One of the top stories about referees this season is the alleged demotion and reprimand of Premiership referees who are said not to have carried out their duties as the FA requires.
The clamour for action against officials has grown this year following the announcement that Premiership referees were going to be full-time, or at least paid an annual retainer. It has raised the expectations of clubs and supporters, but it is the media that has been fuelling these stories.
Paul Durkin admitted that he should have sent off Graham le Saux for a crippling tackle on Leeds player Danny Mills. Incidentally, I wonder how much the remonstrations of Leeds Manager, David O'Leary, about the tackle were guilt induced. His hints as to le Saux's cowardice in not flying to the Chelsea cup-tie in Israel may have provoked the player to prove he is really a hard man.
In any case, Paul Durkin next found himself refereeing Luton Town against Swansea. Probably the highest profile was Dermot Gallagher who, it will be remembered, failed to send off Robbie Keane of Leeds when he pushed David Beckham after being tackled from behind. Personally I thought he made the right decision to caution both players, as it was little more than a playground splat.
But not so the press. One columnist claimed that the Banbury official would be reprimanded for his apparent lax interpretation of the Laws of the Game and that he would not be given another Premiership game before Christmas. Another newspaper stated that Gallagher would be the first member of the semi-professional group of referees to receive a lengthy demotion to the lower leagues as a disciplinary measure.
Royal' fans will remember it well because, although Dermot Gallagher's next
match after the incident was actually a European tie involving top Italian club Lazio, his next English game was in Nationwide Division Two, Reading v Bristol City. Taking the lead from the newspapers, the fans gave him stick every time he made a wrong decision, that is to say of course ones against Reading. They taunted him with chants of 'next year the Conference'.
Well, I can reveal that it is all complete nonsense and that the newspaper columnists do not know what they are talking about. This is not my opinion, it is fact from the man who makes the appointments to the Premiership. Joe Guest, the FA's Referees' Officer, was guest speaker at the last meeting of the Reading Referees' Association and he said that it is all very simple.
The Premiership referees are on a two-year contract, so he couldn't demote them even if he wanted to. The truth is that he has sixteen Premiership referees but he has only ten Premiership games each week. So what does he do with the other six referees? He can, and does of course use them as fourth officials, but normally he asks the Nationwide League which forthcoming games they would like to be covered by a Premiership referee. Let's face it, Reading v Bristol City was a fair bet for a top referee.
All the appointments are made some weeks in advance. Dermot Gallagher would have known that he was to referee at the Madejski Stadium before the Leeds v Manchester United game was even played, so there was no way it could have been a punishment or demotion.
As for not having another Premiership game before Christmas, you may have noted that Dermot Gallagher refereed the big match of the day last Saturday, Liverpool v Middlesborough and Paul Durkin had the Manchester United/West Ham clash. You know the old saying -'don't believe everything you read in the newspapers'.
Dick Sawdon Smith