Referee who was "in charge" of the Dover game at the Vic, spilling his guts in the non-league paper.
Co incidentally, Dover's retained list also issued.
Guess who they're getting shot of ?

All over the BBC like a rash. Pools elevated to arch criminals when the Premier League is left unscathed.

Ricky Modeste released too. Effiong had scored 16 before the season died in March, so he wouldn't be a bad shout...stranger things have happened in football!

would give effiong a contract right now if we could afford him and challinor thinks he,d fit in to our system. lots have been signed who have been far worse.

[quote="The Kit Kat Kid"]Referee who was "in charge" of the Dover game at the Vic, spilling his guts in the non-league paper.
anyone interested or have read his piece need to know that he is far from his own. these young refs who are coming up the greasy pole are known by some of us as the stepford refs. all ref and look more or less the same. those you speak to have only one topic of conversation, refereeing football. get a couple running the line for you as i did once last season and you are in for a boring afternoon.

Cock end ref who should be banned from owning a goldfish.

he is really only following orders. well that went down well didn,t it. do not blame him as much as the system that caused people like him.

Were you at the match?

That was the worst example of officiating I have ever witnessed, there isn't a set of rules for that.

He was utterly useless. The Football League officials need to take a long hard look at themselves for allowing bozos like this to referee any match

i was at the game and agree he was useless. the effiong incident did not help but he,s not the only one i have seen in recent seasons who seemed to struggle in knowing what day of the week it was. when you have a situation where the fa seem only interested in pushing certain people up the ladder and only interest is in physical fitness of them you have a real problem. those who remember the old days refs like roger kilpatrick, ken baker and roger milford and compare em to what we now see now you,d think they were from another planet. however back in those days they did not have interferance from above in how to referee or even conduct themselves on the pitch. they were allowed to be their own men with their own personalities.

That is one of the reasons I packed in reffing. I wasn't ambitious , I was far too old anyway to climb the ladder anyway, I got into it far too late , but even if I had got into it 20 years earlier I doubt I would've wanted to climb through the leagues. I noticed more or less as soon as I started , a change in culture , with young uns coming from nowhere , getting fast tracked through the leagues. Whereas I thought a young / new ref should have at least 5 years local football behind them , before they started to climb the ladder. I was a ref who worked to the rules , it was black and white with me, the cards were there to help me , but I noticed increasingly refs talking about managing a game , whereas where I would send a player off for calling me a bounder , other refs would try and calm the situation down ( managing the situation ) That wasn't for me. I was noticing new refs going from first Sunday League game to National League within 5 years. My view is reffing is like Social Work , its not something a 24 year can do , because you need some experience of life first.

I do feel that this is why we see so many poor NL refs , that's not to excuse the abuse they get across the whole country , particularly at places like Hartlepool , who probably have a higher percentage of cock ends and bozos than elsewhere. Some of the things I have heard whilst stood at the Vic , clearly most of them don't even know the laws of the game never mind have the guts to get on the pitch and apply them themselves.

Couldn't agree more, his poor officiating made a bad situation 10x worse. He also booked Effiong himself, so basically by proxy, Mr. Johnson believes racism should be allowed and all challenges against it are bookable offences. Nice bloke. Why would he also feel guilt for refereeing that game? Why would someone feel so guilty about a mistake? Why feel guilt for some random racist idiots action because he couldn't emotionally handle a goal celebration? Unless he has self-reflected and realized he's partially to blame?

Look up some of the match reports about him like Chester vs Witton Albion, bloke has a very interesting track record. It does sound harsh I know. But even after the abuse he continued to officiate in an appalling manner, and once again I ask if he did nothing wrong why does he feel bad? I was there and it was a horrible day, and I too was up all night questioning if I wanted to keep following the club with such fans surrounding me. In the end I decided if I walk away I let those people win and I let those people get what they want, one less fan who isn't racist. I am also not to blame for the actions of a racist who is an entire stand away from me. So how come I don't feel bad yet he does? Because he knows deep down it's partially his fault. I have no clue what his intentions were that day, I think of it often too. I genuinely believe bribery could of been a factor, why else would he walk from the game the way he has? He doesn't seem happy with his actions, yet to our knowledge, he's done nothing wrong has he?

And for those reasons I hold very little sympathy for him. I recall Effiong saying the same too and rightly so. Apologies if that sounds harsh, I hold no ill will for him but I cannot feel bad for him at all. Also what did Hignett and Featherstone even say to get sent off? Not sure we've ever been told that.

tl;dr Why does he feel guilty for something out his control? I think he was bribed. I don't understand why people are giving sympathy.

As an ex ref I always have the refs backs , but I have to say the ref had a poor game that day , the worst I have ever seen at Pools, and for a minute , it did cross my mind that he had been nobbled. There are poor refs , good refs having an off day , but some of the decisions he made that day defied logic.

[quote="horden"]


, I was noticing new refs going from first Sunday League game to National League within 5 years. My view is reffing is like Social Work , its not something a 24 year can do , because you need some experience of life first.

actually west riding county fa class a 24 year old person too old if they start reffing at that age. a couple of years ago a guy that age who had played at a local league level similar to the northern league applied for the course. on arrival the instructor said to him that he,d be the ideal person for the job but he should forget about ever getting a fast or if ever a promotion to the conferance or FL. due to his advanced years. the lad just walked away telling him to forget it. if he,d have been a 16 year old who could not kick a ball they,d be over him like a rash. honestly i could write a book about all things i have heard and seen in the murky world of football officials and referees.