“I was once involved in a game where both sides became so exasperated with the referee that we had to ask him to leave,” recalls Paul Vale. “Which got me wondering – has a referee ever actually been sent off in a game of football?”
At least two have, Paul, and on both occasions they showed themselves the red card. First up is Andy Wain, who was officiating a Sunday League game between Peterborough North End and Royal Mail AYL in 2005 when he lost his rag after hearing one too many complaints from the players. When North End’s keeper Richard McGaffin began protesting that his team had been denied a free-kick in the build-up to a goal, Wain threw off his whistle, rushed over and eyeballed the keeper. In the end no blows were exchanged, but Wain sent himself off and the game had to be abandoned because there was nobody else available to fill in.
“With hindsight I should never have officiated,” said Wain, who acknowledged having had some personal problems in the days before the match in question. “It was totally unprofessional. If a player did that I would send him off, so I had to go. I heard the keeper say ‘It’s always the bloody same with you, ref – we never get anything’. It was the last straw, but fortunately I came to my senses.”
Melvin Sylvester, meanwhile, went one step further, physically attacking a player during a fixture between Southampton Arms and Hurstbourne Tarrant British Legion in the Andover and District Sunday League. “I was sorely provoked,” explained Sylvester afterwards. “I punched him several times after he had pushed me from behind. He then swore. I couldn’t take any more. I blew my top.”
This time the the game was able to continue, as a spectator took charge of the remainder of the game, but the story didn’t end there for Sylvester. He was subsequently fined £20 and banned for six weeks by the Hampshire Football Association. “I’m furious,” he added after the verdict. “The disciplinary committee have got their priorities all wrong. They’ve convicted me of assault but the circumstances have not been shown. They’ve taken the side of the player.”
