Graham Poll: Refereeing, Respect and radical law changes Dan Pope, Club Website editor Graham Poll is the best know British referee of his generation. He officiated in over 1,500 football matches during a 27 year career, including 16 years in the Premier League and 10 years as an international referee. He has refereed the world's best players and clubs and officitated in some of the world's biggest games, including appearances at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. He will be remembered by many for the three yellow cards shown to Croatia's Josip Simunic in the latter of these tournaments but, despite this high profile mistake, was widely regarded as the best referee around, respected for his firm but fair refereeing style.

Since his retirement in 2007, Poll has had chance to speak his mind on the game as he forges a new career in the media. Opinionated, outspoken and often controversial, he is a TV or radio producer's dream, so when I got the chance to meet him earlier this week I jumped at the chance.

We discussed a whole range of issues in the game, from Sunday league football right up to the World Cup itself. There will be a more detailed account of the interview in next month's back to my roots, but there was too much good stuff to hold it all back from you until then.

So, for those of you interested in becoming a referee - and 42% of you told us this week that you are in our latest Club Website poll - or even just those of you who like to read strong opinions on the game, here's a few snippets of what Graham Poll had to say when he sat down and talked football with Club Website.

Poll on why people become referees

"Anyone you see refereeing a football match at any level of the game loves football.  That’s the principle driving force behind why they referee.  It’s not because it’s a bit of power.  There are one or two [exceptions] at local level who have no authority in their day to day working environment and those are the guys who, whilst good servants to the game, tend to be not the best referees."

Poll on Club Website readers' interest in becoming referees

In a recent Club Website poll, when asked "Would you consider becoming a referee?" 26% of Club Website readers responded "Yes I would" and 16% responded "Yes, but only once my playing days are over."

"I’m encouraged that so many people are saying they’d be interested.  I just hope that people take it up.  I had 27 years as a referee and the vast majority of the time was fantastic.

If there are people out there thinking of getting into refereeing, I would encourage it.  It helps improve your life skills - how to cope with stress or confrontation.  If you find you can’t cope you move away, but if you can do it it’s very rewarding because you feel great at the end of a game."

Poll’s top tips for becoming a referee   "I would encourage anyone who has any desire to referee a football match to give it a try. You'll know in a maximum of six matches whether or not it’s for you.   Learning the laws of the game doesn’t take very long and, even if you don’t end up refereeing, knowledge of the laws helps you anyway.  Once you’ve learnt the laws, the number one for me is fitness, particularly at grassroots level. You’ve got to be quick enough to keep up with play and make judgements, particularly at park level as you don’t have official linesmen.  You need to be up either end checking off-sides every now and again. Man management is another thing.  Think about having empathy for players, but not sympathy for players.  There’s a big difference between the two things.

Talking to a big bully who is gobbing off, if you appeal to his or his mates’ better nature you will win.  People respect strength, not officiousness but being reasonable and firm.

If you’ve got all those things, you’ll get through a game. Plus, a bit of banter doesn’t hurt, so long as you pick the right player!"

Poll on players not understanding the rules

"I think all players should have to do some level of the Laws of the Game exam.  The difficulty with football is this: it’s a very simple game.  You’ve got a marked out pitch, you keep the ball within the boundaries of the pitch and you try to score a goal.  It’s very simple and that’s the problem. 

Everyone thinks they know the laws of the game because it’s so simple, and yet they don’t understand the nuances of the law and how to interpret the law and that’s where the conflict comes in because people are convinced they are right.

Whether that be parents on a Sunday afternoon watching their kids or pundits on Match of the Day or Sky who also think they know everything.  It applies at all levels of the game and the higher up you go the worse it gets because the more opinionated people are and the more convinced they are right.  That is a key problem for the game, I think, and they [the FA] should try and cure it." 

Poll on the FA's Respect programme "At the moment the FA aren’t strong enough and they are doing everything they can to appease players and clubs [at the top level]. I’m pleased to say that counties are autonomous from level 5 down and therefore they are much stronger with ill discipline and they give out big bans, that type of thing.   If you go to a local park now and watch kids football, it does feel that there is a need for respect to be shown.  I’m seeing it as my son plays junior football and there seems to be a will amongst parents so the message has got through. The FA have done a good job in making it public, saying there is this need to show respect to the referee and I think people are mindful of that.    When you move up to Sunday morning or Saturday afternoon pub football, I’m not sure that the players are quite embracing that.  A lot of that is due to referees not being strong enough. Referees [in the top flight] are too weak because they are encouraged to be weak.  They are told to recognise the pressure that players are under and see that they are not showing dissent but frustration.  That’s rubbish!

I did it myself when I was a ref.  I’ve re-watched games that I reffed since and am horrified at what I allowed to happen, but because you’re so embroiled in it you don’t recognise quite how bad it is.

The FA need to run the game rather than the Premier League, which means that the top 20 clubs run football – they dictate to the FA what goes on and it’s wholly wrong.  It’s the only country in the world in which it happens. 

The FA have got to say: “We’re not having that.  We run the game now - referees do your jobs.  Be strong.  If a player swears at you, send him off.”   People aren’t going to like it but it won’t take long to sort out.  That’s what comes back to the local park referees.  The players see it time and time again on the TV so they say: “It happens on the telly all the time.  Get real ref, this is modern football!” and the refs don’t know what to do.   That’s where there is a dereliction of duty at the top level.  I was guilty of that 100 percent but I didn’t recognise it at the time. I can see it from outside looking in now and I’ve written to the FA, I’ve spoken to them and [referee’s chief] Keith Hackett and I’ve urged them to take this seriously and make it a shining example.  It’s fallen on deaf ears."

Poll on possible changes to improve the game

"I think we have our head in the sands when it comes to experimenting with new rules.  We should try different things, like no off-sides.  Hockey is a very similar game tactically, they got rid of it five years ago and it’s a much better game because of it.  It would stretch play because forwards would push up, defenders couldn’t just leave them and therefore the midfield would open up and you’d have an interesting game.  It would be interesting to experiment.  Why not try it in some competitions?

Why not try sin bins?  For technical offences, you don’t want to see someone off the pitch for 45 minutes so put them in the bin for 10 minutes. 

And video technology - you talk to a referee, take Mark Clattenburg for example, who missed Pedro Mendes’ goal at Old Trafford a couple of years ago.  He drove home fully knowledgeable that it was a goal.  How bad do you feel knowing that?  There was nothing he could have done. He was in the perfect position on the half way line, his assistant couldn’t make the ground up and couldn’t see it and therefore they missed it.  That feels horrible.   Wouldn’t it be simple to just take a quick look and give the goal?

Once or twice in a game the referee should have the chance to take a look at it.  Most people would be in favour of it, except Michel Platini, who has banned all experimentation.  Not just banned use of it, but banned experimentation.

There are loads of things you could try but I’d say off-sides, sin bins and video technology are the three you really want to be looking at.  Also, fundamentally, different laws appropriate for professional football and amateur football because they vary."

Graham poll photos courtesy of the Daily Mail.