Blueprint for Better Refereeing, Part 1

I am constantly critical of referees in the Premier League. I am convinced that the quality of refereeing in English football’s top flight has declined since its professionalisation. And surely that’s not right.

As much as I enjoy slagging referees off behind their backs, and making sure Mark Halsey is looking me in the face before mouthing a word my mother has never heard, I’d feel better about myself if I proposed a solution instead of just pointing out the problem.

Welcome, then, to twofootedtackle’s ‘Blueprint for Better Refereeing’, a five part series detailing why I think the Premier League’s refereeing needs an overhaul, and how I think it should be done.

The problem, as I’ve mentioned, is that England’s professional referees are not earning their money. I won’t report the various figures I’ve heard about what they’re paid for Premier League status because it would be unethical, but suffice to say that other professionals on the same pay would not get away with the mistakes made week in, week out by our top referees.

The main issue is quality. Obviously, I am of the opinion that the quality of Premier League referees is very low. But it’s not just my opinion. Loathe as I am to agree with Andy Gray (and I am), he epitomises the SKY approach to refereeing and, though they’d deny it, they clearly believe the quality to be wanting. They love that, of course.

The problem is sort of a heady mix of poor quality - as evidenced by Rob Styles and Mark Halsey already this season, among others - bad attitude (Halsey again, and Uriah Rennie), and the odd very, very basic error. Stuart Attwell, bless his cottons, awarded Reading a goal against Watford when he should have over-ruled his assistant.

The list goes on, and on, and on, and on. But I’ll stop there - out of Respect, of course.

Keith Hackett, a former referee, is general manager of the Premier League Match Officials Board (PLMOB), or whatever they call it these days. The board was set up in 2001 when Premier League refereeing went professional. It provides referees to the Premier League, and those referees are accountable to it. It is made up of the chief executives and refereeing managers of the game’s governing bodies, and the FA’s Head of Refereeing. And that’s it.

The PLMOB and the Football Association consistently seem to team together to come up with some odd decisions. Halsey recently sent off the England captain, John Terry. Despite Hackett’s insistence that he was not involved, the authorities rescinded - wrongly - Terry’s card. Halsey was demoted to League Two for the following Saturday. Every cloud…

Ironically, the fact that it took so long for Halsey to be demoted speaks volumes about the board and the FA’s refusal to act on the poor quality of refereeing.

Clearly, then, change is needed. But what are the goals?

I’m going to define the goals of change in terms which the Football Association will understand. I’m proposing four goals which, combined, work to increase Respect for referees:

• To improve the quality of refereeing and reduce errors
• To increase referees’ accountability for their performances
• To improve the review process
• To remove the ‘old boys network’

That’s all for Part 1. Next time, I’ll discuss my proposed solution. In the meantime, feel free to leave your comments and thoughts.