Can a 23 year-old referee a game at the top level?

For those of you who know Crystal Palace boss Neil Warnock, it won’t come as much of a surprise that he is speaking out about a referee!

Mysteriously

Yesterday, Warnock’s side went out of the FA Cup, losing 4-3 at fellow championship team Watford. The problem Warnock had with the referee was around a goal that was mysteriously disallowed for his side when they were 4-1 down. The replays do suggest that the decision to disallow the goal was harsh and as Palace went on to mount something of a comeback, it also proved to be crucial.

“The disallowed goal was a disgrace. There was no push and you didn’t know then that it could have mattered. It was 4-1 at the time but if that stands we could have had a draw.”

The most interesting thing to come out of this incident is the age of the referee. Michael Oliver is just twenty-three years old. I was astonished when I heard that and find it very difficult to understand how a young man of that age can possibly take charge of such a game.

Earlier this season, also at Watford, another young referee, Stuart Attwell who is just twenty-six, awarded a remarkable goal to Reading when the ball had actually not gone anywhere near the goal! I would like to put up a video of that ‘goal’ but many of them seem to have been blocked. Strange.

Support

Attwell is now refereeing in the Premier League and has been involved in a great deal of controversy since that ridiculous decision at Watford. It does seem that Attwell has a huge amount of support from the football authorities, and presumably, Michael Oliver is getting the same as he is being given high profile games at such a young age.

Now as I say, Neil Warnock slating a referee is hardly news, but this time his comments are worth considering.

“I find it difficult to understand how they give referees Championship football at twenty-three.

“Stuart Attwell was the same and they are sprinting before they can walk. I don’t see how they can have the understanding of the game at that age.

“The way they are going he will be in the Premier League next year.

“We are pushing young referees because we haven’t got a great group at the top. Young referees should have experienced linesman and I was hoping for a Premier League referee today.

“His dad Clive is a good referee and he will hopefully learn from him.”

When poor decisions are given it is often said that referees don’t understand the game. They know the rules but don’t understand the game. Often, we see referees not being able to judge whether an elbow in the face has been deliberate or simply a side effect of a player trying to gain elevation. We say players booked for very slightly mistimed honest tackles and others not booked for deliberate trips.

Understand

The reason for this is often said to be that referees have not played the game at the top level and are therefore unlikely to understand how and why things happen. Well Mr Oliver can’t have played the game at any level and must therefore find it difficult to understand how and why some things happen.

I am not trying to attack these young men individually and although I have seen Mr Attwell give some very strange decisions, I haven’t seen much of Mr Oliver. He should have allowed the Palace goal yesterday but it certainly wasn’t a decision of the ‘phantom goal’ proportions.

The simple question is, are young men in their early to mid-twenties really capable of refereeing games at the highest level? Should they be asked to do so?

It is an old saying that you know you are getting old when Policemen start to look younger. Maybe it is the same with referees!

Respect

I cannot see how the necessary amount of respect will automatically be there for a referee of that age and I cannot see how the necessary knowledge of the way the game is played can be there either. Maybe I am very wrong about this. What do you think?