A few years ago now, emerging Meath referee Keith Sheerin approached me prior to throwing in the ball at a match in Dunshaughlin. For once, I knew I couldn’t have said or done anything to pi** the whistler off. Not that it could or would be just him. One is accutely aware that with at least one match official, lack of several working limbs saved yours truly from getting gate.
Even though since he hung up the whistle and took off the stopwatch the gent and I have become the best of mates and actually often cross paths in professional capacities.
To get back to Keith Sheerin though, his reason for approaching floored me. “Big fan of your work, keep doing what you do”. I was stunned. After all, not only was there an awareness that the ice was often that thin, the wheelchair could have cracked it and fallen through, that a referee was even interested in my ramblings left me pleasantly shocked.
Now, I said something to him before he went to work that night which he probably didn’t take seriously though it was earnestly meant. One genuinely would love to umpire a match someday if it was in any way possible.
Umpire because referee or line umpire (Lord help us) probably wouldn’t be an option on soft ground as the chariot wouldn’t so much swing low as get bogged to the axles!
Sentiments expressed were genuine however. The reason for their being as such was because if I had €5 for every time someone said to me “If you think they’re so bad why don’t you do it?” Mind you, if you think that’s bizarre given personal circumstances, the same question has also been asked if a player’s performance was criticised after a match!
But here’s the thing nobody seems to take into calculations – criticism is never done lightly or with any sense of glee. In relation to the central topic herein – yes, referees are important, but so too is accountability – for and by them.
For reasoning behind such a viewpoint, look no further than Kingspan Breffni Park on Saturday evening last. Before getting into the Gowna goal which never should have stood, even more consternation prevailed pertaining to what ended up being the winning point for Crossmaglen Rangers with the final play of the game.
Debate and rancour pertaining to the free from whence it eventually arrived was two fold. One, as to exactly what foul the Gowna players were supposed to have committed. At the very most, a Cross’ player may have tripped over an opponents boot, but there was about as much intent to it as there was to the idea Dick Francis knew Devon Loch was going to plant himself halfway up the Aintree straight with the Grand National there for the taking.
Secondly, however, those from the Cavan-Longford border were equally entitled to have a grievance regarding the execution of the final play of the game. Simply because, if Paul Falloon had informed Oisin O’Neill that it was the final play of the match, did it not stand to reason, then, that the place kicker would have been mandated to score directly.
In other words, not kicked it quickly and short to his brother Rian who duly split the posts with a massive two-pointer to get the black and amber giants over the line. Thus, the as usual large and raucous Rangers ranks burst into raptures as the good people of Gowna raged.
At the perceived injustice visited upon them. Of course, as always happens in these situations, as swarms from both sides graced the Breffni grass and everyone got a little hot under their collars, Falloon was surrounded by a battalion of hi-vis-clad shepherds and disappeared into the night without having to explain himself to anybody.
Therein lies the root of a very high percentage of the acrimony that invades a lot of GAA matches. Mind you, before getting into the nuts and bolts of all that though, a fair appraisal of the bigger picture must conclude the Cavan champions got the rub of the green earlier in the affair as there’s no way Vinny Corey’s team’s first goal should have stood as their player was longer in the Crossmaglen square than Liz Truss was in Downing Street!
Furthermore, when you have an 11 point lead six minutes into the second half and still end up on a beaten docket, the first place you need to look for reasons is in the mirror, not at the referee. That said, I will admit that, as hinted earlier, there could be justifiable against over the awarding of the last free and the mechanics of its execution.
Of course, on the latter part of that, the conclusion of matches has only become an issue owing to the unnecessary obfuscation inflicted upon Jim Gavin’s revolutionary reinvention of Gaelic football. To refresh memories everywhere – after all, Mayo were reunited in the last week of July with Sam Maguire – the original iteration of game ending procedures were altered mid season.
With the result that, instead of the original scenario whereby if regulation playing time had elapsed, the game was still not deemed over until the ball had gone dead, the stipulation currently decrees that once regulation time has evaporated that’s that.
Absolutely asinine. Aside from the fact that it always was likely to end up in a disaster of the sort which transpired in Breffni on Saturday night, it is simply unsustainable at club level owing to the fact that – with the exception of club matches being played at a county ground a hooter system is unlikely to be available. Surely for a dictum like that to hold any credence or credibility it has to be a case of all grounds or nowhere.
Which in fairness shouldn’t be that hard to accomplish as all one would need would be a claxon (air horn) that fans have been bringing to matches for years.
It will be no consolation to Cavan folk after weekend events, the whole scenario underlines the need for greater communication from crews working matches. At the very least with the players who they are officiating, but there’s no reason why with modern technology attendees couldn’t be informed by officials as to why they have arrived at a particular decision or other.
There are a number of ways this could be implemented to the benefit of all. After all, even the basket cases that are UEFA and FIFA have managed to inculcate the use of VAR to such a degree that referees are wired up in such a manner that they can announce to those in attendance what decision they’ve arrived at and why.
Soccer borrowed the aforementioned system from American sports – all of which have had refs mic’d up for as long as yours truly has been attuned to same.
Rugby, as is always the case, have a slightly more complex version of the same thing. In that while the referee’s proclamations aren’t audible in the open air, patrons do have the option of availing of headsets which allow them stay in tune with match officials communication.
It’s hardly asking much for the GAA to come out with something along the lines of some of the examples listed above.
Yes, what occurred at the close of business on Saturday night in Cavan was highly unsatisfactory and entirely of the GAA’s own making, but a solution could be very easily arrived at if the will is there to do so.
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