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Referee v Mansfield


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She was really very good.  Refs are facilitators not the main attraction.  Unfortunately the Mike Deans of the world try and make games all about them and ruin the games in the process.  It will be interesting to watch her progress.  Her name is Rebecca Welch.

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Rebecca Welch. First woman to referee an English Football League match. She is literally the first referee to not get slated by our fans this season!

Cant help but wonder who she has upset at the FA to get given the rainy Tuesday night at Mansfield v Sheffield Wednesday slot in the Papa John’s though….

Edited by CircleSeven
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5 hours ago, latemodelchild said:

What the hell was that all about? A woman? Couldn't believe my eyes when she took to the field, thought it was the tea lady in fancy dress. Women shouldn't be anywhere near a football pitch at this level. 

 

As for her performance, well, my flabber was well and truly ghasted. I've watched hundreds of referees in my time and let me tell you this, she was one of the worst I've ever seen.

 

Not once did she try and make the game all about her. She was consistent in her decision making all game, that's a fundamental error for a start. Not once did she stop play while we had the advantage, she just let us play which helped us. Same for Mansfield, shocking. She seemed to have the respect of the players and looked to be explaining decisions to them. I'm sorry, but that's not how things are done by 'proper' refs at this level. It's almost like she was a calming influence and she was only there to ensure the game ran smoothly and players were protected. Point in fact, the challenge on our player that resulted in a yellow card for the perpetrator which showed everyone where the line had been drawn as far as physicality was concerned. How are we supposed to know which challenges get cards and which don't if the ref is going to behave like that? Arbitrary decisions are the way it goes with a proper ref. And don't get me started on her ability to keep up with play and her positioning. She was always there, in the right place, not 25 yards behind play cos her fitness didn't allow her to leave the centre circle. How can players be expected to practice the dark arts when there's a ref sticking her beak in and stopping it? It's madness I tell ya. 

 

To be perfectly honest if this is the way football is going then I'm not sure I want any part of it. Competent referees have no place in the EFL. Hopefully her assessors will have witnessed her display last night and marked her accordingly. She deserves everything coming her way. Except for the puerile, neanderthal chants that came from the drunken schoolboys in the Mansfield stand. Morons the lot of em. 

She was excellent all round no dramas and players gave proper respect good luck to her 

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I swore when I saw that it was a female ref that I wouldn't post owt, because it would just be far too easy to be virtue signalling or overly positive because it was a woman, but in all sincerity... she was the best official in a while.

 

I think there was a moment in the first half, maybe around 20/25 minutes, where I think Mansfield won a free kick just inside their half. Our player did the usual thing of standing about 5 yards away to prevent a quick forward free kick. She blew to tell him to step back, the player did not. She started approaching the free kick to have a word about stepping back, but as she did, Mansfield took it somewhat quickly and passed it a little backwards and sideways.

 

Now I know for a fact that without fail the referees we have experienced over the last 2/3 years would have blown again, had Mansfield retake the free kick and have a 3.5 second word with our player. Pointlessly stopping the game. Her on the other hand? "Oh look, Mansfield have got on with it, they're not bothered that the Wednesday player wasn't doing exactly the right thing... well, let's get on with the game". No automatic "No, no, the next 10 seconds are about me and my authority", just "Well if they're happy to get on with it, so am I". 

 

I think that lack of concern about her ego really helped the game. And to be honest, my desire is far less driven by her gender and far more by the fact that the bar is so low that a referee more interested in officiating the game rather than having moments being the centre of attention is a talking point.

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