Search: 'Howard Webb'
Stories
If referees are as awful as claimed, we should help them out with some some extra body parts – or a microphone. Ed Wilson reports
There are some sections of society that it is difficult to feel sympathy for, even when you know they have been treated harshly. Reality TV stars fall into this category, as do Tory MPs – Edwina Currie is the point of intersection in that particular Venn diagram. Previously, I would have lumped referees into this demographic too. You only need to hear the enthusiasm that greets a referee falling over to grasp their standing among most football fans. But in recent months, my attitude to them has softened. I no longer see them as slightly absurd pantomime villains. Referees are people too.
Inappropriate comments are hard to expunge from the social media archives. Paul Butler tells how the image of football fans can suffer as a result of such stupidity
Footballers are constantly in the papers for their social media faux pas, but fans have transgressed too. In May, Norwich City fan Luke O’Donoughoe became the first supporter to be banned from a football ground for posting racist tweets, after commenting on news that the Canaries had signed former Evertonian James Vaughan. Not only was he banned for life, the police charged him with “sending an offensive message by public communication network under the Communications Act 2003”, and the 22-year-old was sentenced to a 12-month community order with 120 hours of unpaid work.
Dear WSC
I recently heard Alan Green and Robbie Savage give the customary abuse to Howard Webb during the Man City v Sunderland game. While Green’s job is to commentate on football, Savage, as a current player, is in an awkward position when he criticises officials from the safety of a studio in terms that would get him booked on the field.
Maybe the threat of a disrepute charge would concentrate his mind. As Savage himself commented during the broadcast: “The officials bring problems on themselves. First sign of dissent, bang, yellow card.” Well you said it, Robbie.
Paul Caulfield, Bradford