Worst referee?

[Magicme]

Havent a clue what that comment was or why he deleted it. I dont know who the poster is either.

[Captain2007]

Mark Gough for me , we had him 5 games out 8 at the start of season, have not seen him since thank god, always seems to distribute cards for little or no reason, players can't even talk to him, alway,s controversial key decision's in games in which he consistantly get's wrong, just not up to it ..... IMO

[marinobohs]

A year ago I wouldn't have agreed with that but right now he really is the best of a bad lot.

Jeeeeeeeeeeez never felt as angry after a game as friday night at Dalyer. Would love to believe (as some Bohs do) that Buttimer is anti bohs but I just think he is incapable.
cannot understand how the clown is still reffing and his record this season (13 red cards) show he is out of control.

Presume he is let ref as the FAI will take any ref from outside Dublin. At a time when the standard of refs is nothing short of a disgrace Buttimer still stands out for incompetence.
it may well get me a ban from Dalyer but have to say our "old friend" Alan Kelly has been about the best I saw this season but as said elsewhere the bar is not high

[Ash]

Sean Grant can be fairly incompetent when he puts his mind to it!

[pineapple stu]

Who was the linesman at Waterford v Fungus who flagged for a throw when the ball was two yards from going out over the line?

[OneRedArmy]

Would love to believe (as some Bohs do) that Buttimer is anti bohs Buttimer is anti football.

[L37Ultra]

Has to be Gramene Kelly. He seems to love penalties.

[marinobohs]

Buttimer is anti football.

Can genuinely never remember him having a good (or even average). Too be fair his decisions are not always against Bohs (FAI Cup final !) but he is always making wrong decisions.
perhaps he thinks people pay in to see him ! Similar could be said in previous years of Alan Kelly but he does appear to be a little more constrained this season.

[stamullendrog]

ritchie winter by a country mile even though he has serious competition

[BohsPartisan]

ritchie winter by a country mile even though he has serious competition


He was great in The Crystal Maze though.

[LukeO]

Buttimer is poison and should be purged.

[OneForTheFuture]

What kind of money do they recieve per match? Prem + 1st Div?

[marinobohs]

What kind of money do they recieve per match? Prem + 1st Div?

not sure but I would have awhip round and DOUBLE it to prevent Buttimer turning up at any future Bohs matches :D disapperance money we could call it

[trevy]

Jim McKell from Tipperary is a terrible ref in the first division. We've had him a couple of times this season at the RSC and he's made some bizarre decisions that no-one can understand. He is very fond of booking players for dissent when they query his strange decisions.
I'm not sure who that linesman was that flagged a throw in in the Waterford v Sporting Fingal game when the ball wasn't near the line but it was a funny one.

[GuisaSaigon]

Buttimer is an embarrassment, it's ridiculous that he is still allowed to referee. Gough is crap too, in fact they are all crap, exterminate them all!

[Dalymountrower]

I was told that the Refereree Inspectors are furious with Buttimer and he may get an unofficial "rest", not because his decisions are uniformly wrong, but that he brandished his cards out of sequence/with an insufficient flourish/or featuring a new previously unrecognised orange mixture for Deegan in the Bohs v Bray game.

Is he assigned a game this weekend in the cup?

[prince20]

Yes he is.

http://www.extratime.ie/newsdesk/articles/2468/

[thischarmingman]

Apologies if it's already been posted:

bFQSD8KB8tQ

[Réiteoir]

UEFA appoint Irish officials to three Europa League matches

UEFA has appointed Irish officials for three matches in the group stages of the Europa League, which start on Thursday September 17th.

These matches will be part of the experiment which will see six officials control each match. The refereeing team, which would usually consist of the referee, two assistant referees and the fourth official, will now be joined by two additional assistant referees for these matches.

Alan Kelly will head-up an all-Irish delegation of officials to take charge of the Europa League Group D match between German side Hertha Berlin and FK Ventspils of Latvia. Kelly will be assisted by five Irish officials - Marc Douglas, Damien McGrath, Richie Winter, Anthony Buttimer and Neil Doyle.

Irish officials will also take charge of two further Europa League matches this season, with the fixtures to be confirmed by UEFA.

In further good news for Irish referees, Hilda Mc Dermott has been appointed as referee for the Women’s World Cup Qualifying match between Iceland and Estonia on September 17th and she will be assisted by Paula Brady and Ciaran Delaney from Dublin.

Rhona Daly has been appointed to a Women’s Under 19 Mini-Tournament in Estonia from September 18th to 25th. She will be assisted by Michelle O'Neill from Wexford.

Europa League Group D - September 17th

Hertha BSC Berlin v FK Ventspils

Referee: Alan Kelly (Cork)
Assistants: Marc Douglas (Louth) & Damien McGrath (Mayo).
Fourth Official: Richie Winter (Wicklow)
Additional Assistant Referees: Anthony Buttimer (Cork) & Neil Doyle (Dublin)

[Hitman]

Winters chills angry Turks.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2009/0909/1224254134208.html

[marinobohs]

Yes he is.

http://www.extratime.ie/newsdesk/articles/2468/

this, unfortunately is the nub of the problem with LOI refs. no matter how much they mess up there is no sanction taken. this complete lack of accountibility (other than the group hugs that are refs meetings) means there is no improvement in the standard and as we see week in week out certain refs introduce us to their own version of the rules.

I appreciate it is a difficult and usually thankless job but at a time when consequences for clubs can be so serious we have to move on from the "parks" attitude to reffing matches.if the only concern with Buttimers performance is brandishing 2 for the price of 1 cards then things are even worse than we thought.

[sligoman]

Referee: Alan Kelly (Cork)
Assistants: Marc Douglas (Louth) & Damien McGrath (Mayo).
Fourth Official: Richie Winter (Wicklow)
Additional Assistant Referees: Anthony Buttimer (Cork) & Neil Doyle (Dublin)Crazy stuff by Uefa...hopefully their passports go missing over there, keep them away from LOI for a while.

[Réiteoir]

Seeing as a lot of you seem to be experts on this - why not put your money where your mouth is and get yourself on a Referees Course - we always need more officials to cover games up and down the country each week


If are interested in becoming a referee please contact National Referees Co-ordinator James Finnegan - james.finnegan@fai.ie for more details.


Sadly - I don't think I'll hold my breath...

[forza rovers]

uefa are idots letting these muppets ruin european game

[Youths4Ever]

Sean Grant can be fairly incompetent when he puts his mind to it!

I know even as a fourth official he is a pain


Who was the linesman at Waterford v Fungus who flagged for a throw when the ball was two yards from going out over the line?

that was just funny :D the best in that game though was the ref missing a handball in first half by Fingal right in front of him and same linesman flagged for it


Jim McKell from Tipperary is a terrible ref in the first division. We've had him a couple of times this season at the RSC and he's made some bizarre decisions that no-one can understand. He is very fond of booking players for dissent when they query his strange decisions.
I'm not sure who that linesman was that flagged a throw in in the Waterford v Sporting Fingal game when the ball wasn't near the line but it was a funny one.

Do not get me started on McKell he was terrible in wexford so bad in fact he was kept in ref room after game for half an hour for some words and the best bit was he in Ferrycarrig Park again the following two weeks :rolleyes:

[thischarmingman]

Seeing as a lot of you seem to be experts on this - why not put your money where your mouth is and get yourself on a Referees Course - we always need more officials to cover games up and down the country each week

Sadly - I don't think I'll hold my breath...

Yes, on the same lines, let's stop all this talk of players having good or bad games; unless you've been out there, your comment is invalid. And while we're on the topics let's not criticise Brian Cowen- after all none of us have ever bothered attempting to be Taoiseach.

[osarusan]

Yes, on the same lines, let's stop all this talk of players having good or bad games; unless you've been out there, your comment is invalid. And while we're on the topics let's not criticise Brian Cowen- after all none of us have ever bothered attempting to be Taoiseach.

To be fair, he didn't use that extremely idiotic argument - that you have to be able to do something well in order to criticise others who do the same thing.

He's just pointing out that people on here (as everywhere) are lamenting the standard of refereeing in this country without actually getting involved in trying to improve it.

[marinobohs]

To be fair, he didn't use that extremely idiotic argument - that you have to be able to do something well in order to criticise others who do the same thing.

He's just pointing out that people on here (as everywhere) are lamenting the standard of refereeing in this country without actually getting involved in trying to improve it.

Most of us improve it by NOT getting involved (because we are not up to the job). Unfortunately some peole obviously do not recognise their own limitations and end up making the situation worse. hopefully they (or someone in authority will "help" them see sense.

[osarusan]

Most of us improve it by NOT getting involved (because we are not up to the job).

How can you be sure you are not up to the job?

[seand]

I won't start on refs (or I might not stop) but what I find equally frustrating is the linesmen. It seems almost universal in the league that offside is flagged when the ball gets there rather than when it's played. I know calling offside is difficult when you have defenders going one way attackers going the other way and a ball (invariably) being played from 40 yards further back but it strikes me as something that could be worked on in a couple of training sessions to get a bit more consistency and compliance with the rule book. Most teams in the league play an offside trap with a high line in the knowledge that linesmen will flag long balls over the top.

[pineapple stu]

It seems almost universal in the league that offside is flagged when the ball gets there rather than when it's played.
That's what you're supposed to do. Means you have time to decide if the player is interfering with play of not. The alternative is that you'll have players flagged for offside when they're on the far side of the pitch and clearly not getting the ball.

I like the way people will criticise referees and yet show that they have absolutely no knowledge of what they're actually talking about.

[marinobohs]

I won't start on refs (or I might not stop) but what I find equally frustrating is the linesmen. It seems almost universal in the league that offside is flagged when the ball gets there rather than when it's played. I know calling offside is difficult when you have defenders going one way attackers going the other way and a ball (invariably) being played from 40 yards further back but it strikes me as something that could be worked on in a couple of training sessions to get a bit more consistency and compliance with the rule book. Most teams in the league play an offside trap with a high line in the knowledge that linesmen will flag long balls over the top.

A couple of years back FIFA changed the rule on offside - around "interferring with play" and (I think) refs/asst refs now have to wait until a player makes an effort to play or plays the ball before blowing.
While this was to end the ridiculous situation of players out near the corner flag causing an offside against a player in the six yard box, it was/is in my opinion a silly change.
What is more frustrating is the lack of consistency - some asst refs flag when the ball is played, some whenc the player touches the ball (sometimes both in the one match). Infairness the rule is not helpful in this instance.
Another bugbear is that some refs tell asst refs to only flag offsides and not fouls. I can understand this in junior football but at the (alledged) highest level ?

[Schumi]

I won't start on refs (or I might not stop) but what I find equally frustrating is the linesmen. It seems almost universal in the league that offside is flagged when the ball gets there rather than when it's played.They can't flag for offside when the ball is played as they don't know if the offside player will get the ball. If someone else makes a run from an onside position and gets the ball, there's no offside to call.

[seand]

Sorry for the confusion, the timing of raising the flag doesn't worry me. What I meant was that linesmen almost invariably make their call based on whether a player is ahead of the defence when the ball gets there, rather than basing it on whether he was offside when the ball was played. Often a player can be two yards on and by the time the ball has been played 40 yards to him is well in advance of the defence. This is usually called offisde in the League of Ireland and contributes to the stop-start and defensive nature of the game in Ireland.

[brianw82]

I'd just like to mention that Kelly had a pretty good game at Dalymount last night. Unlike Winters and Buttimer, he didn't try to be the centre of attention, and let things flow as best he could.

[SkStu]

agreed - thought he had a great game.

[seand]

League of Ireland referee watchers might want to take a seat for this post... I have to credit Neil Doyle with a very good performance in Oriel tonight. Let the game flow and only booked 2 or 3 (deservedly)... no really.

[stann]

And it gets better... :)

Anthony Buttimer had an excellent match tonight. Let the game flow, rarely interrupted proceedings, was unobtrusive, only gave out 3 yellow cards, two of which were pretty nailed on.

More please!

[Dunny]

League of Ireland referee watchers might want to take a seat for this post... I have to credit Neil Doyle with a very good performance in Oriel tonight. Let the game flow and only booked 2 or 3 (deservedly)... no really.

Probably the best performance from a ref in our games this season. And we actually only got ONE yellow...:eek::)

[BohsPartisan]

I won't start on refs (or I might not stop) but what I find equally frustrating is the linesmen. It seems almost universal in the league that offside is flagged when the ball gets there rather than when it's played. I know calling offside is difficult when you have defenders going one way attackers going the other way and a ball (invariably) being played from 40 yards further back but it strikes me as something that could be worked on in a couple of training sessions to get a bit more consistency and compliance with the rule book. Most teams in the league play an offside trap with a high line in the knowledge that linesmen will flag long balls over the top.

Yeah I'm with you there Seand. Very annoying and its been like that for as long as I can remember.

[sheao]

I'd just like to mention that Kelly had a pretty good game at Dalymount last night. Unlike Winters and Buttimer, he didn't try to be the centre of attention, and let things flow as best he could.
He is supposed to be reffing a Europa league group stage tie this week .

[Réiteoir]

He is supposed to be reffing a Europa league group stage tie this week .

He's due to do at least three Group games and then a couple of knockout round games under this new system of having the Goal Line Assistants with him.

[Candystripe]

And it gets better... :)

Anthony Buttimer had an excellent match tonight. Let the game flow, rarely interrupted proceedings, was unobtrusive, only gave out 3 yellow cards, two of which were pretty nailed on.

More please!


Now I'm in shock :eek:

[seand]

Time for the mods to lock this thread, it's just too surreal.... praise for Kelly, Doyle and the 'unobtrusive' Buttimer!

[marinobohs]

I'd just like to mention that Kelly had a pretty good game at Dalymount last night. Unlike Winters and Buttimer, he didn't try to be the centre of attention, and let things flow as best he could.

Add my vote to that. Was sure he would shaft us after I said nce things about him in this thread but had a good game and let the players get on with it.
Nice to see that both sets of fans fairly happy with his performance.

[CuanaD]

Seeing as a lot of you seem to be experts on this - why not put your money where your mouth is and get yourself on a Referees Course - we always need more officials to cover games up and down the country each week



Sadly - I don't think I'll hold my breath...
I'm with Réiteoir on this one - get involved.
How many of you have ever read the 'Rules of the Game'? (& understood all of it?)
It's crazy how many people allow themselves to spout off about percieved injustices while showing an obvious lack of knowledge - take the RTE commentators & ex-players in that clip as a good example of that (the lack of knowledge of ex-players bugs me the most, as we all presume that they speak with authority, but they bullsh1t too).

Reffing is difficult - it takes years to get good at it & lots of practice & great concentration to stay good. But it's well worth it, because you are there for the love of the game.

[prince20]

I'm with Réiteoir on this one - get involved.
How many of you have ever read the 'Rules of the Game'? (& understood all of it?)
It's crazy how many people allow themselves to spout off about percieved injustices while showing an obvious lack of knowledge - take the RTE commentators & ex-players in that clip as a good example of that (the lack of knowledge of ex-players bugs me the most, as we all presume that they speak with authority, but they bullsh1t too).

Reffing is difficult - it takes years to get good at it & lots of practice & great concentration to stay good. But it's well worth it, because you are there for the love of the game.
And the money that you can make out of it perhaps????

[CuanaD]

And the money that you can make out of it perhaps????How much do you think that is!??
When I stopped reffing 11 years ago, we got £14 expences per game - don't know what it is now, but I can't see you becoming a millionaire at that kind of rate. I had heard that LOI refs were getting €300, but I don't think that's accurate - there is a fixed game-rate & then mileage allowance on top of that, so rates will depend on where the fixture is. Anyway, I still dont think you will train & practice for 10 years just to get to a level where you can earn €300 for a half day's work, 1-2 times a week, without having a love for the work you do.

:ball:

[sheao]

He's due to do at least three Group games and then a couple of knockout round games under this new system of having the Goal Line Assistants with him.
Great for himself and the other LOI refs. Would be good to see an irish ref at the world cup next year .

[Réiteoir]

Great for himself and the other LOI refs. Would be good to see an irish ref at the world cup next year .

The List from which they'll select has already been finalised - so no luck there.

We might have a chance at sending a team of three to the 2012 Euros