Graham Poll Returns to Grassroots Football

 

Lee Clayton writing in The Daily mail

 

The stroppy centre forward was so far offside it could have required a taxi to bring him back. Graham poll acknowledged the flag from his assistant and blew his whistle.

No Jamie Radknapp or Alan Hansen to analyse the decision with a multitude of camera shots and slow-motion replays, no howling abuse from the touchline and technical area – just an angry young man, neck muscles bulging and mouth spewing aggression.

‘What sort of f****** decision was that? It’s b*******! It wasn’t F******* offside,’ he screamed, looking to the heavens. Who knows what the little old lady shuffling across the field to the local supermarket for her Sunday dinner must have thought.

The man in charge has seen it done better. When Wayne Rooney launched into a 20-word tirade of fury after a refereeing decision against him during a typically tasty Arsenal v Manchester United fixture, Poll preferred a calming word of advice rather than a flash of a red card.

Poll again kept his cards in his pocket this time. ‘You need three yellows before you get sent off by him,’ someone shouted. Hardly original, Poll has heard that one a few times before.

Had he not retired, the best English referee of his generation would have been there at the Anfields and Emirates stadiums, right in the thick of it, going stride-for-stride with the best players in the land, making his mark and taking control. Not always right, but always there and brave enough to make an honest call.

                 For this latest assignment, Poll is at Pound Meadow in Hertfordshire refereeing a mid-table contest in the Reklaw Berkhamsted Sunday league Division Four; Palace versus AC Grapes Reserves.

                 There had been the odd charity challenge and an after dinner repertoire that’s worth a booking (no pun intended), but this is his first official outing since retiring from the professional game at Wembley seven months ago.

This is the man who has refereed some of the finest players in the world, including Zinedine Zidane. He is back in black and taking on the challenge of returning to Sunday park football to highlight the plight of local referees

If you must be mad to be a referee, then what do you need to be to take on the job at Sunday park level, controlling the beer bellies and the bad lads, the wasters and the wannabes? And all the pain for 35 quid a game.

It is a far cry from the £290 match fee and £55,000 annual retainer the Barclays Premier League referees earn but park football is where Poll started on a journey that took him to the top of the refereeing world and he’s not too proud to come back. ‘I have huge admiration for them,’ says Poll. ‘There is no glory. They are there because they have a great love for the game and they want to serve football. In unglamorous conditions, in the wet and the cold, they have a thankless task.

‘In most cases, they don’t even have their own shower facilities. Unless you want to go home sweaty, cold and muddy then you have to share with one of the teams. You usually share with the winning team, because they have less to moan about. But then the losing team will often question your reasons for showing with the other team.

‘On the pitch, their duty is to ensure the safety of the players; they should be admired, revered and respected. They take mouthful of abuse and, in some cases, worse. Some have been assaulted and the indiscipline of the players can sometime mirror what they see on Match of the Day.

‘But they aren’t trained to carry out an pitch inspection. When is a pitch dangerous, or not? It’s down to the discretion of the individual referee and his common sense and judgement.

‘They are paid £25 per game, but they need to buy their own kit  and boots, carry out the admin that comes with being a referee and pay for their own travel. I’m telling you, I don’t need to be going back to Sunday park football to remember that football owes a great debt of gratitude to these people.’

The Football Association estimates that 20 percent of matches every week go without a referee and they are looking to recruit 10,000 men and women through their website.

The players and officials of the two teams have not been told of Poll’s participation. A few are sneaking in the last cigarette before the pre-match build-up when Poll breezes in. ‘Change of ref, lads,’ he declares as he announces his arrival. FC Grapes Reserves have the lowest sportsmanship marks in the division, with a rating of 4.5 out of 10. This fixture has not been chosen for an easy ride.

He asks the two teams if he can have the names of the subs. ‘We don’t know, they not here yet,’ says one. This really is another world.

Kevin and Kenny are Poll’s volunteer assistants for the morning and he briefs them on his expectations. They’re concerned about the new offside rule, but he admits with a smile: ‘Don’t worry, I don’t have a clue either!’

There is a light-hearted banter to most of the game. ‘This is the first time a player has asked the referee if he wants to come to the office Christmas party halfway through a game,’ says Martin Bayliss, the league chairman.

Dave Gill, 60, who has been refereeing for 34 years, was due to take control of the this match but has announced his retirement again, although he may return when the weather picks up.

‘The retirement age at this level is about 110, as long as the wheels on the zimmer frame are oiled, I’ll keep going,’ says Gill, who first retired two years ago.

‘What is my motivation to keep getting up and taking on these games? You don’t know my wife, do you?’ It is a nice line in humour that you probably need at this level.

‘It’s good for fitness. The doctor encourages me to keep going. Says it’s good for me. I guess I agree – most of the time.’

Bayliss, also 60, is another veteran official, although he recently broke two ribs during an icy pre-match pitch inspection and was found 25 minutes later when the first player turned up. An ambulance took him to hospital with breathing difficulties, but he hopes to be back out in the middle when the league resumes in the first week of January.

‘It is that sort of dedication and commitment that typifies the Sunday referee,’ says Poll.

‘It is another planet from the professional game, but these guys have great knowledge and experience. Where would football be without them?’

A lack of a proper recruitment programme from the FA is a concern for the grassroots administrators. Trevor Bailey, the referees secretary, was once a player who didn’t want to lose contact with the game.

‘The Hertfordshire FA lost 270 referees last summer,’ he says. ‘There are so many obstacles, so many difficulties. Discipline is one; lack of respect for the official is another. But this is a great game; we all want to be part of it. How do you make the game more attractive? There isn’t much of that coming from the game; there is no real push to attract players into becoming officials.’

Gill accepts: ‘I wouldn’t start in the game now. When I first started refereeing in 1973 there was respect. You don’t get that now.

‘They see players on the telly; see what they get away with at senior level and it’s replicated here on a Sunday morning.’

Bailey counters: ‘It’s a way of staying in the game and putting something back.

‘We all take great pleasure and joy from doing it and I would appeal to anyone who think they can do it better to get in touch, go on the course and then have a go.’

There is general agreement on the touchline here that Howard Webb is now the best referee in the professional game, while Mark Clattenburg – for all his recent troubles – is an official of great potential.

Here in Tring the temperature is now below two degrees and the home side is winning 3-0, despite their striker testing Poll’s mood by failing to understand the offside law. Still his cards remain in his pocket all game – much to the dismay of the local referees.

The final word, however, on Poll’s performance comes from his mum Beryl. She has proudly followed him all over the world and is thrilled we have got him out of retirement for this game.

‘Yes, he could do with the fitness. He has put on some weight since packing up,’ she says.

Sunday park football: all that running around and that’s all the thanks you get

 

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Respect May Be Making a Comeback!

 

Henry Winter writes in The Daily Telegraph about the FA pilot scheme  of only captains being allowed to speak to the referee

 

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Forget white balloons and old Goldenballs: the most significant development in the Wild West of English football unfolds in eight county FA leagues where the Football Association are trying out a rule that permits only the captain to speak to the referee. If the 10-week pilot scheme is successful, the FA will work with the PFA, Premier League and Football League to introduce the rule into the professional realm next season.

             Just imagine it: no more millionaire lynch mobs surrounding an official, trying either to distract him from a colleague’s offence or pressurising him into punishing an opponent. Shameful episodes like the hounding of Andy D’Urso by Roy Keane and an enraged Manchester United posse will be outlawed. United players will not be allowed to gang up on Mike Dean as they did after Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel clattered Patrice Evra in September.

             Clubs will agree in advance that the lines of communication can flow only between captain and referee. Anyone else attempting to join the inflammatory appeals process will be told first to “back off” and then be cautioned (as is permissible, although rarely enforced, under current laws).

             In adopting an idea which the FA cheerfully admit they have borrowed from their rugby union cousins, only John Terry will be able to plead Chelsea’s case to Howard Webb, Mark Clattenburg and friends. Steven Gerrard will be Liverpool’s sole appointed conduit. Only William Gallas can fight Arsenal’s corner. Ditto Ryan Giggs at United. And so on.

             The brat-packs are being disbanded. Opinionated characters like Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba, Ashley Cole, Jamie Carragher and Cesc Fabregas must learn to hold their tongue, to leave disputes to the men with the armbands. It works in other sports. “We can definitely learn from rugby union where only the captain can talk to the referee,” said an FA spokesman.

             Graham poll claimed in his autobiography that Aston Villa players took it in turns to question his decisions during the 2000 FA Cup final, even mentioning a newspaper report alleging the Tring referee supported Chelsea, Villa’s Wembley opponents. “Villa players repeatedly made snide remarks inferring that I was baised,” wrote Poll (in fact a lapsed QPR fan). Such contact would be prohibited if the professional game embraces the FA initiative.

             Barnet, commendably, are ahead of their more celebrated peers in addressing the curse of dissent. The League Two club boast a vastly improved disciplinary record since taking striker Adam Birchall advice to cede all debating responsibilities to the captain. Dissent has disappeared. Referees, who are human, are known to respect Barnet more.

             From next season, Barnet should be joined by the 91 other professional clubs if Soho Square gain a positive reaction to their nationwide pilot scheme which begins on Saturday.

             As well as the one team, one voice rule, the chosen grass-roots leagues involving thousands of players of all ages will benefit from a roped-off area for spectators, who often ruin the enjoyment of players and other onlookers with their aggressive reactions.