Alan Kelly to referee high profile international fixture

**Réiteoir** · 05/11/2009, 10:58 AM

Alan Kelly to referee high profile international fixture

Irish referee Alan Kelly will officiate some of the best players in the world later this month when he takes charge of the friendly match between Spain and Argentina in Madrid on November 14th.

Kelly, who hails from Cork, will lead a delegation of Irish officials who will take charge of the high profile friendly match, with Marc Douglas and Damien McGrath having been selected as Assistant Referees for the match.

"I'm absolutely thrilled with the appointment," he said. "It's a friendly match but it is a very prestigious game between two of the best teams in the world. This will be my 12th international match so I have been getting a lot of experience at this level. I have done World Cup qualifiers and European Championship qualifiers, as well as some big friendly matches such as France v Denmark, but this game will be right up there in terms of prestige."

Kelly, who has never refereed Spain or Argentina at senior level before, says that appointments such as this reflect very well on the work being carried out by Irish referees.

"The last two years have been very good years in terms of the calibre of matches being given to Irish officials," he said. "It's fantastic to receive recognition like this, both for the panel of Irish referees and also for the FAI. This appointment really tops off a great year but, to be honest, I won't even start thinking about the Spain v Argentina match until after the domestic season is over. I am refereeing St. Patrick's Athletic v Shamrock Rovers on Friday night and that is a more important game for me because there is a lot at stake in that match."

November will also mark an important fixture for another Irish referee, as Hilda McDermott takes charge of her last international fixture before retiring from international football. McDermott will referee the Women's World Cup qualifying match between Greece and Georgia on November 26th and will be assisted by Paula Brady and Ciaran Delaney.

**1882** · 05/11/2009, 11:31 AM

Damien McGrath isn't fit to referee the Mayo League never mind internationals.

**dcfcsteve** · 05/11/2009, 12:20 PM

Kelly is the best ref the league has, IMO.

Doubtless people will retort with reference to long-held specific grudges over decisions he's made 'against them'....

**Rovers Maniac** · 05/11/2009, 12:23 PM

Originally Posted by dcfcsteve

Kelly is the best ref the league has, IMO.

Doubtless people will retort with reference to long-held specific grudges over decisions he's made 'against them'....

To be honest he is miles ahead of the rest of them, i thought he was top class in the Shams v Bohs match a few weeks ago.

**eamo1** · 05/11/2009, 12:26 PM

To paraphrase Dr.Cox in Scrubs-"ive seen smokers live to be 100 and Tri-athletes drop dead at 20 but i NEVER thought i see..... Alan Kelly take charge of an International game like this".The guy is beyond poor,the amount of stone wall peno's he's turned down for us over the years is unreal.

**dcfcsteve** · 05/11/2009, 12:40 PM

Originally Posted by eamo1

To paraphrase Dr.Cox in Scrubs-"ive seen smokers live to be 100 and Tri-athletes drop dead at 20 but i NEVER thought i see..... Alan Kelly take charge of an International game like this".The guy is beyond poor,the amount of stone wall peno's he's turned down for us over the years is unreal.

Refer to the second-to-last quote above yours......

**superfrank** · 05/11/2009, 12:47 PM

I think it's great an LoI ref has got such a high-profile match. Let's see how he does with them before he gets put down.

I find him to be overly fussy at times but, for the most part, he is a very smart referee and can handle players a lot better than the others.

**Macy** · 05/11/2009, 1:19 PM

Originally Posted by dcfcsteve

Kelly is the best ref the league has, IMO.

Talk about a back handed compliment...

**marinobohs** · 05/11/2009, 4:26 PM

Originally Posted by bellavistaman

Definitly think alan kelly is streets ahead of anybody in the league

I made a similar point in a different thread recently, but to be fair the bar is not too high on "best in League". he lets a lot of stuff go but often this results in a more flowing game (usually) so it is good and bad.
Good to see any representation from the League so go on you langer !.

**L.T.F.C.** · 05/11/2009, 8:19 PM

Originally Posted by dcfcsteve

Kelly is the best ref the league has, IMO.

Doubtless people will retort with reference to long-held specific grudges over decisions he's made 'against them'....

the best of a load of shiite.
the standard has often drove me spare. FAI head of licensing and something told me that they started a program almost ten years ago to improve the quality but why in that time no significant improvements been made? its a dose of arse is what it is.

**Kildareman** · 05/11/2009, 8:28 PM

Being the best of a bad bunch doesn't necessarily means he's good.
He's been involved in many a LOI game and general opinion of him is, to say the least, poor.
"You can fool some of the people some of the time, but not........"

**dcfcsteve** · 06/11/2009, 12:44 AM

Originally Posted by L.T.F.C.

the best of a load of shiite.
the standard has often drove me spare. FAI head of licensing and something told me that they started a program almost ten years ago to improve the quality but why in that time no significant improvements been made? its a dose of arse is what it is.

I'm not aware of a league anywhere in the world who's fans think their refs are good though.

Even the English Premiersh!t - the world's richest league - sees its refs savaged on a regular basis by managers, fans and commentators.

Maybe being a ref just exposes the fact that human's get things wrong - regardless of the league or standard !

**mypost** · 06/11/2009, 4:57 AM

Originally Posted by dcfcsteve

Kelly is the best ref the league has, IMO.

Do you see many LOI games?

If you do, you'll know there's a certain chant exclusive to him. There's a reason for that. The rest of Europe will no doubt learn it in time.

This bloke thinks green and white hoops clash with all white in friendlies. When he orders the home side to change, he doesn't notice the same two teams wearing the same colour shorts. That takes some intelligence!!

That's before I begin talking about his reffing "qualities".

**gspain** · 06/11/2009, 7:35 AM

I've seen an awful lot worse than Alan Kelly doing high profile games across europe.

He is a good ref - the best in the league imo.

Some on here would be up in arms if our league gets criticised in other ways so credit where credit is due and best of luck to him.

**sligored** · 06/11/2009, 8:54 AM

Originally Posted by gspain

I've seen an awful lot worse than Alan Kelly doing high profile games across europe.

He is a good ref - the best in the league imo.

Some on here would be up in arms if our league gets criticised in other ways so credit where credit is due and best of luck to him.

agreed , alan kelly is the best ref by a long way- he sets a standard that other league refs are a long way short of.

**Mayo Red** · 06/11/2009, 9:12 AM

Kelly does like that camera though!!

**dcfcsteve** · 06/11/2009, 1:18 PM

Originally Posted by mypost

Do you see many LOI games?

If you do, you'll know there's a certain chant exclusive to him. There's a reason for that. The rest of Europe will no doubt learn it in time.

This bloke thinks green and white hoops clash with all white in friendlies. When he orders the home side to change, he doesn't notice the same two teams wearing the same colour shorts. That takes some intelligence!!

That's before I begin talking about his reffing "qualities".

Please refer to the second half of Post No. 3 in this thread....

**mypost** · 06/11/2009, 3:50 PM

Originally Posted by gspain

I've seen an awful lot worse than Alan Kelly doing high profile games across europe.

I've seen an awful lot worse from Alan Kelly.

**centre mid** · 06/11/2009, 3:58 PM

I hate when he is down to ref us, although I'd probably say that about most of them. Its a greast honour for him personally and the refs association. It will be good to judge him from an unbiased position.