Who would want to be a referee, eh?
The pressure, the abuse you get from fans and players alike, regardless of your decision making skills, the lack of money compared to the players themselves.
Actually, that last point, while technically true, doesn’t tell the whole story as we have covered in this article here – but they certainly aren’t earning the same as top flight players.
A referee needs to have nerves of steel, cast iron confidence in their decisions, and a skin as thick as a rhino’s… but sometimes, even the ref reaches the end of their tether.
Players can get extremely physical with referees, crowding them or invading their personal space, shouting at them etc., and usually the ref will back away and try to keep their cool.
Sometimes, however, they decide that they aren’t going to take any more of this sh*t, and like a mistreated dog, they bite back.
Other times, they are on the receiving end of physical violence from a player, who inevitably ends up being sent off.
The following are some of the most memorable and interesting referee and player strops that have ever happened in professional football.
Paulo Di Canio and Paul Alcock – 1998
This one is very famous for a few reasons.
The first is the fact that it happened at all – Paulo di Canio was a volatile beast at the best of times but no one ever expecting him to lay hands on the match official – and the second is the HILARIOUS fall by Alcock.
Honestly, if you haven’t seen it you absolutely must. It’s fantastically over dramatic.
So what happened?
Well, it was Sheffield Wednesday v Arsenal and Alcock had the audacity to show di Canio a red card after a fairly big fight that he had mostly instigated, but Paulo wasn’t having any of it. He saw red, and then saw red again.
Pushing Alcock in the chest with both hands, the ref fell to the floor and scrambled away like a frightened animal.
The thing is, it wasn’t even a hard push, Di Canio later said in his autobiography:
“I could push my 8 year old daughter, Ludovica, that way and she wouldn’t fall over.”
Incidentally, this was the same incident after which Arsenal defender Nigel Winterburn chased after Di Canio giving it plenty of mouth, and then flinched and backed off like a total wimp when Di Canio fake turned on him.
Di Canio received an 11 match ban for his behaviour, deservedly, and both player and ref have spoken about the incident since.
The maverick Italian has evidently moved on from the iconic moment, even recreating it in a charity match some 20 years later much to the delight of fans; but Alcock, who to be fair is still mocked to this day for his fall, never seemed to be able to let it go.
He very sadly died in 2018 after a long and successful career as a Premier League referee, but he never managed to see the funny side even all those years later.
Tony Chapron and Diego Carlos – 2018
PSG were up against Nantes and Mbappe was rushing towards goal so the Nantes defence were sprinting to keep up with him.
Chapron attempted to cut between Diego Carlos and another defender but ended up in Carlos’ path, who wasn’t able to stop in time and ran into him, sending the ref to the floor.
At this point, Chapron unmistakeably loses his rag and kicks out at Diego Carlos from the floor as he runs past.
It’s not the sort of kick that could ever have done any damage, but nevertheless, it was unbecoming of a referee, and even worse, he sent Diego Carlos off immediately afterwards.
It was the wrong decision on both counts.
The clash had been accidental and the red card was rescinded after the fact, but for Chapron, his career was over.
He had reffed over 1,500 games and was a regular in Ligue 1, but after being slapped with a 6 month ban and getting tons of hate in the press and on social media, he decided to retire.
Chapron has since said that, although his reaction was wrong, it was instinctive rather than intentional, and he feels harshly treated compared to players who have done the same or worse.
We have to agree, but nevertheless, it’s unacceptable for a referee to lash out, especially after something that was so clearly an accident.
Phil Dowd and Lee Cattermole – 2010
Usually a ref will attempt to defuse any volatile situation on the pitch, either by breaking up quarrels between players or backing away when angry players crowd them.
Not this guy.
When Sunderland’s Lee Cattermole committed a foul against Newcastle’s Cheik Ismael Tiote and was booked for it, he charged towards ref, Phil Dowd, who was totally and utterly done with him.
It had been a rowdy game already with Cattermole trying his luck on several occasions, and instead of backing off, Dowd stood his ground and ended up nose to nose with the player, looking ready to lamp him.
Dowd has since said in interviews that he wasn’t intending to square up to Cattermole, rather he was refusing to back off as he usually would, since Cattermole was behaving so aggressively.
He had a particular issue with Cattermole – hey, some people just don’t get on do they – and at this point his inner cave man took over and he just decided to stand his ground.
The guy was an ex-miner from Staffordshire after all, he wasn’t exactly the shy retiring type and at some point, a man has to stand up for himself.
Nothing came of the standoff, there were no punches thrown or anything like that, but there was a photograph taken that became very famous, and portrayed the incident as a real alpha male showdown that Dowd has since said he regrets.
We don’t though.
Darren Drysdale and Alan Judge – 2021
Something of a repeat of the above, was in 2021 when Darren Drysdale was officiating and EFL League 1 game between Ipswich and Northampton.
Looking at the final 0-0 scoreline you would be forgiven for thinking it was a dull match, but the main bit of drama came from the referee.
Judge was making a run into the penalty area then changed direction at the same time as the man marking him, and ended up tripping over the defender’s leg inside the area.
It wasn’t a challenge or an obstruction, if anything Judge caused his own fall, so no penalty was awarded and play continued.
The whistle was blown a few seconds later for something else though, giving Judge an opportunity to run up and scream aggressively in Drysdale’s face, who decided to meet the torrent of abuse head on.
Literally.
Towering over Judge, Drysdale planted his forehead against the Ipswich midfielders own bonce, before the players huddled around the pair pulled him away and he calmly flashed a yellow card, booking Judge for diving.
Drysdale was subsequently reprimanded for his own behaviour and banned for one game, he apologised, but the majority of fans applauded him for not taking the abuse that so many refs let go.
Drysdale’s other job is as an RAF sergeant, so players might think twice before they get in his face again.
and
Chris Kavanagh and Aleksandar Mitrovic – 2023
This was a heated game and no mistake.
It was the quarter final of the FA Cup, and Fulham had secured a one goal lead away from home against Manchester United. They had deserved it too, coming close several times before Aleksander Mitrovic eventually managed to belt one in from a few yards out at the start iof the second half.
Ironically, it was also Mitrovic who ended up getting physical with the ref around 20 minutes later and arguably costing his team the game, but the crazy thing is, Mitrovic wasn’t even involved in the incident that kicked the whole thing off.
Around the 70 minute mark, a storming counter attack led by Antony set up Jadon Sancho who would have equalised had it not been for Willian, who leapt infront of the ball and blocked it… with his arm.
The ref initially gave a corner before being swamped by United players who begged him to go to VAR, which he did, but before he could finish watching the replay and make a decision, Fulham’s manager Marco Silva hit him with a hail of abuse that Chris Kavanagh saw fit to dimiss him for.
And so two of the most mental minutes in FA cup history began.
After showing red to Silva, and with the VAR clearly showing Willian deny a goal scoring opportunity with his hand, Kavanagh had no option but to also dismiss Willian and give a penalty to Manchester United.
This enraged Mitrovic, who at 6ft 2in tall and heavily built is an intimidating guy, and who was already jogging alongside Kavanagh as he showed the red to Willian. Chris Kavanagh did his best to ignore Mitrovic but the Serbian just wouldn’t let it go, and after much verbal abuse and finger pointing eventually gave Kavanagh a shove with his elbow to try and make him engage.
And engage he did, with an instant red card, the third shown in the space of 2 minutes.
Even after the red card was shown to Mitrovic, he continued to verbally abuse the ref and get in his face, to the point that pretty much every player on the pitch got involved as well as many of the coaching staff from both sides and members of the officiating team.
It was absolute chaos, utterly unprofessional from Mitrovic and Silva, and resulted in that 0-1 lead turning into a 3-1 loss, with Fulham finishing the game just 9 players strong and with no manager.
Silva ended up with a £40k fine and a touchline ban, the club were fined £40k too, and Mitrovic was fined £75k and handed an 8 game ban, which, as Fulham’s main goal scorer, was a huge blow to the team.
Poor old Chris Kavanagh did everything right other than giving a corner in the first instance the changing his mind. If he had gone straight to VAR, it’s likely that Silva wouldn’t have been so enraged and got sent off, which might have kept Mitorivic at bay too.
Howard Webb and Lewis Holtby – 2014
This one is a bit of a cheat since it happened in a testimonial for Ledley King and was all done in good humour, so it’s a fake fight but is funny all the same.
Holtby had the ball for Tottenham and, to his surprise, Howard Webb decided to get involved and aid the Guest XI team of Spurs legends by tackling him and passing the ball on.
He soon had the ball back though, now he was apparently playing for the opposing side, and Holtby decided to get revenge.
The German ran up being Webb and took him out with a sliding tackle, scissoring his legs around the ref and sending him tumbling to the floor.
It was a totally illegal tackle but expertly carried out to cause no damage.
Web hit the deck, face down but laughing, then, after he had got back to his feet he chased down Holtby, and despite being held back got to him and pushed him from behind.
Holtby did an Oscar worthy dive to the floor and feigned agony for a second or two before getting up and embracing Webb in a wonderful moment of fun, before Webb continued the game laughing.
Not a real referee fight, but worthy of a mention none the less.