Season seven of the A-League is churning along nicely but there is one issue that is gnawing away deeply in its back, like the mozzie bite you just can’t scratch – the quality of the refereeing.
I am loathe to criticise referees, as it is important position and without it sport cannot function.
Refereeing is a very tough job (as I have personally discovered once or twice in amateur sport), and referees rarely get the credit or support they deserve.
But when a problem persists, it needs to be dealt with and effectively. And to put it simply, the standard of refereeing in the A-League is simply not up to scratch.
There have been too many mistakes in the first seven rounds of the competition, too many major errors that have occurred that have changed the face of matches and influenced results. I’m sure there are many examples, but there are three games that clearly stick in my mind.
1. Wellington Phoenix 2-0 Newcastle Jets: The Phoenix were all over the Jets, who were completely woeful. Then referee Matt Gillet steps up and sends off Nicky Ward for a rash challenge on Ryan Griffiths as he advanced on goal.
Problem was that there was two Phoenix defenders behind Ward, who should have only got a yellow as he wasn’t the last man. Whoops.
Gillet followed this up by sending off Tim Brown with a second yellow card near the end of the game for ‘time-wasting’. Except that he wasn’t wasting time, he was merely leaving the ball for his fullback to take the throw, which happens all the time all over the world. Despite the fact that the Jets were so poor – they still could be playing that game now and they still wouldn’t have scored a goal – the Phoenix were now without key players for later games.
Gillet was later dropped for his mistakes.
2. Brisbane Roar 2-2 Melbourne Victory. A dramatic and exciting game that was marked by two red cards. One to Ante Covic, even though Berisha had appeared to knock the ball too far in front of him and seemed to have lost control. And one to Matthew Foschini for a dangerous tackle on Thomas Broich.
Foschini’s tackle was stupid and clumsy, but some would have given him a yellow card and a warning, especially as Melbourne were already down to 10 men. The debate on this continues to rage. But referee Ben Williams made things worst by smiling and laughing, when some candour might have been appropriate.
3. Melbourne Victory 2-2 Perth Glory. A red card to Liam Miller as Archie Thompson raced in on goal. Probably a fair decision. But this was followed up by a shocking call on Bas van den Brink who executed a copybook defensive tackle in the second half as Thompson again raced in. A penalty was given and Victory scored. Not your best moment Chris Beath.
There have been other examples – Shane Smeltz’s non-red despite headbutting a Newcastle Jets player, for one.
OK, we are never going to get perfection in refereeing decisions, that is a given. But we can strive for more accuracy, more professionalism and better officiating.
With Mark Shield in charge of the referees, and acting as a coach and mentor, you would think the bar would be raised. But it doesn’t seem to have been.
What we need is full-time professional referees, just like other competitions such as the NRL. The FFA might not be awash with money, but it desperately needs to find some to allocate to this important area.
Referees need to be properly renumerated, trained and analysed. They need feedback on their performance but also need to be given the tools to do the best they can, just like players.
This leads me to think, what is the exact pathway for football referees in Australia? Are we taking the best of the best from the various state leagues around the country? Are we doing enough to encourage and support promising young refs?
The NRL and cricket have former players as match officials, does football need to follow the same path?
The standard of football in the A-League is growing and improving, and the refereeing needs to follow suit.
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