The season is barely up and running – but we've already had one of the blunders (faux pas) of the season courtesy of referee Rob Shoebridge and his officiating assistants, who somehow missed the fact that Crystal Palace striker Freddie Sears' shot hit the back of the net, before rebounding out off the stanchion inside the goal during Palace's defeat at Bristol City last Saturday – choosing to award a goal-kick instead.
Although I am Palace fan and season ticket ticket holder, I am not going to get into a debate about the use of technology, the actions of both sets of players, managers or chairmen, and the subsequent post-match mud-slinging by all concerned.
Of course I have my own thoughts and opinions on the incident, and I could write a dissertation on the subject if required, but I shall not be disseminating them on here.
The newspapers, football websites, radio phone-ins, club messageboards and so forth have gone into meltdown with the coverage of the incident, and its all getting rather irritating and tedious.
Nothing is going to change the events of last weekend, and as long as Sepp Blatter remains President of FIFA these 'goalgate' issues will never go away.
The game is over, Palace lost 1-0. End of story........until of course the next time that controversy of a similar nature rears it's ugly head!
But as major refereeing blunders go, Shoebridge has plenty of competition, as I shall substantiate for you now.
How many of you, the readers of this blog article remember the following six refereeing/refereeing assistant 'howler's ranging from just last season to almost 30 years ago?
To watch a video of the incidents click on the link inserted into the line containing the referee's name, the clubs involved and the date.
1/ STUART ATTWELL – Watford v Reading 2008
Possibly the strangest decision of the lot? In a Championship match last year Reading winger Stephen Hunt's corner hit Watford defender John Eustace and looked to go out of play for another corner.
Unbelievably Attwell awarded a goal after his assistant informed him that the ball had crossed the goal line when in fact it had gone wide of the upright, much to the bemusement of both sets of players.
2/ CHARLES CORVER – France v West Germany 1982
West Germany keeper Harald Schumacher's vicious attack on France's Patrick Battiston was the most brutal foul ever seen on a football pitch.
Instead of producing a card or awarding a penalty, Corver inscrutably signalled for a goal-kick, as Battiston lay motionless on the pitch with his own teeth lying around him.
Germany went on to win on penalties and book a place in the World Cup final – Battison eventually recovered but only after slipping into a coma.
3/ RAY LEWIS – Man Utd v Spurs 2005
Tottenham Hotspur looked to have secured a famous win at Old Trafford back in 2005 when in the last minute Pedro Medes' audacious effort from the halfway line beat United keeper Roy Carroll.
However, despite the ball having clearly crossed the line, assistant referee Lewis did not give the goal and the game finished in a 0-0 draw.
4/ DEREK WEBB - Coventry v Crystal Palace 1980
In similar circumstances to Freddie Sears' 'goal' last weekend, Clive Allen 'scored' one of the most controversial disallowed goals of all time in a game between Coventry and Palace in 1980. Allen curled a stunning direct free-kick into the top corner of the net where it rebounded off the stanchion and back into play. Webb enigmately waved play on despite the protests of the Palace players. Palace went on to lose that game too!
5/ GRAHAM POLL – Australia v Croatia 2006
Graham Poll's long and distinguished refereeing career will be remembered predominantly for his highest-profile error.
Poll has never been a stranger to controversy and his critics were given plenty of ammunition when he messed up on the biggest stage of all – the World Cup.
Poll had been tipped as a possible World Cup final referee – but his tournament ended in the group stage with his famous three-card trick.
After booking Croatia's Josip Šimuniæ, Poll then failed to send the same player off when he booked him a second time and only showed him red when issuing a third yellow card.
6/ STEVE CREIGHTON - Millwall v Peterborough 2009
Last season Millwall beat Peterborough 2-0 at The New Den thanks in part to a thrice-taken penalty. Gary Alexander twice saw his spotkicks saved by Joe Lewis but each time assistant referee Steve Creighton ruled the England Under-21 keeper had come off his line. Winger Dave Martin made no mistake third time around.
However on watching the video footage you will notice that yes the goalkeeper Lewis does come off his line, not once, not twice but on all three occasions. Yet Creighton did not flag the third time.........the only time the penalty was actually scored!!!!!!!!
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