Referee To Stand Down...?

[SE13]

I got this on e-mail, so no source, and unsure of how true it is, but worthy of posting I thought.....

Rob Styles, the most controversial referee in the Barclays Premier League,
is to quit after becoming disillusioned with the intense demands of
officiating.

Referees' chief Keith Hackett and the FA will receive Styles's resignation
letter informing them he is retiring early. Styles, who is also on the
FIFA list, becomes the third high-profile official to walk away from
football in five years following the resignations of Graham Barber in 2004
and Graham Poll in 2007.

And, while there will be plenty within the game who will not be sorry to
see Styles go, his decision to end a 22-year career must surely spark a
debate about the pressures referees are facing amid a backdrop of
increasing scrutiny of their performances.

Styles, 45, has seen red cards he has issued overturned, he has had
penalty decisions criticised, he has been forced to apologise to managers
following mistakes and he has even been stripped of topflight games.

Feeling he has not received the backing of the FA and the Professional
Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), Styles, who is a surveyor and whose
business interests outside of football have made him a wealthy man, has
reluctantly reached the conclusion that he simply does not need the
aggravation associated with being a referee any longer.

He has seen his appointments to high-profile games dwindle as the
questions and criticisms of his performances increased. Indeed, Styles has
not been handed a 'golden game' - a match which involves two of the top
four clubs or a major derby match - for 18 months.

His exit means the Premier League will have, at most, 17 select group
referees - the only professional referees in England - to count on
compared to 24 in June 2001.

In addition. Peter Walton, 49, Steve Bennett, 48, and Alan Wiley, 49, are
on extensions.

The normal retirement age is 48 but officials can carry on with a reduced
workload. With Walton and Mike Riley on the shortlist to replace referees'
boss Hackett - the successful applicant is expected to move to PGMOL this
summer before taking over from Hackett next year - that could leave just
13 referees available next season.
Two of those are Stuart Attwell and Mike Jones, who were added to the list
last season and suffered difficult starts to their careers as topflight
officials. Kevin Friend has been called up for next season, and the
shortage means the three new boys will need to referee more games than
originally anticipated.

The pressure on the remaining 10 will be immense given they will be
required to officiate virtually every week. And there will be little room
for the authorities to take them out of the firing line should they make a
mistake.

[Git]

I read this in the paper the other day, it was only a tidbit though. Apparently he's retiring three years early to work on his business.

[SE13]

It'll upset Sir Alcoholic for sure.

That said, what will ManUre do when Mike "Big Nose" Riley follows him?

[Gunner Down Under]

Heheh- Graham Poll

The worst ref in FIFA history- gave three yellow cards, disallowing a last ditch goal by Australia, etc, all in one FIFA World Cup match vs Croatia

[Rockin' Robin]

Worst referee is by far Howard Webb in my opinion.

[Fabby]

Worst referee is by far Howard Webb in my opinion.

Thats because you know absolutely f**k all about how to referee. Howard Webb is the absolute f***ing nuts at reffing in the premier league, and now this ref's going its going to be another less experienced less quiality ref stepping up from a shitter league to give shitter decisions in bigger games.

Don't knock it before you've tried it, im assuming you havent.

[absolutely_fabregas]

simmer down fabbylous, you not had a ride in a while or something?

howard webb can be a cock at times, and single handedly spoiled quite a few games

i know little about reffing, but whats there to know?...

the more un noticed the better, which its sometimes hard to think of the best ref, as you generally only hear about them after they have had a howler

apart from collina but he was god so he was a slightly different case

[Briggsy]

Worst referee is by far Howard Webb in my opinion.

seconded! Him and Mike Dean go on a football pitch with a attitude like the game is based around the Referee and not the 2 teams! I can be a critic and rest easy knowing i'm a level 7 referee myself and they make my job so much harder

[SE13]

No, no, no! Mike Riley is easily the worst of the lot, and that's not just by a Country mile, it's a Marathon! Although he doesn't go there with the attitude of "the spotlight is on me" as others do, he isn't fit to take charge of a toddlers game.

[Fabrestuta]

Rob Styles, Mike Riley, Steve Bennett, 3 of the worst c**** in the history of referreeing. If Styles is stepping down that leaves 2 more to get rid of.

Oh an lol @ ab_fab. Fabby has been a bit on edge lately.

[Rockin' Robin]

From what I've seen Howard Webb has made more mistakes than most referees, but again that's just my OPINION.

[Fabby]

its wrong Howard Webb controls games better than anyone else in the PL by a mile. he makes mistakes but so do all of them and in my OPINION he makes a lot less than the others. Refereeing is f***ing hard, i'm level 7 aswell and only did like u13s and that is hard, imagine the quickest football in the world and you dont see one thing your the worlds worst enemy.

and no i havent abfab i shagged my ex's cousin before i went on holiday and ive been ill since i got back so im going to ruin that poonany in a few days and might give her bumhole an extra inch too justfor the sake of it

[Ach]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/20 ... -personal/

Was he any good?

[Va-Va-Voom]

Saw Mike Riley's name in the article and got triggered.

[Sims]

apparently he left cos he nonced a dog