Thought Id create its own thread yet interestingly; Jarred Gillett (A-League referee) is going to become the first Referee from abroad to join the list of Championship officials from next season
In his last game in Australia he was hooked up to a mic so he could be heared - Now might be difficult to have it for non Televised games but how simple does it make it for everyone to understand whats going on
Part of me would settle for getting this feature in Football over VAR!!
@PeterGage as someone who has been involved in this side of the game Id be curious to get your views on this?
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Dont know why the sport attracts pond life in comparison but footballers just can’t be relied upon not to swear.... so no good for live Tv
I'd be happy to take a whoosh if you can tell me this isn't true???
Disagree to an extent; I wonder how many would keep their mouths shut if they knew they could be heard
Press would have a field day every week about the language used as the players would be doing their job for them
At the same time I also think it would be interesting working both ways... i.e. Just imagine hearing Linington admitting he didn't know what foul had been committed when he was speaking live to Solly about the penalty he gave Peterborough; its another example like when the FA refused to explain why they weren't taking away Taylor's red card against Accrington
Just feels in Football at the moment as though at times there is so much incompetence about the rules (from all quarters, not just referees) that the early days of having mics on referees would actually be embarrassing hence why they wouldn't want to do it
So I’d say it would be worth an experiment over here to see if our players could manage 90-minutes of non-sweary respectfulness.
Also hats off to the player putting himself right in the shop window at the end.
Up here for thinking.....
anyway, its similar to rugby. which i think would be a great way of keeping all informed on why a decision was made. problem is yeah the players will swear but the real issue is that the refs will be finally exposed as the incompetent mini stasi that they all are. (looking at you Stroud)
Am sorry but Football is all about fleecing the fans so surely thats another way to take our money?
with regards to recording the refs, they know that most games would have to be abandoned after so many reds.
The concept of miking up a referee was trialled, I believe for one game in the late 70s, involving Arsenal (in the Tony Adams era) and I think the referee may have been David Ellery.
The trial was abandoned after just one game because of the level and frequency of swearing. I think most fans were genuinely shocked at that frequency and the level of disrespect shown by players to the match officials. Fans couldnt understand why the referee didnt taken action.
So far as the question of "miking up " referees, I am in agreement in principle but I can see some potential flaws. I am in agreement because we are living in a more transparent society where members of the public have the expectation of "information share". It may also take out some of the mystique out of refereeing and make supporters aware of the degree of difficulty of refereeing.
On the impractical side, it is difficult, if not impossible, to speak during open play whilst running at speed to keep up with play. Therefore the timing and frequency of explanations needs to be carefully considered.
As a slight aside, I like the idea of referees changing countries to referee domestically within. It broadens the experience of referees and could improve the level of refereeing in this country if and when we dont have sufficient referees on the right standard coming through our domestic system.
I agree the language would be colourful but surely this is a great way of stamping it out? Or at least reducing it.
To be honest in a way I dont really want to hear the players though - Surely they could introduce it where we hear the referee but the moment they start talking to a player about an offence the mic gets turned off
If players are worried about their image rights then to avoid that then they just dont go running up to the referee mouthing off!!
The players/Premier League can go swivel if all they're concerned about is their image rights. Spoiled brats.
On a general point, sometimes the banter between refs/umpires and players in rugby (both codes) and Aussie Rules can be quite amusing.