I am a referee. I happen to be a good one. I also happen to be a player, who plays in games officiated by referees. It just so happens that sometimes these referees are poor, and last weekend was one of those cases. He was very, very bad.
First of all he was not biased towards any team, which is good, but he didn't really make a good impression, what with turning up decidedly late, not bothering to even go near the pitch before kick off and then having to delay it for a bit as he forgot to do an equipment check. The match gets underway and the referee seems to have a very loose grip, giving throw ins and corners and goal kicks the wrong way almost every single time, and then losing even more of his grip not responding to some pretty awful abuse from one team. It didn't help that the club linesman for this team was their best defender in the first half. I went to ask him if he was ok with the abuse he was getting and he told me it was a man's game, something that must have still been going through his head as the opposing team's striker was through on goal and then thrown off the ball on the edge of the box by our centre half. We could all see it was a definite red card. He'd begun walking, as he is also a referee and anyone could see it coming, yet no card whatsoever was given, even though this would have out them 2-1 up as I doubt the striker would have missed. The abuse continued from their team, especially as the free kick was tame. The next decision was one of very few he got right, a shot from about 10 yards was cleared like Suárez in the World Cup of 2010 and the penalty was given, as was the red card. I take the penalty and score it, which makes me very happy before half time.
The second half comes and goes, we score a couple more and then comes his greatest howler. Ball is thrown to number nine of our team, who is then thrown to the floor by their defender. Ball is still stationary so number nine attempts to get a foot on it. Ball is cleared out for a throw in at which point number nine gets up, apologises for if he may have caught the defender who then proceeds to start swearing his head off before throwing his head into the number 9 and asking for a booking for the number 9. Please bear in mind that all number 9 did was go for a tackle and get up before being assaulted. The referee then calls number 9 over before sending him off for violent conduct claiming he had no choice. Do bear in mind that the number 9 has never before been sent off, and is himself a referee (there's about six referees in this team). He walks and the game continues and ends. At the end the head-throwing defender agrees that is was nowhere near a red card, leaving the referee the only person thinking it was.
As a referee myself I was ashamed to be one, as this person had come in and put in the worst performance of refereeing I'd ever seen and he is one of those who gives us a bad name, yet he will have a fixture soon, maybe tomorrow, and will be able to carry on while our team is without it's top scorer for a month and he may lose his referee badge as there is no appeal without video evidence (we've never video-ed a game) and he's now got a violent conduct sending off to his name. This is exactly why we, as referees, get a bad name.
First of all he was not biased towards any team, which is good, but he didn't really make a good impression, what with turning up decidedly late, not bothering to even go near the pitch before kick off and then having to delay it for a bit as he forgot to do an equipment check. The match gets underway and the referee seems to have a very loose grip, giving throw ins and corners and goal kicks the wrong way almost every single time, and then losing even more of his grip not responding to some pretty awful abuse from one team. It didn't help that the club linesman for this team was their best defender in the first half. I went to ask him if he was ok with the abuse he was getting and he told me it was a man's game, something that must have still been going through his head as the opposing team's striker was through on goal and then thrown off the ball on the edge of the box by our centre half. We could all see it was a definite red card. He'd begun walking, as he is also a referee and anyone could see it coming, yet no card whatsoever was given, even though this would have out them 2-1 up as I doubt the striker would have missed. The abuse continued from their team, especially as the free kick was tame. The next decision was one of very few he got right, a shot from about 10 yards was cleared like Suárez in the World Cup of 2010 and the penalty was given, as was the red card. I take the penalty and score it, which makes me very happy before half time.
The second half comes and goes, we score a couple more and then comes his greatest howler. Ball is thrown to number nine of our team, who is then thrown to the floor by their defender. Ball is still stationary so number nine attempts to get a foot on it. Ball is cleared out for a throw in at which point number nine gets up, apologises for if he may have caught the defender who then proceeds to start swearing his head off before throwing his head into the number 9 and asking for a booking for the number 9. Please bear in mind that all number 9 did was go for a tackle and get up before being assaulted. The referee then calls number 9 over before sending him off for violent conduct claiming he had no choice. Do bear in mind that the number 9 has never before been sent off, and is himself a referee (there's about six referees in this team). He walks and the game continues and ends. At the end the head-throwing defender agrees that is was nowhere near a red card, leaving the referee the only person thinking it was.
As a referee myself I was ashamed to be one, as this person had come in and put in the worst performance of refereeing I'd ever seen and he is one of those who gives us a bad name, yet he will have a fixture soon, maybe tomorrow, and will be able to carry on while our team is without it's top scorer for a month and he may lose his referee badge as there is no appeal without video evidence (we've never video-ed a game) and he's now got a violent conduct sending off to his name. This is exactly why we, as referees, get a bad name.
they are.
Popcorn at the ready!
