Think you’d make a good referee?

Another week, another dreadful refereeing performance. This time from Jarred Gillett. Bloody Aussie. Strewth!

I expect many of you will have read that opening and nodded in agreement. Perhaps your ire about the last minute non-penalty against Leeds will have been proof for you of the man’s bias.

Now I’m going to tell you that I actually think he did ok. I have watched the Maddison non-penalty incident many times, from different angles and in slow motion, and I still can’t tell whether the defender played the ball. What I do know for sure is that if the shoe had been on the other foot, and that was our defender making the challenge, Spurs fans would have taken a diametrically opposite view of the incident. Meanwhile, Gillett had a single angle, in real time and had to make a call straight away. He would also have known that if he got it completely wrong VAR would step in. I would have made the same call as him and I suspect so would many of you.

But then I suspect that most readers, and for sure 99% of Spurs fans who are sharing their opinions on social media, have never actually refereed a football match, let alone been on a course to learn the rules and how they should be interpreted. Which is the point at which I share with you that I have.

My football playing ‘career’, such as it was, took place on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. Not literally the beaches, I should clarify. That is the name of the area that encompasses a whole string of beach suburbs stretching from Manly to Palm Beach. The latter is where Home and Away is filmed if you want a mental picture (and admit to having seen it). It is an idyllic place to play football and very many people do. From young kids all the way up to seven leagues of Over-35’s and two leagues of Over-45’s. The higher level leagues have assigned officials but down in the lower echelons of the Over-35 and Over-45 leagues teams where I played, we had to provide a referee for the game kicking off before or after ours. 

I volunteered to do the referee training and actually put myself onto the field in black for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I wanted to be better informed about the game that I spend so much time watching. And then there was the personal challenge. I’m conflict averse, so it was a challenge. What I discovered is that, at the level I was refereeing, it was really just an exercise in leadership and influence. Blow hard and point decisively was the key. If the players get the idea within the first 10-15 minutes that you know what you are doing, or at least are confident in your judgement, then the match becomes a lot easier to manage. Most teams had one asshole who just couldn’t keep his mouth shut but on the whole it was just decent guys out for a kick about on a Saturday afternoon.

Now I readily concede that my experience is very different to the pressures of being a Premier League referee. Do I think my limited training and experience makes me an expert? No. Do I think they make me more qualified to comment than anyone who has never actually taken the time to read the rules or take to the field in black? For sure.

Most of what I read on social media when it comes to PGMOL, referees and their decisions is nonsense. Sometimes decisions are debatable and there really is no right or wrong answer. That is one of the beauties of the game. But the notion that PGMOL is a corrupt organisation, has hidden agendas or willfully makes incorrect decisions is patent nonsense. Save your time and energy, and try to think of something worthwhile to put on your X or Facebook posts.

There is one area of refereeing that I do take issue with. VAR. I read today that PGMOL has identified 13 errors made by VAR officials this season. The idea that a small team of highly experienced referees can analyse pictures of an incident from all angles, in slow motion, for as long as they like and still get it wrong beggars belief. And of course it calls into question the competence of those same referees when they take to the field. 

The VAR monster that we have created is not good for the game. It is the product of the explosion in media attention and so-called experts wanting to pore over every tiny incident. Personally I would prefer it if we did away with both VAR and the level of scrutiny that decisions now get. Accept that referees are human, mistakes happen, judgement calls have to be made and we all just get on with it. 

It’ll be interesting to see how VAR plays out at the forthcoming world cup. They have selected the very best technically proficient referees from around the world to specifically fulfil the VAR role. Including, as it happens, one J, Gillett. I guess he’s really not that bad after all. Go the Aussie!

Andrew Pettifer is the author of "When the Final Whistle Blows: Glory, Grief and Tottenham Hotspur".  All proceeds are being donated to cancer research, please click the link to check it out.