Has Jim O'Neill retired?

**harry crumb** · 30/04/2006, 2:08 AM

Havent seen him yet this season.

**CollegeTillIDie** · 30/04/2006, 8:41 AM

I will try to find out from my sources on Suirside and get back to you on that.

**Dr.Nightdub** · 30/04/2006, 8:53 AM

Happy days if he has.

**blue til i die** · 30/04/2006, 9:21 AM

He has retired, he's not refereeing anymore.

**CharlesThompson** · 30/04/2006, 6:37 PM

He has definately retired. I had a party in my house last December when I heard.

**Réiteoir** · 01/05/2006, 12:47 AM

He has retired - he's now on the Referee Assessors Panel of the eL

**Superhoops** · 01/05/2006, 11:16 AM

I would be interested to know who members of this forum consider to be the good referees officiating currently in the EL.

Regarding refereeing generally my own view is that at whatever level of football or in whatever part of the world football is played referees and assistant referees will always be spotlighted when they make mistakes. If we expect that every referee and assisitant will get every decision right every time then we are being unrealistic. Also, it is natural that whenever there is a decision to be made, the bias towards the team you are supporting tends to outweigh objectivity.

For example, how many times after an incident will you hear managers, players and supporters have completely opposing opinions ('yes - it definitely was no penalty' or 'no - there was no way it was a penalty') about the same incident. When the referee makes a call in such incidents, no matter what way he calls it he is on a loser with half the 'audience'.

There are two aspects relating to match officials that have always intrigued me:
1) why are coaches/players/supporters in rugby more respectful of referees even when they get decisions wrong that their football counterparts?
2) in football why do assistant referees get the basic offside calls wrong so often? They seem to have great difficulty distinguishing the difference between 'at the time the ball was played' and 'at the time the ball arrives'. Even maore annoying is the fact that the longer the distance of the pass into the attacker is, the more often they get it wrong.

**A face** · 01/05/2006, 12:37 PM

Originally Posted by Superhoops

I would be interested to know who members of this forum consider to be the good referees officiating currently in the EL.

None !!

And that is not being flippant there, credit where its due but imho its not due here, BUT not through fault of their own ... they are not full time and it will only ever improve until we get to a stage where refs can compete on fitness and training with the players they are trying to ref. Its a tough one but definitely, there is a problem at the moment, it could be worse but its far from ideal.

The one thing i worry about is that refs are key to this league improving, and thats what we all want.

**Maz** · 01/05/2006, 12:38 PM

I actually liked Jimmy O' Neill as a ref. There are very few good refs in the EL I suppose at the moment I'd prefer Alan Kelly

**Superhoops** · 01/05/2006, 5:19 PM

Originally Posted by A face

None !!

If that is the case how come they are being approved for the FIFA and UEFA panel? If their performances are that poor when they officate abroad, surely they would lose their FIFA/UEFA accreditation?

**razor** · 02/05/2006, 8:23 AM

Hilda tried her hand at reffing in Cobh the other night.
Brutal was the opinion of both sides.
Linesmen flagging for everything to try and cover her bum.

**football fan** · 02/05/2006, 10:02 AM

[QUOTE=A face]None !!

And that is not being flippant there, credit where its due but imho its not due here, BUT not through fault of their own ... they are not full time and it will only ever improve until we get to a stage where refs can compete on fitness and training with the players they are trying to ref. Its a tough one but definitely, there is a problem at the moment, it could be worse but its far from ideal. QUOTE]

IMO the league cannot sustain full time clubs let alone full time officials. Look at England. Has the introduction of full time referees improved the situation there? We still see week in and week out in England some shocking decisions by referees.

Finally, maybe you or some other members here can suggest how they would go about improving the standard of refs in this country. Its one thing to complain, its something else to come up with positive solutions!!

**Réiteoir** · 02/05/2006, 11:28 AM

The only thing that results from having full-time referees in England is that they are physically fitter than ever before.

The meet every two weeks to go over incidents in games and to try to come up with a uniform interpretation of Law - which is what I believe happens with the eL guys.

Going back to the FIFA / UEFA thing - I saw Ian Stokes referee Wales vs. Slovenia at Swansea a few months back - his perfomance was excellent.

**ConfusedBlue** · 02/05/2006, 12:42 PM

Yeah he has retired although he was 4th official at our home game against Longford I believe.

Apparently he's now looking to get involved behind the scenes at the RSC as some form of commercial manager or something along those lines!!!

**Superhoops** · 02/05/2006, 1:18 PM

Originally Posted by Réiteoir

......Going back to the FIFA / UEFA thing - I saw Ian Stokes referee Wales vs. Slovenia at Swansea a few months back - his perfomance was excellent.

This is exactly the point I was making about how the view on how good a referee is or isn't is more often than not clouded when a 'perceived' poor decision goes against your own team, whether you are a player, a manager or a supporter and that a neutral point of view is generally more objective.

Last year Alan Kelly was upgraded to a Grade 2 UEFA referee and Ian Stokes to Grade 3. I think Alan Kelly is still the youngest ever FIFA referee, appointed when he was 26 and the minimum age was 25. Now you have to assume that these and other Irish match officials have proved they are good enough to qualify and more importantly are being appointed to officiate at UEFA/FIFA games.

Saying that none of the EL referees/assistant referees are any good doesn't really take the discussion forward, unless of course we assume that FIFA/UEFA have got it wrong in all cases involving Irish match officials.

**Dodge** · 02/05/2006, 3:02 PM

Each country gets acertain amount of fifa/uefa accreditation. When was the last timean irish man ever referred in a euro/world cup? Never.

They are all awful. Kelly's the best of a bad bunch ()and he is shocking)

**Réiteoir** · 02/05/2006, 4:19 PM

Originally Posted by Dodge

Each country gets acertain amount of fifa/uefa accreditation. When was the last timean irish man ever referred in a euro/world cup? Never.

They are all awful. Kelly's the best of a bad bunch ()and he is shocking)

We had Eddie Foley run the line at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000

The other main thing we had running against us in the past is that Refereeing Gradings were dependent on the Co-efficients of that nation's club sides.

Alan Kelly should be going to a major tournament within the next 10 years

**Superhoops** · 02/05/2006, 5:16 PM

Originally Posted by Dodge

Each country gets acertain amount of fifa/uefa accreditation....

They dont just get accreditation they have to earn it by assessment in a number of aspects of refereeing, including fitness (I think they have to pass something called the Cooper test).

**CollegeTillIDie** · 02/05/2006, 8:53 PM

Referees in this country have to retire at 47. It should be based on fitness and competency. Pat Kelly would have been well able to handle EL matches at 48, 49 or 50. He remained fit. Unlike some younger guys who were on the panel at the time!

**Copa Mundial** · 03/05/2006, 11:55 AM

Guys, there are some very interesting comments on this thread particularly from Superhoops, Reiteoir and Football fan. The comments have a lot of thought in them and appear to have an objective. It would be interesting to find out about the progression of 'A Referee' from the time he does his/her initial beginners course and how they progress nationally and internationally, what fitness levels they need to go through and how and when they train.

There sems to be an air of secrecy surrounding the referees which im sure is not the case.

Suggestion.Why not do a Q&A with the Referees Department of the FAI.

I am aware that the FAI may not allow such a Q&A, but you wont know until you try