Ref Watch: Harrogate & Carlisle

[Keith]

Ross Joyce is definitely the worst ref we have seen in the last couple of seasons.

Not even close to Parsons, as the worst referee I've ever seen.

[fulwoodshrimp]

I thought ref today wasn’t as bad as his last 2 games reffing the shrimps!

[John L]

I thought ref today wasn’t as bad as his last 2 games reffing the shrimps!

Thankfully I agree!

[fulwoodshrimp]

Oh that's a bit harsh Keith, claiming Mr. Parsons is the worst referee you have ever seen. After all, he is employed by Wrexham isn't he????

[Keith]

We’ve been allocated ref Craig Hicks for the Swindon match on Saturday.
We’ve not seen him this season but he was in charge in February 2023 when we lost 5-0 at Derby and the first match the previous season when we drew 2-2 at Ipswich. He’s issued 95 yellows and 4 reds in 25 matches this season (3.80 and 0.16).

[Keith]

Oh that's a bit harsh Keith, claiming Mr. Parsons is the worst referee you have ever seen. After all, he is employed by Wrexham isn't he????

He'd certainly win Wrexham fan's 'best ref of the season' award!

[Keith]

Season 24/25 starts:

We’ve been allocated ref James Dunkin for the Walsall match and Simon Mather for Huddersfield.

It’s JD’s first time in charge for us as he’s only just promoted from the NL although he did officiate in three League 2 matches last season. He issued 92 yellows and 9 reds in 22 matches (4.18 and 0.41).

SM was in charge last season when we beat Barrow 3-1 in the Trophy and when we drew 2-2 at home with Harrogate. He issued 184 yellows and 10 reds in 36 matches (5.11 and 0.28).

[Keith]

We’ve been allocated ref Daniel Middleton for the Gillingham match on Saturday.

He was in charge when we lost at home to Colchester 0-1 in January. Last season he issued 94 yellows and 5 reds in 30 matches (3.13 and 0.17). Last Saturday in the AFC Wimbledon v Colchester match he gave out 6 yellows.

[Keith]

Thought he had a good game, as did the ref against Walsall, beyond one foul that I thought should have been a yellow card offence. Not a bad start to League Two, long may it continue!

Some interesting information about changes in interpretation of the Laws this season.

https://www.efl.com/news/2024/august/07 ... -2024-25-/

[Keith]

Some interesting information about changes in interpretation of the Laws this season.

https://www.efl.com/news/2024/august/07 ... -2024-25-/

Hope everyone read that, so they understand the law changes and don't moan at the refs & assistant refs!

We’ve been allocated ref Scott Tallis for the Doncaster match on Saturday.

He was in charge when we drew at home 2-2 with Swindon last September and sent Songo’o off in the 55 minute. Last season he issued 130 yellows and 3 reds in 31 matches (4.19 and 0.10) and so far this season 7 yellows and no reds in 3 matches (2.33).

[Keith]

We’ve been allocated ref Scott Tallis for the Doncaster match on Saturday.

Well, after two decent refs, we're back down to earth with Tallis, who didn't give a clear red card, and wasn't great throughout. Nowhere near as bad as the Wrexham ref last season, but still poor. Also somehow added three minutes at the end of the second half, despite eight substitutions, so that's four minutes just on subs!

[Keith]

We’ve been allocated ref Declan Bourne for the Newport match and Jacob Miles for Wigan next Tuesday.

DB was in charge and sent Mellon off when we lost 2-1 at Gillingham last September. He issued 93 yellows and 4 reds in 22 matches (4.23 and 0.18).

We’ve never had JM in charge before and last season was his first up from the NL. He issued 84 yellows and 1 red in 21 matches (4.00 and 0.05).

[Keith]

After a couple of good refereeing performances at the start of the season, things have slipped back to normal. Wigan's ref almost got them a draw, but fortunately we got a bit of luck.

Let's hope that the ref on Saturday is more like the start of the season again.

We’ve been allocated Scott Simpson for the Crewe match on Saturday. He was in charge when we lost 3-0 at Mansfield last August and when we lost 5-3 at Newport in March. Last season he issued 127 yellows and 10 reds in 26 matches (4.88 and 0.38).

[Keith]

I actually thought Scott Simpson had a pretty good game, except for one glaring error. Unfortunately, that glaring error cost us the game. Even Sky Sports' retired Premier League ref, Chris Foy agreed that it was wrong to give the penalty.

Incident: Possible penalty, holding - Crewe Alexandra

Decision: Penalty awarded, holding - Crewe Alexandra

Foy says: "After awarding this penalty to Crewe Alexandra, the referee clearly communicates to the players that it was given for a holding offence by Morecambe no. 24 on the Crewe no. 5.

"With the benefit of viewing the replay, we can see there is contact between the players, however the action of holding is neither sustained nor impactful. It therefore falls below the threshold for penalising, as it was not clearly impactful, particularly as Crew no. 5 is still able to get to the ball and has a clear shot at goal.

"The correct decision in this case would have been to allow play to continue with a Morecambe throw-in from the far corner."

https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... -decisions

[Keith]

We’ve been allocated Championship ref Geoff Eltringham for the Colchester match on Saturday.

We haven’t had him in charge since September 2018 when we beat Macclesfield 2-1 and he sent Macc’s Michael Rose off and booked AJ Leitch-S and Andy Fleming.

Last season he issued 102 yellows and 4 reds in 26 matches (3.92 and0.15).

[marky No.1]

We’ve been allocated Championship ref Geoff Eltringham for the Colchester match on Saturday.

We haven’t had him in charge since September 2018 when we beat Macclesfield 2-1 and he sent Macc’s Michael Rose off and booked AJ Leitch-S and Andy Fleming.

Last season he issued 102 yellows and 4 reds in 26 matches (3.92 and0.15).

Won't be long before he hits 180....

Edit ooops I was on page 1 Peter Wright

[Keith]

We’ve been allocated Championship ref Geoff Eltringham...

...We haven’t had him in charge since September 2018

Let's hope it's another six years before we have him again!

[Keith]

We’ve been allocated ref Matt Corlett for the Fleetwood match on Monday.

He was in charge last March when we beat Crawley 1-0. He issued 120 yellows and 7 reds last season in 27 matches (4.44 and 0.26) and so far this season 12 yellows and 1 red in 3 matches (4.00 and 0.33).

[Keith]

We’ve been allocated ref Matt Corlett for the Fleetwood match on Monday.

Excellent refereeing by Mr Corlett, let the game flow and played advantage when he could, but stopped the game from becoming too heated. Credit where due.

[fulwoodshrimp]

I agree Keith. I thought mr. Corlett had an excellent game. He was impartial unlike some of the recent refs we have had.

[John L]

He still got some decisions wrong, though, such as the hold on Slew early in the second half for which our innocent man got penalised for!

[Keith]

He still got some decisions wrong, though, such as the hold on Slew early in the second half for which our innocent man got penalised for!

I'm not expecting a perfect performance from any ref, there will all ways be different points of view, and different viewing points, but on balance, I thought he was good.

[Keith]

After a decent ref at Fleetwood, let's hope for more of the same.

We’ve been allocated ref James Westgate for the Notts County match on Saturday and Elliot Bell for Bradford on Tuesday.

It’s JW’s first ever League Two match in charge although he’s done two Trophy matches in the last month. Last season he issued 46 yellows and no reds in 13 NL matches (3.54) and so far this season 25 yellows and one red in four FC matches and two in the Trophy (4.17 and 0.17).

Again, EB is another ref we haven’t seen before and so far this season he’s been in charge for three FC matches, two in League Two and two in the Trophy during which he’s issued 28 yellows and one red (4.00 and 0.14). Strangely in April he was put in charge for two League One matches - Bristol Rovers v Shrewsbury and Wycombe v Charlton - his first EFL experience!

[Keith]

After a decent ref at Fleetwood, let's hope for more of the same.

We’ve been allocated ref James Westgate for the Notts County match on Saturday

For most of the game, I thought he was decent. Then around 75th minute or so, he was dreadful. Suddenly every 50/50 or even 70/30 went to County. They were pulling us all over the place and getting away with it, but every time they dived, they got a free-kick. On at least three occasions earlier in the game, County players went down, screaming like a toddler having a temper tantrum, then after rolling around the floor with a broken leg, realised they weren't getting anything, so jumped to their feet, miraculously healed, and continued the game. Then, suddenly, the ref started to buy into their histrionics, and gave them everything. Yet, when one of our players got wiped out, off the ball, they completely ignored it. The referee's assistant should have had a clear view of it, yet didn't flag. At one point, we could clearly see Slew's heart monitor strap, his shirt was being pulled so much, yet, that was apparently okay?

The video doesn't appear to be conclusive re the 'not a goal' but the reaction of all the players, both ours and Notts County suggests they all thought it was over the line. Apparently, County players confirmed it had crossed, after the match. So another crap refereeing decision, that has cost us points. Then, having made that error, it was made worse by the second yellow card for Harrack. Okay, that decision was almost certainly correct, in that he was consistent for dissent, but it must have been in his head that he may have made a mistake, so a little sensible discretion. Harrack wasn't particularly in his face, and it was a second yellow, not a straight red, therefore wasn't 'foul & abusive language'.

8/10 for the first 70 minutes.
3/10 for the last 20 minutes.

[fulwoodshrimp]

I thought the ref yesterday showed he was nowhere near ready for the EFL. Like many of the newer refs he didn't seem to have any "feel" for the game and didn't seem to understand what constituted a fair tackle and what was a foul. I am sure most of the new recruits have never played the game at any level. We have a huge crisis in refereeing and imo the standard has declined sharply this year. The sooner some ex-pros are available for refereeing duties the better. The real concern is that many promotion and relegation issues will be determined by poor and biased refereeing.