the game would be stopped if it was completely opened up to the referee’s use. I f two teams are contesting a throw-in or a free-kick on the halfway line, then I wouldn’t like to see the game stopped just to check that. We would be going into farce territory.

People have been highlighting the use of television replays in cricket and rugby, but I think that is slightly different. Cricket, for instance, is a much slower sport by nature and stops in play are not noticed as much. Referrals for catches and run-out are a point of fact rather than an umpire’s opinion like LBW’s. Rugby is similar with grounding the ball at tries often something the referee might either miss or not be able to see.

One day a major decision is going to cost someone their place in the league or they might miss out on a play-off place. What harm would there be for the referee just to check that he was making the right call. Of course it is not going to be a perfect solution. I think whatever happens, the referee needs to be the one who makes the decision to refer any incidents. It is there to help him, not make him look a fool, but I fear some would be afraid to use it in case they got the decision wrong.

Governing bodies such as FIFA and UEFA have shown a complete lack of interest in implementing any of these proposed changes so I can’t see it coming off. I have no idea why they don’t want to try to improve the game. If say, Setanta, were allowed to try out video replays in the Blue Square Premier and it was a success, it might make them take notice.

Published: 10-May-09

THE OFFICIAL LINE by Graham Poll

After spate of attacks on refs, we must stop the game if we can’t stop the morons.

Shock, bewilderment, pain, realization, anger, relief, determination. This is the order of emotions Mike Dean will have experienced in a

matter of seconds at Cardiff City last Sunday. The initial reaction is shock, quickly followed by bewilderment as to what has happened. The pain leads to realization that you have been struck by a coin or some other object thrown by the crowd. Anger kicks in as the unfairness and randomness of the attack strikes, along with relief that you have not lost dignity by being knocked unconscious or, worse, lost and eye. Finally, determination not to let the mindless idiot who threw the coin prevent you from completing your duties to referee a football match.

You could see all of this unfold live on television as the cameras caught the moment that Dean was struck by a £1 coin thrown by a Cardiff City follower. Dean, this year’s top performer on the Premier League, was rewarded for his excellence by being appointed to a carefully ‘selected’ match, where tensions were expected to be high. Some reward. Observers said that it was to Dean’s credit that he continued, maybe encouraged by the fact that there were only three minutes remaining in the first half. There is a determination not to give in to the yob threw the coin, but as this problem becomes more prevalent, it might be time to accept that a game should not continue if personal safety cannot be ensured.

There have been many incidents this season and none have resulted in abandonments; I can recall five in the past six months:

1) Phil Sharp was hit and cut by a coin thrown at Villa Park in October.

2) Alan Sheffield was stretchered off in November during an FA Cup tie at Newport County.

3) Last month referee Anthony Taylor reported to the FA and Football League that a variety of objects, including coins, were thrown during Millwall v Leicester.

4) FIFA are still investigating Martin Hansen’s report of his assistant, Stefan Wittberg, being hit by a coin during the Northern Ireland v Poland match at Windsor Park.

5) The day after Dean was hit at Cardiff, an assistant, Ron Ganfield, was struck at St Andrew’s in an incident which was reported to the

police.

This appears to be a growing trend which needs to be stopped before serious and permanent damage is done. There is no set protocol for referees to follow, but experience tells the top referees that, with player safety their number-one priority, they can follow this step by step process:

1) REQUEST extra stewards or police monitor the area from which objects are being thrown.

2) IF this does not restore safety they can remove players from the pitch until order is restored, even requesting that the section of the ground from which the missiles are thrown be cleared.

3) THE final resort would be to abandoned the match, but this would be done in conjunction with the (police) match commander who would be loathed to approve this due to the potential reaction of the thousands of people in attendance.

Of course, coins injuring match officials is nothing new. Police and stewards at Fulham and Chelsea even issue match officials with evidence bags and suggest that you don’t touch the object thrown but collect it in the bags so that it can be forensically checked. Once in Turkey, I needed riot shields to protect me from missiles as I left the field after a Galatasaray game. I was hit with a lighter in Kaiserslautern and a mobile phone battery in Latvia. Running the line at Millwall’s old ground, I can remember the noise of the coins ‘pinging’ against the fence and the police joking that it was the locals’ way of ‘making a collection’.

Nothing funny about the images of Hugh Dallas bleeding from a cut caused by a coin thrown during a particularly fiery Old Firm derby in 1999, and of the usually immaculate Anders Frisk being helped from the pitch with blood running down his face at half-time of a Champions League match in Rome.

However, those two incidents were more than four years apart, now incidents occur far more frequently. Frisk, supported by UEFA officials, abandoned his match back in 2004, and UEFA awarded the away side, Dynamo Kiev, a 3-0 win over Rome and ordered the Italian side to play their next two ties behind closed doors.

The fact that the offence continues seems to lessen its severity in the eyes of the authorities. When Sheffield was taken off on a stretcher and driven to hospital, the match was completed and the Football Association of Wales fined Newport County £3000. The same body will preside over the Cardiff City inquest and it will be interesting to see how Football League reacts to the events from last Sunday.

An abandoned game would force both bodies to sit up and take the matter as seriously as the potential threat to safety demands.

Published: 13-Apr-09

THE OFFICIAL LINE by Graham Poll

When Coventry manager Chriss Coleman accused referee Steve Bennett of being very friendly with some Chelsea players, he was echoing accusations of many in his position.

The problem for officials who know players of one team, and use their names, is how to approach the other team. It’s unrealistic to stop calling players you know by their names, or to start referring to the England captain as ‘No 26’, so what about those unfamiliar faces in the other team?

Well the best referee of my generation, Pierlulgi Collina, impressed me when we worked together on the 2002 World Cup. Collina learned and used the names of all the players from both Japan and Turkey. He felt that gave him more credibility and the players, responded to his management of them. Would it be too much to ask a professional referee to study a Football League team’s website, which has full squad lists with pictures, and try to remember the names of key players?

Food for thought for the select group referees.

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‘RESPECT’ RULE TOO INFLEXIBLE

As a committee member I am familiar with the implementation of the FA’s ‘Respect’ campaign.

We should applaud the aims of the initiative, but I have become concerned at some aspects I fear will be counterproductive.

A Sunday player who twice disputed a late decision - and in fact swore at the referee was rightly dismissed. The club and player expected a fine and suspension, but both were shocked by a 35-day ban. At this stage of the season where midweek matches are common, this equates to a ten-plus game suspension.

County Associations offer an option whereby you do not dispute the sending-off, but can submit a written plea for leniency. The player explained that while not questioning the accuracy of the referee’s brief report, the context of the incident and the fact that the comment was discreet rather than confrontational and aggressive, the punishment seemed excessive. The County replied within 24 hours. The suspension stood. No further explanation. The player asked me why a two-footed lunge in the Premier League deserves a three-game but while not respecting a referee at our level attracts more than treble?

The answer, I am told by a referees’ association representative, is ‘Respect’. In essence, he says, although you receive the option of a plea, there really is no point, as the County FA always consider the referee only the referee’s report.

Occasionally referees make mistakes. My concern is that if the campaign automatically assumes referees to be saintly, resulting in draconian punishments without a fair hearing, the result will not be that referees have more respect from players. Trying to enforce respect, rather than earn it, may help destroy the thing it was designed to create.

A second area of concern is the announcement that from next season the home team secretary will be responsible for the conduct of all supporters – even away fans! Imagine a middle aged five-foot-nothing female secretary who will be expected to approach strangers and advise them that if they do not behave she will be forced to remove them from the ground!

The crux of the ‘Respect’ campaign is that without a referee there is no game. Without secretaries there are no clubs – and it is increasingly difficult to attract volunteers. These people not only receive no match fee, but more often than not pay for the privilege of being involved, the associated stress and responsibilities. Where is the ‘Respect’ due to them? If the campaign is implemented in such a way as to place added strain on well-meaning and dedicated secretaries, it will have a negative effect.

The FA is introducing panic measures. My concern is that they have not thought ahead to the implementation and effect on the game as a whole.

Published: 10-Mar-09