The World According To

Robert GRESFORD Davies

The A-Z of Life - J is for judgement...

The ref is on the spot and has to make a split-second decision. His judgement is final whatever we think of the decision. While the crowd chant 'WHAT A ******!' the man in black out there knows what it's like to put his head on the block many times in a match. He is a fallible human being and in the shower after the game he may compound his loneliness by admitting to himself that he made mistakes.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and so are TV playbacks; but refs must make judgements without the benefit of both. I wonder how many miles a ref runs in 90 minutes? One thing I do know is that many of us should suspend our judgement on the ref until we are prepared to run a few yards in his boots.