With referee abuse in the media spotlight, Sport.co.uk speaks to former Premier League referee Jeff Winter. One of the top referees of his day, Jeff now tells us about how the FA have finally decided to 'grow a pair' as well as who was the worst for abusing referees during his career, how unsportsmanlike behaviour can be eradicated from the game, where he stands on the ongoing debate about technology in football and British society's problem with figures of authority.
Do you think that referees are subjected to more or less abuse than when you retired back in 2004?
I think since I retired it has certainly got more difficult; the game's got faster, the prizes are far greater, the pressure on the officials is likewise greater. Put that all into the bundle and I think match officials jobs are much more difficult than they were in my day.
The new-look anti-dive technology is put to the test
A lot is being made of the lack of respect in the game of football today. Do you think the problem is as serious as the media is making out that it is?
I think it is not only a football problem, I think socially there is less respect for anybody in authority whether you're a school teacher, a policeman, a traffic warden, whatever, people do not like people who make decision that they do not agree with and referees most certainly fall into that category. We have seen in recent years players, as a tactic, surrounding referees and putting them under pressure, it doesn't look good, it doesn't set a good example to youngsters watching and it is something which the referees really shouldn't have to tolerate – they have made their decision whether it is right or wrong. In other sports competitors seem more than capable of just taking it on the chin and getting on with it.
In football you have got the situation where players will appeal for things even when they blatantly know the truth. An example being a throw-in, they know the ball has clipped off them last but that doesn't stop them appealing and that lack of sportsmanship becomes even greater when it is a major decision about a penalty or a handball or a sending off.
During your career was there a particular player, manager or team who were particularly bad for such unsportsmanlike behaviour?
I think down the years the worst teams are always the best teams because they are use to, because of their ability, winning football matches more often than not and getting decision going their way because they are more likely to be attacking, winning penalties etc. The Liverpool team of the 70s, the Manchester United team and the Chelsea team in more recent years... and then Manchester United again, they are probably worst than other because they take defeat badly and, in defence of them, there is more publicity about them because they are the biggest teams.
Is there a single player who, from your own personal experiences, was the worst for giving you a mouthful on the pitch?
In my day it was easier to come up with a name and say this player was bad. Ian Wright, who is the loveliest man you could ever wish to meet off a football pitch, on a football pitch he was an absolute nightmare for a referee. But nowadays this question if far more difficult to answer because every team has several players who are far from slow in coming forward whenever a decision doesn't go their way. It is easy to point the finger at the Wayne Rooneys of this world, perhaps he gets more publicity because he is Wayne Rooney but he certainly isn't the only player who behaves badly.
In light of the Premier League's attempts to clamp down on this problem next season and the FA's ongoing 'Respect' campaign, what would you say could or should be done to address this problem?
Well, I don't see why we have to wait till next season, the laws of the game mean that the referee has the power to discipline players by using a red or yellow card. The authorities have got to show that they are prepared to back the officials and try to stamp it out. It's dead simple, is players are diving, I feel, the FA should take retrospective action as they do in other sports. In rugby players get cited and then an independent panel will look at incidents immediately after the weekend.
If a player has dived and won a penalty, there is not much you can do about that on the Saturday but if on the Monday he is given a three match and then the next time he does it he gets a five match then maybe the penny might drop. With regards to players and mangers that go over the top then we have seen in recent weeks with the FA's actions against Sir Alex Ferguson and more recently Wayne Rooney, at last it seems as if they have grown a pair and that they are prepared to take that action. To me, in life if you have got laws, you have got to have punishments.
If we are told the speed limit is 70mph but there are no speed cameras or police then we will drive as fast as we like. If we say we want respect but then do nothing at all about it when players are seen to be screaming abuse at referees and managers are calling them cowards and cheats after a game then it is just going to continue. I think maybe if the FA continue to act in the same vein as they have recently then there is a chance that they could be curtailed.
Winter up to his old tricks
Do you think making referees address the media after the game would help with this problem?
I see no reason why match officials cannot be part of the process. I think one of the major problems is that people speak to soon after a game. Emotions are still very high, I think it was Harry Redknapp who said that his comments on a Sunday morning would be very different to what they were at ten to five on a Saturday afternoon – he has had time to chill, he has time to think it through, he has had time to look at the television and review it rather than making a comment instantly.
I think that is one of the major problems. But yes, in general terms, somebody, ideally the match referee himself, or someone else speaking on behalf of the referees, to put their point of view across, to hold their hands up when they were wrong but to give the reasons as to why a decision was made, I think that has to benefit and be helpful.
Do you think there is a problem that there is a growing tendency among referees to want to be the centre of attention?
I think what people do is they use whatever stick they have available to beat people with. If a referee doesn't get involved then he's not strong enough, if he does get involved then he is deemed to be an attention seeker. The referee is not there to be popular, he is there to do a job. He is there to enforce the laws of the game to the best of his ability and he's got to be seen to be doing that. The referee sends Wayne Rooney off this week and John Terry off the week after does not become a strong referee, he becomes in the media's eyes a controversial referee. You can't have it both ways, you either want things stamping out with strong refereeing and fair refereeing or you want them to continue as they are at the moment. I don't think the media helps.
Referees are not popular, never have been, never will be. They are a figure of authority, people don't like people in authority and as I say the media, the players, the managers and the pundits will use whatever stick they can to beat that referee, they can't win. The referee that sends off three or four high name players off for swearing gets himself a bad reputation rather than people focusing on the players who were wrong and than can be detrimental to his own career. That is perhaps why a referee will turn a deaf ear or a blind eye to things that go on on the pitch.
Where do you stand on the implementation of technology in football?
I believe in goal-line technology and independent time keeping but I fail to see how the game of football would work with other types of technology. Everyone says it works in tennis, cricket, rugby but those are completely different games. The technology they use comes at natural breaks in the game. Run-outs, tries or to see if a ball lands in or out, these all occur at natural breaks in the game and football does not have these breaks. You can have an offside decision one minute and then a penalty shout up the other end seconds later. The game moves too fast for stoppages for technology to be used so, other than goal-line technology, I would not want to see it introduced.
Looking back on your career, would you not have wanted the assistance of technology when you had particularly difficult decisions to make?
Making difficult decision is what a referee does. I think we have to accept that human error is just a part of football, whether it be from the players or the referees. The game moves so fast these days that it is impossible to keep up, not even Linford Christie or Usain Bolt could run to keep up with a 50-yard ball played forward so what chance does a referee have? If a referee makes a mistake then he should ask himself why it happened and try and work on it so it doesn't happen again. In the mean time, people need to accept that they are only human and mistakes will happen. Stopping the game every five minutes to look at some TV screens would only harm the way the game is enjoyed by fans.
Today the Texaco brand, as part of their ‘proper footy campaign’ (a campaign aimed at maintaining the sporting values of football) revealed new anti dive technology – high tech shin pads with built in sensory magnets and alarms that equips the referee with valuable information to determine if foul play has taken place. Log on to www.facebook.com/properfooty and have your say on whether technology should be introduced into football.
