On Saturday, we witnessed one of the worst refereeing performances since the days of Clive Thomas. I thought I recognised that name! The other Steve Martin is an American comedian/actor but this referee, who shares his identity, proved to be a very bad joke.
This was one of the worst refereeing performances since Clive Thomas who reffed the West Ham versus Ipswich FA Cup semi-final of 1975 when he disallowed two perfectly good goals by Brian Hamilton for offside. Thomas made those decisions independently of the linesman – even though he was a good distance from the action. He was an assertive, bordering on arrogant Welshman, who made a career out of making controversial decisions. The new stand-up comedian at the centre of attention at Portman Road is following in his footsteps, and this is an alarming development.
Town boss Kieran McKenna is not one of those people who complains constantly about officials. On the contrary, this is the first time I have heard him utter any words of criticism in their direction, but on Saturday, it was completely justified. Barring a miracle, Ipswich Town would have won this game, but the deciding factor hinged on the referee’s decision to rule out a perfectly good goal by Marcus Harness. I have watched it now from several angles, and, as both he and defender Anderson wrestled for the ball, it was a 50/50 entanglement – nothing more. It was a gut-wrenching error.
The trouble with a lot of these officials, the further you go down the football pyramid is that they are essentially frustrated footballers. They wanted to make a career out of football but were simply not good enough. This is what happened to Thomas too, all those years ago. Martin’s rapid rise in the game saw him appointed to the EFL assistant referee list in 2008, and the National League referee list in the same year. Four years later, he became an EFL referee and has taken charge of more than 200 games since. He seems to court controversy where ever he goes, and loves to be the very centre of attention. His sort is bringing the game into disrepute – a phrase incidentally, no longer used by the football powers that be. It begs the question why on earth not?
There is so much money in the game these days that a lot of matches depend on referees getting things right. Martin got almost everything wrong and did not pick up on the time-wasting tactics employed by our visitors. He was extremely picky and would not let the game flow. Although 8 minutes were added at the end of the match, it could, and should, have easily been at least 12. He was quite frankly appalling throughout, and he will be remembered for all the wrong reasons by Ipswich supporters far and wide after this despicable display. A good referee should try to remain anonymous throughout, and when they do such a good job at it, you don’t even notice them. Sadly, these days it seems, they have become a very rare breed.
Spot on
I tweeted this morning on the EADT sighting that very game that the infamous Clive Thomas officiated in. Steve Martin’s performance on Saturday was easily as bad.
Luton blue
Yes, John, he will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. If any other ref had been officiating, I think we would have won that game. He disallowed that goal at the most critical of times. If we had gone 3-1 up there was surely no catching us.
I saw the West Ham match back in 1975. Brings back very frustrating memories. Yes, the ref for the Barnsley game at the weekend had a stinker! Two points flushed down the drain.
As you know, the top referees in England are generally found in the Premier League Richard, and even there, not all of them are especially good. The further you go down the league pyramid refereeing tends to match the standard of football, so you expect more of them at this level. That said, the football Ipswich have played this season is a cut above, and yet, we still have to suffer such appalling officiating, which, as you rightly said, cost us all three points on Saturday.