Love them or loath them, referees play an important role in modern-day football, because without referees who would supporters shout at….
Who would take the blame every time your side lost a match and who would be responsible for making those important match changing decisions, like whether the foul was inside or outside the box?
Can you image life without referees? It would be total madness, with the opposition managers fighting it out on the touchline and punch-ups on the pitch, not to mention the riots in the stands.
No, football wouldn’t be the same without them.
To fair on referees, the introduction of television has made their job a lot more difficult, especially with several camera’s covering every incident for several different angles. If television hadn’t been around in 1966, how would we ever have known that there was something controversial about ‘that’ England goal? Would anyone have believed the mumblings of a few bitter German supporters that the ball hadn’t crossed the line, unless they’d seen the television coverage themselves?
No, it’s probably more the fault of the ruling bodies because they are changing and updating the rules so often that it’s no wonder the referees don’t know what they are doing half the time!
To this day, Dundee United seem to be the only side in the Scottish Premier League who have fallen foul of the dreaded 6 second rule for goalkeepers, and it cost them a point in a 1-1 draw with Hibernian.
Although at least the rule was used in the correct context against Dundee United, because there was a lower division side that had their keeper sent off for protesting after the referee misinterpreted the rule. The goalkeeper was penalised for having the ball at his feet for more than 6 seconds, he then tried to explain to the referee that the 6 second rule only applies when a keeper is holding the ball and he was sent off, his side went on to lose the match after several other players were also sent off for protesting.
Then there’s the offside rule, which has been changed so often that the ruling bodies don’t eve
