RateTheRef

Not sure what to make of what I saw on Twitter this morning.  What does everyone/the Laws think?

There was a floodlight failure at Prestfield during the match after which point with the score at 2-0, by virtue of other matches having already finished Gillingham knew they were safe from relegation and Orient knew they had been promoted, so for the last 10 minutes apparently the players passed the ball amongst themselves and made no real attempt to attack/score.

https://twitter.com/Deutsch_Gills/status/1648451079544401921?s=20

Not so much the 'Disgrace of Gijon' but the 'Umbrage of Prestfield'?

The worst refereeing performance I have ever seen, bar none.

I think if it was last game of the season then any other fixtures that had a bearing on this result would/should be halted. But with 3 games still to go, its a non story

Anyone remember this one from 1977?



The game at Coventry kicked off late due to crowd congestion. Sunderland were playing the same night and their defeat meant if Coventry v Bristol City finished a draw both teams would stay in Division One. Jimmy Hill was Coventry chairman and had the Sunderland result announced over the PA. The last fifteen minutes at Highfield Road became a friendly kickabout.

The referee was Ron Challis, btw.

I think what RCG is suggesting is that other games should be halted so that the situation of a team knowing they are safe/have been promoted etc because of one game being delayed is less likely to happen - so for instance last night the games involving Bradford etc. would have been halted too.

But I'm not convinced it would be practical in reality. They presumably wouldn't know for certain how long it would take to resume the match for something like floodlight failure or even if they'd be able to do so. I'm not sure it would be viable to ring around potentially a few different games and ask them all to stop for half an hour or so whilst a decision is made on the affected game.

When Man Utd V Bournemouth was initially delayed and then postponed on final day of season in 2016, Swansea V Man City still went ahead as planned - both City and United were competing for 4th.

And of course you could get a situations where a team basically knows they are safe/promoted if there's a particular result even if one game hasn't been delayed - e.g. if another game is 5-0. It's just one of those things that can sometimes happen and there's not a lot you can really do to stop it. You just need to try and win more games to avoid being in that position if you're detrimentally affected!