Blow the whistle on unfair ref criticism
Credit:
Early in your humble scribe’s broadcasting career he learned a valuable lesson. Should you ever find yourself devoid of any topics worth debating or discussing on the radio, should a sporting apocalypse take place and rob you of anything around which to build a programme rest assured because there is a consistent and never failing fall back – refereeing. Immediately phone lines will light up, text messages will flow in and pundits will fall over themselves to express their superior knowledge of the rules of various codes.
The wonder of referees and their ability to generate debate extends far beyond the confines of a radio studio though and it certainly does not need the power of frequency modulation to help disseminate it around the world. Eavesdrop if you will on any conversation taking place between people wandering away from any ground around the country on a Friday night and I assure you, you won’t have to wait long for the name of some match official to be used in vain. The same social experiment can be applied to any group watching an English Premier League game, pulling out of a GAA car park from an Allianz League match and increasingly within the walls of the hostelries that house the nation’s rugby brethren. Referees have undeservedly become some form of sporting social outcast or whipping boy.
There is arguably no more thankless a job within sport than that of the match official. Regularly castigated but seldom in the receipt of praise and, to add insult to injury, praise when it does arrive is generally wiped out almost immediately by some wag bringing up some past injustice, “sure isn’t it only right that he gave us two penalties and sent off four of their players tonight, didn’t he allow a goal against us in Bray last year despite their full back taking a foul throw in the build-up”. Unlike the player who is remembered for his past glories despite now stumbling towards retirement, a referee is remembered for just being a referee and never ever for what they got right. Take for example Graham Poll, rated by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics as the greatest British ref of the past century; remembered by fans for forgetting that two yellow cards should equal red at the 2006 World Cup. Anders Frisk, ranked 4th overall, remembered for controversially sending Chelsea’s Didier Drogba off in the Champions League after which Jose Mourinho suggested Frisk had been too close to the Barcelona boss Frank Rijkaard. The fact that he was forced to retire after receiving numerous death threats, aided in part by a British tabloid publishing his address, is not as equally well recounted.
Luckily such events are yet to descend upon the League of Ireland where, despite what some begrudgers would want you to believe, we have a good level of officiating, well trained, well maintained and increasingly well respected. Their trials and travails though are never documented, unlike other Leagues we very rarely hear from officials over the course of the season. Imagine if we were like La Liga with the assembled media waiting outside the referee’s dressing room knowing that the official would speak openly and spout forth about the 90mins he had just navigated. I quite admire the omerta that exists in Ireland. As fans at a given club we get sucked into the soap opera that often is the footballing year, we know of every player’s injury, hear of their recovery, have an insight into how challenging and rewarding their career is. Referees though are transient, the play a key role in our lives one Friday and are forgotten about until the merry-go-round of rostering leads to another fleeting encounter some weeks later.
Dr Alan Byrne of the FAI has compiled an intriguing account of the lengths that leading Irish referees go to in order to ensure that they are in the best possible state to take charge of the games that we as fans enjoy so much each weekend. It’s easy to forget that unlike their counterparts in England, Spain and the other big leagues around Europe that our match officials commit themselves to serving the game in tandem with trying to balance professional and personal lives. This, for many, involves the ongoing understanding of employers each Friday, long journeys to take charge of games, nights away from home and for what reward? €205 and too much unnecessary attention and too frequently undeserved and excessive criticism. What emerged from Dr Byrne’s work this week is an insight into the dedication and isolation of the task. In excess of 2,600 hours training a year in addition to 1,700 officiating, an average of 2 matches a week and a significant number of tweaks and injuries over the course of a year. Unlike your star striker the men (and ladies) in black have no access to immediate physiotherapy and the specialised medical care that League of Ireland players might take for granted.
In media interviews this week David McKeon went to great lengths to let it be known that he and his colleagues are well supported in terms of insurance and compensation when injured but to listen to him speak it was evident that the level of dedication and service they provide Irish football with comes at costs that we rarely give consideration to. What was even stronger was the enthusiasm with which David spoke of the job he does and the fact that knowing he got a decision right brought a much better thrill that the lows wondering about a far from perfect match might bring about. They are unappreciated, fallible but great servants to the sport we love so much. Let’s embrace more the branch of the footballing family that we perhaps haven’t always been good relatives to.
The wonder of referees and their ability to generate debate extends far beyond the confines of a radio studio though and it certainly does not need the power of frequency modulation to help disseminate it around the world. Eavesdrop if you will on any conversation taking place between people wandering away from any ground around the country on a Friday night and I assure you, you won’t have to wait long for the name of some match official to be used in vain. The same social experiment can be applied to any group watching an English Premier League game, pulling out of a GAA car park from an Allianz League match and increasingly within the walls of the hostelries that house the nation’s rugby brethren. Referees have undeservedly become some form of sporting social outcast or whipping boy.
There is arguably no more thankless a job within sport than that of the match official. Regularly castigated but seldom in the receipt of praise and, to add insult to injury, praise when it does arrive is generally wiped out almost immediately by some wag bringing up some past injustice, “sure isn’t it only right that he gave us two penalties and sent off four of their players tonight, didn’t he allow a goal against us in Bray last year despite their full back taking a foul throw in the build-up”. Unlike the player who is remembered for his past glories despite now stumbling towards retirement, a referee is remembered for just being a referee and never ever for what they got right. Take for example Graham Poll, rated by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics as the greatest British ref of the past century; remembered by fans for forgetting that two yellow cards should equal red at the 2006 World Cup. Anders Frisk, ranked 4th overall, remembered for controversially sending Chelsea’s Didier Drogba off in the Champions League after which Jose Mourinho suggested Frisk had been too close to the Barcelona boss Frank Rijkaard. The fact that he was forced to retire after receiving numerous death threats, aided in part by a British tabloid publishing his address, is not as equally well recounted.
Luckily such events are yet to descend upon the League of Ireland where, despite what some begrudgers would want you to believe, we have a good level of officiating, well trained, well maintained and increasingly well respected. Their trials and travails though are never documented, unlike other Leagues we very rarely hear from officials over the course of the season. Imagine if we were like La Liga with the assembled media waiting outside the referee’s dressing room knowing that the official would speak openly and spout forth about the 90mins he had just navigated. I quite admire the omerta that exists in Ireland. As fans at a given club we get sucked into the soap opera that often is the footballing year, we know of every player’s injury, hear of their recovery, have an insight into how challenging and rewarding their career is. Referees though are transient, the play a key role in our lives one Friday and are forgotten about until the merry-go-round of rostering leads to another fleeting encounter some weeks later.
Dr Alan Byrne of the FAI has compiled an intriguing account of the lengths that leading Irish referees go to in order to ensure that they are in the best possible state to take charge of the games that we as fans enjoy so much each weekend. It’s easy to forget that unlike their counterparts in England, Spain and the other big leagues around Europe that our match officials commit themselves to serving the game in tandem with trying to balance professional and personal lives. This, for many, involves the ongoing understanding of employers each Friday, long journeys to take charge of games, nights away from home and for what reward? €205 and too much unnecessary attention and too frequently undeserved and excessive criticism. What emerged from Dr Byrne’s work this week is an insight into the dedication and isolation of the task. In excess of 2,600 hours training a year in addition to 1,700 officiating, an average of 2 matches a week and a significant number of tweaks and injuries over the course of a year. Unlike your star striker the men (and ladies) in black have no access to immediate physiotherapy and the specialised medical care that League of Ireland players might take for granted.
In media interviews this week David McKeon went to great lengths to let it be known that he and his colleagues are well supported in terms of insurance and compensation when injured but to listen to him speak it was evident that the level of dedication and service they provide Irish football with comes at costs that we rarely give consideration to. What was even stronger was the enthusiasm with which David spoke of the job he does and the fact that knowing he got a decision right brought a much better thrill that the lows wondering about a far from perfect match might bring about. They are unappreciated, fallible but great servants to the sport we love so much. Let’s embrace more the branch of the footballing family that we perhaps haven’t always been good relatives to.
