By Tony Attwood, working with Christophe Jost and Untold Referees
The arguments about something being very seriously wrong with refereeing in the Premier League have been going on virtually since the league started, with fans of many PL clubs putting forward the point that some referees are at best incompetent, or at worst, biased against their club.
Yet the mass media have utterly ignored this debate. Indeed, if you just rely on the mass media, you wouldn’t know that anyone has been investigating why one referee might see around 70% of the PL games his oversees as home wins across the whole season, and another might see under 20% of his games end as home wins.
Now I must stress “investigating” here, because I am not saying all complaints about referees are correct, but rather there are so many complaints, and such an obvious lack of consistency in the way refereeing of PL games is handled, that a responsible media would undoubtedly consider this issue as one worthy of debate every week of the season.
Instead, the media is united in ignoring both the constant background of complaints by some supporters and the extraordinary variance between referee performances, either because they have been instructed so to do, or through a fear that criticism will lead to the removal of press passes. Thus the image is maintained: nothing is wrong with refereeing, and complaints come from fans trying to excuse their club’s failings on the pitch. Which in turn means that any debate as to the quality of referees is stopped before it starts.
Indeed, we have become so used to the fact that the media will debate the quality of the performance of players but not the quality of the performance of the referee, that doing so seems quite natural and normal. No one questions it at all.
Yet the media of us do consider the quality of the work done by house builders, politicians, TV performers, cooks in restaurants, footballers etc. Why not referees? Did someone tell them not to?
Of course, one could argue that fans are generally only concerned about their own club. An Arsenal fan is unlikely to study a video of a Newcastle v Man U game and start counting the number of referee errors therein. So we rely on the media for that analysis. However, in football, the media rarely debate the work of the referee. Do they ever say, “this ref made six important errors in this game”?
Indeed, the media ignore the fact that last season one referee has seen 25% more fouls in each and every game he oversaw than another. Or that one referee (John Brooks) handed out nearly three times as many yellow cards in each and every game he has overseen as Anthony Taylor. Or why no one else ever mentioned this.
Yet the data is there showing that there is no consistency at all in the way referees handle PL games, and so a club getting a certain referee half a dozen times in a season may face a particular disadvantage, or (if they get another ref) may actually benefit.
Worse, we know that the media won’t take up this issue, and we know the referees’ association (PGMOL) is so secretive it allows no interviews and doesn’t even have a website.
Which is why we’ve decided to take action by debating the issues about referring that the media utterly refuses to touch.
And in this regard, we’ve supported the launch of a new website: Untold Referee, where the first articles are now online. You might particularly want to take a look at the Introducing article as a guide to what we are up to.
Plus, you might like to note that this is just the start. We are not going away, because the point we make is far too important: there is something wrong with refereeing in the PL, and for some reason the media will not address the issue.
The UK media do not ask why a club like Arsenal playing in the richest league in the world, gets the same referee over and over again, or why, unlike in Germany, referees will not give interviews after games, or why PGMOL has no website or… well, you get the idea.
Fans of individual clubs tend not to look at the whole situation because, quite naturally and reasonably, they are primarily interested in their own club and its interaction with referees.
But because the only database examining referee activity is not widely publicised, and never gets mentioned by the media, fans focus only on their own club when talking about referees, and that can always be dismissed as special pleading.
So it is down to us. Untold Referees is new and I should add it is not written or edited by the team at Untold Arsenal – but we are supporting it completely, because we think the most curious nature of the way refereeing in the PL is organised is something that needs to be considered.
Don’t expect the mass media or indeed other football websites that never mention PGMO to pick up on Untold Referees, because they take the view that nothing is wrong. But if you have ever thought something isn’t right in relation to refereeing, this might be a good place to start.
just for fun…. yesterday’s game againt Brentford, referee Tony Harrington
7 fouls Arsenal, zero card, 8 fouls Brentford 1 card
Possession Arsenal 62 % Brentford 38 %
Compare that with what happened at Chelsea….
You can’t make this s**t up and any scenarist would reject it.
Or last night’s referee was not scared by the Emirates spirit like Taylor was by Stamford Bridge
Or Brentford were not going into the game like some orcs going to battle…
Chris
I’m glad you did that little card comparison because it highlights again the same point I made after the Chelsea game. That basically Taylor was a cheat. By that I mean, in that match he applied the Laws Of The Game to us in, not only in a completely different way to how he applied them to Chelsea, but in a way that was completely out of context with a) How he normally issues yellow cards, and b) How yellows are normally issued throughout the Premier League.
Look at these numbers comparing Arsenals game against Chelsea as well as both our next games, including what you refer to above.
Chelsea F = 12 Y = 2
Arsenal F = 13 Y = 6
Arsenal F = 7 Y = 0
Brentford F = 9 Y = 1
Leeds F = 10 Y = 1
Chelsea F = 13 Y = 1
Some points.
Regarding these 3 matches:
Excluding Arsenal at Stamford bridge the total number of Fouls = 51, Yellows = 5. A card every 10 fouls, all but.
At Stamford Bridge Arsenal received 6 Yellow cards for just 13 fouls. A card every 2 fouls, all but. A rate 5 times that issue outside of that.
In General:
Overall this season a Yellow card is issued 1 in every 7.7 fouls. So we received a card at a rate just under 4 times that of the norm for this season.
Chelsea average around a yellow every 6.5 fouls.
Arsenal average around a Yellow every 8 fouls But here’s the thing. Before the Chelsea match we actually averaged a yellow every 11 fouls.
What does this tell us about Taylors performance at Stamford Bridge.
Firstly, he refereed Chelsea in a manner that was slightly sterner than his and the League in generals average. Understandable given the nature of the match.
Secondly, he refereed Arsenal in a manner that was at least 4 times harsher than his and the leagues norm.
WHY?
Why did Taylor see fit to apply the laws Of The Game to us in such a way that he issued us with a card every 2 fouls when up to then we received a card every 11 fouls?
Why did Taylor see fit to apply the Laws Of the Game to us in such a way that he issued us with a card every 2 fouls when he normally issues a card every 6 fouls?
He didn’t do this to Chelsea who were at least as ‘dirty’ as Arsenal? They received a card every 6 fouls. Around both Taylors and Chelsea’s average for the season.
And lets not forget, as far as I read, everyone conceded that Chelsea were ‘ultra’ aggressive. Of course they wouldn’t dare say ‘dirty’, just ‘ultra’ aggressive. “Is this the blueprint for how everyone should play Arsenal?” I heard one particularly over excited hack ask. Yet Chelsea still only received Taylors normal level of discipline. Arsenal on the other hand, who were obviously the ones on the receiving end of this ‘ultra’ aggression, were the ones he punished at a rate 3 times his, and 4 times the leagues norm.
Anyway, rant over, suffice to say, Taylors is a cheat.
PS: I do not count the second Yellow/Red, as in reality it was VAR that issued this. Taylor was quite happy just to issue a Yellow for a potential leg breaker.
It may be worth consulting Mr Jeremiah Bullivant of footballisfixed to see if he can provide input into Untold Referees
Chelsea are the dirtiest team that I can recall seeing in the PL this season, although Newcastle aren’t far behind.
I would expect unconscious bias manifest itself in a much more subtle manner than was demonstrated by Taylor’s performance in the Chelsea match. I could see which way the decisions were going to go within a couple of minutes of kick-off.
This was not unconscious bias.
I think we the fans have already new referees that are bias to clubs in PL but the media is not saying that. it good you’re using this medium to analyze the referee performance across board.
seismic
“I could see which way the decisions were going to go within a couple of minutes of kick-off.”
Exactly.
Cucurella in particular started the game with ‘ultra’ aggressive intent, in my opinion committing 2 yellow card challenges in the first 10 minutes with his first 2 challenges. He continued in this ‘ultra’ aggressive manner throughout the match, but somehow remained on the pitch.
Cucurella did received a Yellow for his second foul after 11 minutes. This should of been his second Yellow and a subsequent Red.
Now, I never agree with this notion that ‘it’s a big game’, or it’s ‘early in the game’, so you don’t want to start dishing out the cards early, BUT if you are going to do so surely you do it to both sides? This clearly didn’t happen either early on, or indeed throughout the match.
proof of this was Taylor seeing fit to yellow card Zubimendi for his first foul after just 5 minutes. No slack there then!
Both Lewis-Skelly and Gyokeres were Yellowed for their first offences when they came on in the second half.
So, just as you suggest siesmic, those first 3 actions in the first 11 minutes showed us exactly where we were going. NO latitude for Arsenal AT ALL. Plenty for Chelsea.
That was not only cheating on Taylors behalf, but dangerous to the health of our players! I say that because surely the enormous latitude he was giving Chelsea is what gave Caicedo the idea he could lunge into such a potential leg breaking challenge without fear of the consequences?
And basically Caicedo was right. If it wasn’t for VAR he would of got away with a yellow for a clear Red card offence.
Taylor was a joke.
… and remember that Howard Webb repeatedly describes Oliver and Taylor as “elite” referees. Based on what? Surely not their ability to referee football matches fairly.