The ultimate truth on why refereeing in the Premier League is not all it should be

 

• Is Arsenal really the most hated club in football?
• The most detailed research into what is wrong with PL refereeing, yet found. Part 1

By Tony Attwood

Referees have to declare their interest in clubs before the start of the season, and it is up to them to keep the list up to date.  So if I were a ref I would declare Arsenal, obviously, and presumably Tottenham Ho.  I guess I might also declare Corby Town FC who are near where I now live, and Torquay United because I used to go and watch them with my dad when he retired to that area. 

But all that is up to me – no one checks.   And that leaves open the issue of West Ham who I don’t like because they were given a stadium for nothing after the Olympics.  There is more on referee “interest” here

But then I got puzzled over what I might do as a ref if I was given the job of overseeing a match involving Manchester City; I suppose that is just down to my integrity.  But there might be a little temptation….   Whether I have an association with a certain club is down to PGMOL to decide, and in the end down to my honesty.    There is no PGMO website where one can read all these rules.

So anyone interested can find that I support Arsenal, Corby Town and (because of earlier associations) Poole Town.  But supposing I had a son who played for Manchester United, but was in my opinion, not given a fair chance by that club.  Do I declare that negative feeling I have?  Seeming not – it is down to me to be honourable and fair.  Does Gillet support Liverpool?  I am not sure.  He did his research degree at Liverpool University – so maybe he does.   I did mine at London University Institute of Education, but then I would declare my support for Arsenal anyway…. 

In fact, it appears that three refs have declared support for Arsenal but have still been appointed to VAR!   And it is not just them.  Chelsea have had a declared supporter on VAR duty for a game.  And it seems this is not that uncommon across the league.  

And maybe that doesn’t matter – maybe all these refs are highly honourable and above suspicion.  But that is not the only point.   They need to be seen to be above suspicion, which is why, once again, the lack of a PGMO website with all this detail on is rather annoying.

William Saliba has been sent off from a VAR review for the denial of a goal-scoring opportunity by Jarred Gillett, who is said to be a Liverpool fan.  That sending off meant Saliba was forced to miss the next game, which was Arsenal against Liverpool. I would not say that was a conspiracy – the fact is it looks like it could be a conspiracy, and it is obvious that it could so easily have been avoided by having a VAR who has no connection with either club.  Do we not have enough of them?

Well, we must remember that the Premier League is the richest league in the world.   It can afford to employ more referees.  So, as others have said, we need more clarity on referee allegiances to clubs.  But as Untold has endlessly said, we also need more referees in the pool, so that no referee ever sees a club more than twice in a season, once at home and once away.   It’s not difficult.   You just need to employ more referees, and if they are not available, then train up more.   This is the richest league in the world.  And if the PL won’t provide the money, PGMO should openly say so.

And in all this, we haven’t yet got the point about whether a referee should be engaged in a match that is close to his home, irrespective of whether he supports the club or not.  (Apparently, Anthony Taylor lives a few blocks away from Old Trafford, yet he is regularly involved in both ManC and ManU games.

Now this lax procedure is pretty much unique to the Premier League.  For example, it could never happen in Italy.  But in England, we neither have enough refs, nor refs from a geographically diverse area.   The answer seems to be that we can’t do that in England because clubs are bunched together.   The solution is to get more refs – but we know that from the fact that some refs see the same club six times in a season..

Now there are no referees from London in PGMO’s Premier League list of officials.    But they have got seven from the north west (Lancashire, Merseyside etc).   Any surprise that London clubs find it tough to win the league?  There should be seven London refs in the league, and only four from the north west (there are currently seven from that region!).

But let’s come back to my old point: get more referees.   It is obvious anyway we need more, but doubly so when we compare the number of refs in the PL compared with Germany’s or Italy’s top league.

And we might also note that the disproportionate regional variation was not like this when the PL was started.  It has evolved over time – perhaps coincidentally, as clubs from the north west have asserted their dominance in the league.

Now it might be a coincidence that no London club has won the league when there has not been a single Ldonon ref in PGMO.

But it might not.

And here’s another thing, from our prime source today.   “In the recent past, Michael Oliver and Darren England were allowed to be indirectly paid by Manchester City owners to officiate in the UAE, together with assistants Daniel Cook and Stuart Burt.”

You mgiht think that is ok, and theer is no evidence that this affected their ability to referee, but it doesn’t quite look and feel right.

Here’s another one.  Michael Oliver gets more ManC games than we might expect, but shows fewer cards to that club than we mgith eexpect.

Now I am not saying he is biased, but am saying it would simply look better if the league had a balance of the regional origins of referees to match the number of clubs.

Let’s add one other point.  Who oversees PGMO and directs it to change when itgoes wrong.   The answer is no one.  It is independent, although it is funded by the Premier Leagueclubs.