Graham Poll quit in FA row over Terry
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EnglandÂ’s leading referee has walked away from the job he loved for 26 years, blaming the FA for their failure to protect match officials from systematic pressure and abuse. Graham Poll paints a devastating picture of disrespect and bullying at all levels of our national game and says the lack of support for officials killed his desire to go on refereeing until 2008.
Poll also admits that his calamitous error in flashing three yellow cards at CroatiaÂ’s Josip Simunic at last summerÂ’s World Cup hastened his retirement. But his portrait of the FAÂ’s Brian Barwick as a chief executive who merely "huffed and puffed" when Chelsea questioned PollÂ’s integrity after the infamous match at White Hart Lane last November vindicates those who believe chaos reigns below the PremiershipÂ’s shiny surface.
Poll dismissed Terry for two bookable offences in a stormy match against Tottenham last November. The Chelsea captain accused the country’s No 1 official of changing his story over why he had been dismissed. Terry claimed Poll told him to “F*** off” and the official had changed his mind over the reason for the red card. There were also allegations Poll told two Chelsea players ‘your discipline is out of order and you need to be taught a lesson.’ Poll, 43, disputed Chelsea and Terry’s version of events and he felt Barwick ignored his plea to take a stand on behalf of all refs.
Poll says Barwick ignored his plea to take a stand on behalf of EnglandÂ’s 27,000 professional and amateur referees and linesmen. He tells Sportsmail: "At that moment he was saying goodbye to my career. I sat there and thought: 'This is going nowhere. This is me being abused again and again and again'."
Disliked by some managers and many fans for his exhibitionist streak, Poll blames Soho Square, not ChelseaÂ’s opportunism, for his despair. In the unruly world he leaves behind, officials have resorted to using the psychological device of showering after matches "to wash away the abuse".
Where referees were once authority figures, he says, they are now targets for managers and players who psychologically batter them in the quest to win "at all costs". PollÂ’s last game in this country was MondayÂ’s Championship play-off final at Wembley between Derby and West Bromwich Albion, although he will referee the Finland-Belgium Euro 2008 qualifier in Helsinki next Wednesday.
The story of his disillusionment starts at last summerÂ’s World Cup with his so-called "three-card trick" in an anarchic clash between Australia and Croatia. But it took the later domestic vilification to push him over the edge. -
Not a piece of happy news. He may have made some mistakes as a referee, but he is still considered as one of the top referees in Europe. Colina has retired, Frisk has quit. Now him?
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Thanks to TerryOriginally posted by Bontakun:Not a piece of happy news. He may have made some mistakes as a referee, but he is still considered as one of the top referees in Europe. Colina has retired, Frisk has quit. Now him? 
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I will not thank him. I thank the FA for not doing anything to protect the referees and on-field officials.Originally posted by X-men:Thanks to Terry 
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Sad... What a waste. Another good referee is quitting... I could practically see the word coming out from Terry's mouth... And it seems like it begins with the letter F*** ....
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I thought he retired?
Cheers.
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Early retirement = quitting lor...Originally posted by CKeer:I thought he retired?
Cheers.
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please don't accuse john terry and too bad united lose a ref that is bias against chelseaOriginally posted by zocoss:Sad... What a waste. Another good referee is quitting... I could practically see the word coming out from Terry's mouth... And it seems like it begins with the letter F*** .... -
We'll see..Originally posted by ghimpheng:please don't accuse john terry and too bad united lose a ref that is bias against chelsea -
ManU just lost another Ref who would let them Dive & cheat their way to the top of EPL.
Hmmm..... doesn't look good for them eh? -
GP, please guard that little sliver of dignity you have and bugger off?Originally posted by ghimpheng:please don't accuse john terry and too bad united lose a ref that is bias against chelsea
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unwelcome guest... please leave..
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Originally posted by anhydrouscoppersulphate:unwelcome guest... please leave..
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still got who... someone and his dogOriginally posted by turbo_drift: -
ok..
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Graham Poll believes the Football Association have 'lost the will' to defend referees from attacks by clubs and players. The controversial official has decided to quit, citing the FA's lack of support after a bust-up with Chelsea last season as a major factor in his decision. Poll dismissed Blues and England captain John Terry for two bookings last November, and the defender later claimed the referee had changed his reasons for the sending-off, while it was also suggested he had wanted to 'teach Chelsea a lesson'.
"The World Cup situation wounded me badly, but we patched that up and the (referees' body) PGMOL got me back refereeing and refereeing well again," Poll told the BBC's Inside Sport programme in an interview to be aired on Monday. "But the FA, by not supporting me, and therefore other referees, have made that wound impossible to repair." And Poll slammed the FA under Barwick for being less determined to promote respect for referees. He added: "When (former chief executive) Adam Crozier was in charge of the FA and there was a situation between Roy Keane and Andy D'urso, they called together some senior referees and managers and had a brainstorm to see how they could avoid it happening. "There is no will at the FA any more to do that sort of thing, it's just 'they will be fine' - they take us for granted and you can't speak out. "If you speak out you get in trouble."
Poll believes punishments meted out to players, managers and clubs for indiscretions against referees are often negligible and claims it is high time that more stringent action was taken. He added: "Chelsea do what they do and other clubs have done what they've done because they are allowed to. "If you see an unruly child you don't blame the child you blame the parent. "In this instance to FA are the governing body, the custodians of the game, and it's their job to make sure their children behave themselves. "If they are unruly they should bring them back into line. "Clubs will push to see how far they go before the custodians come down and say 'that's too far now, there's a line there'.
"John Terry was and still is England captain and so they were left with a confrontation between the England captain and an English referee. "It shouldn't be that, it should be, whoever the player is, if they have done something wrong they should be dealt with properly. "And these days a fine of £10,000 for John Terry, it would hurt me severely, but he can earn that by going to a training session."
Poll believes criticism of referees is inevitable, but insists that the suggestion an official might have an ulterior motive is simply unacceptable. "If players call you a liar and make up stories about you, saying you said one thing there and a different thing there, which is completely untrue, your intent is called into question - and the one thing a referee must have is integrity," he argued. "When Brian Barwick phoned me I said this is not about Graham Poll, this is about 27,000 referees who go out week after week and have to battle to keep their integrity intact. "You really should get hold of me and say 'come on guys', no-one should question intent. "If you say he gave a penalty that wasn't, fine, but don't say he gave the penalty because he doesn't like us or that he would have given it to Manchester United."
Barwick, who was supportive of Poll after he was criticised for showing Josip Simunic three yellow cards in a match during the 2006 World Cup, was disappointed with the comments from England's top referee and insists he does not understand why Poll is singling him out for blame over a disciplinary process which, as chief executive, he has no part of. "I did speak to Graham Poll at the time of the Tottenham-Chelsea Premier League game. I explained how the FA's disciplinary system worked even though I am not, understandably, directly involved in individual cases, and how we could not comment publicly while a case was ongoing to avoid prejudicing the outcome," he added. "I am extremely disappointed that Graham does not feel the system supported him. After all, in the case he has highlighted, John Terry was charged with improper conduct and fined by an independent commission who did say, publicly, that they were disappointed that the integrity of a referee had been called into question.
"Finally, while I am very disappointed that Graham has chosen to air these views about the FA through the media, I would like to recognise his many years at the top level and his significant contribution to refereeing in this country. "I, and everyone at the FA, remain committed to recruiting more referees, retaining and developing them and improving respect for the challenging and vital job they do." -
Originally posted by anhydrouscoppersulphate:still got who... someone and his dog
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Refs can be a thorn in the backside, but they are still humans who have the right to be treated with respect.
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Sad...
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If a man cannot respect the officials of the game, he has no place on the field, talented or not.