The Ref's Response to these criticisms was to post the Referee's Alphabet, highlighting the pertinent points in this case:
The A is for my authority
which many players seem to question,
thinking they'e somehow going to make me change my mind
B is for babies
which a lot of managers cry like
after a decision has not gone their way
C is for the continual criticism I recieve from the touchline
"Get back in your technical area!"
D is for the dunderheads
who seem to think we have a conspiracy
against their particular team
E is for the eery silence that echoes around the ground
after I've booked the home teams player
and it's obvious to everyone that he deserved it
F is the farce into which most games would descend if we weren't there
The G is for the gnarled face of someone who's on £90, 000 a week
and reckoned he should have had a throw-in
H is for handball
which has to be intentional and very rarely is
if only people would study the rules more
I is for innocence, pleaded by many a doe-eyed defender
after they've just scythed down that tricky winger
J is for ju-jitsu, which I quite intend to display given a dark alley
and some of the narky blerts I've encountered
K is for the kissing of the badge
how ridiculous that looks 6 months later when they're at another club
L is for lip reading, at which you dont need to be an expert
to see how odious some people are
M is for the mistakes we sometimes make
surely a bit of controversy is part of the games appeal
The N, the N is for the numbskull who during the boxing day game
asks me what else I got for christmas besides my whistle
...an afternoon with your wife mate
The O is for offside
which many forwards tell me they simply could not have been
The P is for the penalty shootout
great drama and no pressure on me
Q is the quiet word I sometimes need to have
with some of the more fiery participants
I usually choose the word 'pleat'
R is for running backwards
a difficult skill which the pundits never seem to appreciate
S is the suggestion that I should show a card to an opponent
by a player who's been awarded a free kick
he himself is more in danger of getting one for that
T is for the 21-man brawl
which is basically an embarrassing scene of pushing and shoving
U is for the umpire which I sometimes wish I'd been instead
you never hear a cricket crowd shouting who's the bastard in the hat
The V is for vitriol vilification vendetta and volley of verbal abuse
some good bird noises there by the way
W is for Walter Pidgeon
whose Mr Griffiths in 'How Green was My Valley'
I may have started to sound like during this song
'Where was the light I thought to see in your eye'
he says that to a young Huw played by Roddy McDowall
The X
The X represents the sarcastic kiss planted on my forehead by the swarthy potugese center half
who I just dismissed
The Y is for Yate
the kind of town referees come from
And the Z
Well the Z could be for Zidane, Zico, Zola, Zubizaretta, Zoff
Even Zondervan
but is in fact for the zest with which we approach our work
without this zest for the game we wouldnt become refs
and without refs, well zero
See also Zatopek, Zeus
and Zeal Monachorum
I have a caravan there
static naturally
Wouldn't it be fun if they gave the ref a gun
Wouldn't it be fun if they gave the ref a gun
